Page 637 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo I

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ActA
Operation “Escort”
On the eve of the 7th of September, 1969, in the midst of the War of Attrition, a
group of frogmen from 13 Flotilla (the Israeli Naval Commando) reached the Egyptian
anchorage of Ras-Sadat. At 22:05 pm they found their targets, two P -183 torpedo boats
which were used to patrol the north of the Gulf of Suez and which could jeopardize the
IDF’s plans to carry out an armored raid on the western bank of the golf. Two pairs of
Israeli frogman attached explosive charges to the sides of the two boats. Before dawn on
the 8th of September, 1969, the two Egyptian boats left their harbor in order to conduct
a patrol. Suddenly there was an explosion on one of the two boats, as a result the boat
was beginning to sink. The second boat hurried towards the sinking boat when a second
explosion ripped a giant hole in its bottom, then, ran aground and was taken out of use.
This was the outcome of Operation “Escort” which enabled the IDF to achieve surprise
and to proceed and execute Operation “Raviv”.

Sep. 12, 1969
Commander of the Shayetet 13
[c.c.:] Commander of the Navy
Subject: Operation “Escort”
The mission to sink the Egyptian torpedo boats in the Gulf of Suez was the first of its
kind to be carried out by the Shayetet.
The sinking of the torpedo boats was a condition for the execution of “Raviv,” which
was similarly a unique and unprecedented operation.