Shayetet 7 is the submarine flotilla of the Israeli Navy. It is based in Haifa naval base and operates s. It was established in 1959 and is considered an elite unit due to the nature of its services.
Nature of service The service in the submarine fleet is difficult, challenging and often far from the country's borders, so the submarine crews have to be very cohesive. Another derivative of the great distance from the country's borders is that the submarine crew is operationally competent and ready for war at any time.
Every operational mission of the submarine has a military doctor and a medic on board who have undergone special training to treat the wounded, including dealing with a multi-casualty incidents, deep under the surface of the water. In the absence of an emergency, the doctor who joins any operational mission also carries an intelligence role for everything, in which he is engaged throughout the mission as one of the combatants.
The unit's objectives include Attacking enemy vessels Covert intelligence gathering Deployment and recovery of Shayetet 13 naval commandos Acting as a support unit for other units Believed to be part of the country's nuclear weapons capability.
Fleet ClassPhotoBoatsCommission yearOriginNotesINS Dolphin, (Dolphin)
INS Livyathan, (Whale)
INS Tekumah, (Revival)1999 1999
2000Expected to be replaced with the Dakar-class submarines starting in the early 2030sAIP Dolphin 2 class, (Crocodile)
, (Rahab)
INS Drakon, (Dragon)2012 2014
2023?
History
Establishment Two used S-class submarines were purchased from the Royal Navy. These submarines were built in World War II, and refurbished in England for the Israeli Navy. An Israeli team that went through a training period in France and the United Kingdom under British supervision was the crew for the first submarine. The flotilla was established on December 16, 1959, when INS Tanin (C-71) entered the port of Haifa. The second submarine, INS Rahav (C-73), arrived at the shores of Israel in July 1960.
Six Day War During the Six Day War, the flotilla participated in the Operation Alexandria in which Tanin led six fighters from Shayetet 13 into action in the port of Alexandria . While waiting to collect the divers, the submarine was attacked by an Egyptian vessel and damaged. The next day she returned to the meeting place to collect but the divers had already been captured by the Egyptians. Multiple civilian ships were destroyed in this operation.
Arrival of T submarines In 1965, Israel purchased three T-class submarines from the Royal Navy: Leviathan,https://yehida.co.il/?option=com_content&view=article&id=29&Itemid=14%2F Decker, and Dolphin. The T-class submarines were larger and more sophisticated than the S-class submarines, but they were also outdated submarines from the World War II period that had undergone a process of upgrade and renovation. The submarines arrived after the Six Day War.
Sinking of INS Dakar A submarine of the flotilla, INS Dakar, sunk on January 25, 1968, on its way from Britain to Israel and all 69 members of its crew perished. The remains of the submarine and the place where it sank were only discovered in 1999.
Yom Kippur War The flotilla did not take part in the Yom Kippur War due to maintenance issues.
Introduction of Gal-class submarines
The s entered the service in the flotilla in the late 1970s, these small but agile and sophisticated submarines were continuously upgraded with newer systems to maintain their technological edge. They were somewhat unusual in that all boats of the class were at equipped with six-tube retractable Blowpipe surface-to-air missile launchers controlled from inside the boat, though these were later removed.
1982 Lebanon War The flotilla participated in the 1982 Lebanon War and carried out Operation Dreyfus which was a military operation to locate and identify enemy ships using submarines . In June 1982, during the operation, an Israeli Navy submarine hit a civilian ship carrying refugees, due to the suspicion that they were terrorists. 25 people were killed in the incident.
Introduction of Dolphin-class submarines Starting from 1999, the s have continued to serve the Israeli Navy as a part of the flotilla and are expected to continue their service till 2030.
Sudan airstrikes In November–December 2011 two Israeli air raids against Gaza-bound weapon smugglers in Sudan were accompanied by Israeli submarine activity off the Sudanese coast.
Syrian civil war On July 5, 2013, during the Syrian civil war, an Israeli missile strike against the Syrian port of Latakia was made in coordination with the United States, with long-range missiles launched from a Dolphin-class submarine. The attack targeted newly unloaded Russian-made Yakhont long-range high-performance anti-ship missiles and associated radars.
Commanders
+PhotoNamePeriod of officeComments Yosef Dror April 1959 – April 1963 First Commander Hadar Kimchi April 1963 – May 1968 Abraham Dror 1968 – August 1972 Recipient of the Medal of Courage for his role in Operation Alexandria Gideon Raz June 1972 – August 1973 Leshem Berg 1973–1976 Gideon Raz January–October 1977 Second term of office Doron Amir October 1977 – April 1980 Shaul Horev May 1980 – June 1983 Michael Kisari June 1983 – July 1987 Haim Kfir-Kopert July 1987 – July 1990 Nir Maor 1990–1992 David Luria July 1992 – March 1996 Uri Distnik 1996–1998 Yoval Tzur 1998–2001 Eyal Ben-Zion 2001–2004 Yonathan Vert 2004–2006 Amit Farber 2006–2008 Oded Gur Lavi 2008–2011 Gil Aginsky-Peretz 2011–2015 Col. Doron 2015–2016 Col. Assaf 2016–2019 Col. Guy July 2019 – July 2021 Col. Uri July 25, 2021 – Current commander of the flotilla
References
Brith Almog, החלפת פיקוד בשייטת הצוללות - מדורון לאסף באוגוסט 2016 וגם נס שירות פעיל לאח"י רהב, "Between Waves", October 2016, p. 14. Remy Antian, בצוללת כאן הטבח הוא המפקד, 'Between Waves' June 1981 p. 10. Dan Arkin, הצוללת אח"י דרקון צולמה במספנה בקיל שבגרמניה, אמורה להגיע לחיל הים עוד השנה, Israel Defense, August 6, 2023. Yohai ben Nun, בהנפת נס שירות פעיל על אח"י תנין, 'Marine Systems' 61, September 1962, p. 2. Uri Dan, עם תנין ורהב במצולות, "Marine Systems" n.d., July 1961, p. 4. Yosef Dror, דבר מפקד שייטת הצוללות, "Marine Systems" n.d., July 1961, p. 3. Yosef Dror, מפקד השייטת לאנשיו, 'Marine Systems' 61, September 1962 p. 2. Yosef Dror, מפקד צוללת לאנשיו, 'Marine Systems' 63, March 1963 p. 2. Yosef Dror, "Alligator team training in Britain", Marine Systems 48, March 1990, p. 8. Mike Elder, "'Decker and the story of the submarine fleet'", Aryeh Nir Publishing, 1997. Oral Elhadad and Brit Almog טקס פרס הרמטכ"ל לשנת 2016 וגם סונאר חדש בצוללות חיל הים, "Between Waves", May 2017, pp. 9–10. Dror Gat, שייטת 7 בעידן החדש, "Between Waves", May 2009, p. 4. Gonen, Amnon and others, הדבורים של שייטת הצוללות, October 2021 Jordan Gore, שייטת הצוללות חוגגת 55 שנה ומתכוננת לאח"י תנין, 'Between Waves' May 2014, p. 28. Moshe Imber and Simcha Binot, "Red and clear - the story of the submarine fleet", design and production Eltan Takshor Aryeh Kiesel, זה לא לאנשים נורמלים צוללת, 'Between Waves' 162 July 1984 p. 16. Shlomo Man, על ההרגשה האישית והחיים בצוללת המפליגה מתחת לפני המים, 'Between Waves' January 1981 p. 31. Shlomo Man, הדור אשר לא ידע את דקר, 'Between Waves' March 159, 1983, p. 6. Yitzhak Noy, על שייטת הצוללת בתוכנית שבת עולמית, Broadcast interviews with Hadar Kimchi, Shaul Horev and David Rotenberg, April 17, 2021. Rafiki, חתונה בצוללת - יום שייטת הצוללות, Bin Galim, September 1974, p. 22. Zev Schiff, מדוע כדאי לשרת בצוללת, "Marine Systems" NA, January 1961, p. 10. Eli Shaf הצוללות שבדרך, 'Marine Systems' 76, February 1966, p. 16 Raz Sharga, יובל להגעת אח"י תנין לישראל, "Between Waves", December 2009, p. 13 Hi. Sutton, היסטוריה של הצוללות הישראליות On the Historian website May 20, 2017. Shamuel Tankos, עם רכישת הצוללות, "Marine Systems" 39-N, March 1959, pp. 4–5. Shmuel Tankos, פקודת יום לבוא אחי תנין, תפילת הדרך לצוות הצוללת, מעמקי התנין, "Marine Systems" MD, December 1959 p. 3. Naama Toren, רק גמרו את הקורס נקלטים בשייטת הצוללות, 'Between Waves' 166 November 1985, p. 12. Gadi Yampel and Avital Rahavit, חשיפה תת-מימית - צוללות בחופי לבנון, "Between Waves", October 2016, p. 43. Yizrif, Adir טקס החלפת פיקוד שייטת הצוללות, the 'Hai Fe' website, July 19, 2019. That. Yosef, הצוללות - חלום שנתגשם. 'Marine Systems' 111 March 1973, p. 12. Ronit Zilberstein, מים שקטים חודרים עמוק: הצטרפנו למסע המסכם של חניכי שייטת 7, Israel today, August 17, 2023. אתר שייטת הצוללות An unofficial website of the history of submarines in Israel. אגף שייטת הצוללות On the unit website - the IDF units website. תיעוד בלעדי: לוחמי הצוללות בפעילות מבצעית במרחב הצפון, October 14, 2023. מנהגים ומסורת בשייטת הצוללות, "Between Waves" 181 August 1990, p. 51. שייטת 7 - סיפורו של צי הצוללות בחיל הים, in the framework of a global discussion with Yitzhak Noy, Israel Broadcasting Corporation, April 17, 2021 שייטת הצוללות Lecture at Alfredo Forum September 2018.