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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| Newly released documents detail how Israel won the seas in Yom Kippur War | |
| 2023-10-05 | |
"We’ve gone into battle to defend the peace of Israel, its rights and its freedoms," V-Adm. Benjamin Telem, the head of the Israel Navy, wrote in a telegram to his naval commanders at the conflict’s outset. "Luckily, we were fighting Arabs" The war broke out on October 6, 1973, when Israel was largely taken by surprise when the forces of Egypt and Syria attacked together in the Sinai and Golan Heights, respectively. Two thousand, six hundred and eighty-nine Israeli soldiers were killed during the war and thousands more suffered physical wounds and mental trauma, and hundreds were taken captive. During that most difficult of wars, Telem led the navy to decisive victories at sea and quickly achieved maritime supremacy over Syria and Egypt. ...THE BATTLE OF LATAKIA One of the most notable naval conflicts of the war was the Battle of Latakia, which according to the IDF, was the first time in naval history in which sea-to-sea missiles were deployed. "In the battle between navy missile boats and the Syrian vessels that took place in the sea opposite the Latakia Port, they eliminated three missile boats of the ’Komar’ and ’Osa’ class, eliminated one [Project] 123-K class torpedo boat, and eliminated a T43 minelayer," read the post-battle report from October 7. "The Syrian missile boats fired on the navy missile boats about eight ’Styx’ missiles but all missed our forces. Two ’Styx’ missiles were shot down by the missile boats’ anti-missile fire from 40- and 20-mm cannons. The navy missile boats that engaged the Syrian vessels attacked with ’Gabriel’ sea-to-sea missiles and their cannons. They fired eight ’Gabriel’ missiles during battle and confirmed that six of them hit the enemy." ...In his summary of the war, Telem wrote how the navy had been painstakingly developed since 1963, establishing clear training regimens, ranks, and logistics and maintenance procedures. | |
| Posted by:Grom the Reflective |