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Submarine Squadron

Members of this unit are specially selected from other naval recruits to undergo advanced training in submarine warfare. Those who serve on board Israeli submarines spend as much as fifty percent of their career on the submarine. Israel has a long coast along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean considered to be a strategic asset, the only open free gate to the western world. No nation would voluntarily give up such an asset of an open sea with its two facets, the surface as well as the under-water domain. Obviously it should be on the Israeli agenda as well.

The classic submarine tasks may be defined as follow: a) Destruction of enemy vessels. b) Blockade capability of enemy ports or shipping lanes. c) Intelligence gathering. d) Transference combat activities to enemy's homeports. e) Assistance and support to other forces. The Israeli Navy is no different from other navies.

In the end of the 50's, following endless debate, argument and effort, the Israeli Submarine flotilla was established with the Israeli Navy (IN) purchase from the British Navy two old, WWII, "S" class submarines. The second generation was comprised of three second-hand "T" - conversion class also bought from the British. The first Tanin was the first Israeli submarine and was purchased from the Royal navy in 1958.

One of these, the I.N.S. "DAKAR", was lost in the Mediterranean on it's way to Haifa. On January 9, 1968, the Israeli Navy's INS Dakar submarine departed from England headed to the port of Haifa. There were 69 crewmen on the submarine who died when she was lost at sea a few days after departing Europe. On January 25 1968, two minutes after midnight, the INS Dakar transmitted her last communication. From that moment on, no further signals were received. Two months later, the Defense Minister Moshe Dayan announced that all the submarine's crewmen were to be classified as fallen soldiers. Thirteen months after the submarine was lost, an Arab fisherman found the submarine's stern emergency buoy marker washed up on the coast of Khan Yunis. This discovery gave hope to Israeli forces that they could find the INS Dakar, and search expeditions continued. However, it was not until 1999 that a search team detected the submarine's remains between Crete and Haifa. Since then, every year the Israeli Navy holds a memorial ceremony for the fallen seamen of the INS Dakar Submarine.

The Dakar's remains were not discovered until 1999. There was a legend about a Russian submarine that had 'swallowed up' the Dakar, like in a James Bond movie. There were even some immigrants from the Soviet Union who claimed to know with certainty where the submarine and its crew were.

A substantial change occurred in the third generation in the early 70's when Vickers Shipyards in Barrow, England, built three new "GAL" class submarines based on existing and proved German design (IKL). No more second-hand boats but still on the safe side of existing submarines in a friendly navy. By that time the IN gained an important operational and technical experience, which could lead to a further step of having, it's own development of a modern submarine.

The third generation of the submarines started its operations in the early 70's, when three submarines of the "Gal" brand were built based on an existing German plan. In 1991 these submarines were upgraded and improved with new technology. Gal submarines are submarines of the next generation. The submarine is a unique structure intended for missions. It is part of a fighting unit which carries with it complicated and sophisticated weapons systems, movement controls, means of communication and exposure. The submarine conducts independent and secretive activity beyond enemy borders for extended periods of time.