How the oldest Israeli special forces Shayetet-13 works
Shayetet-13 is a unique special unit of the Israeli Navy. Its task is to carry out naval and special operations, which include sabotage, reconnaissance and anti–terrorist actions.
HISTORY AND SAMPLES
The forerunner of the unit was the naval company of the Haganah – the self-defense forces of the Jewish settlements of Palestine. The unit included a group of sailors-divers trained for marine sabotage. In addition, there was a division of sea boats designed for surface sabotage. Both units were merged into Chaitet-13 in 1950.
The main reason for the formation of a joint marine special forces unit was the appearance of fleets in Arab countries, in respect of which special naval operations were required. The unification of both special forces allowed for more effective command and control in the event of war.
When the unit was created, successful sabotage underwater operations of the Second World War were analyzed.
In particular, the Italian combat swimmers who sank a significant number of British ships proved to be very effective. The Israelis, who decided to create a naval special command or special forces for naval operations, studied primarily from Italian underwater saboteurs.
The English sabotage experience was also of interest: after all, the British contested the superiority of the sunken enemy ships from the Italians. Moreover, the Israelis and the British were connected by a combat partnership. The Jewish brigade, created from the settlers of Palestine, fought as part of the British army against the fascists. She was armed by the British government. Therefore, the maritime sabotage experience of these countries was prevalent when creating the Shayetet-13.
COMPOSITION AND PREPARATION
Shayetet-13 includes three companies.
The first company is a diving company. It is aimed at sabotage against naval ships and vessels with the help of diving equipment and special marine watercraft – small submarines and special torpedoes carrying operators.
The second company is a raid company. Its task is to carry out sabotage operations and anti–terrorist measures in coastal territories.
The third company is a boat company. It includes crews of small speedboats designed to deliver groups of naval commandos and carry out sabotage against large ships and vessels.
Recruits who have passed difficult physical, psychological and intellectual tests are sent to complete the first stage of combat training, which lasts six months. During this course, future marine commandos master Israeli, American and Russian small arms, infantry tactics, receive military engineering training, as well as land mine demolition training.
The second stage of combat training is training in a parachute school, where skydiving from different heights and disembarkation from various types of air transport are mastered.
The third stage of combat training is diving. Scuba diving, diving to different depths, underwater orientation are studied.
The fourth stage is conducting underwater sabotage, working with marine deliverers (mini–submarines, special torpedoes); at the same stage, sea mines and handling explosives for marine special operations are studied.
The fifth stage is landing from various sea vessels and parachuting into the water.
The sixth stage of training takes place at the antiterrorism school. Fighters learn to free hostages on land and at sea. They train in attacking terrorists on an airplane, train, ship, in a building, on transport.
Finally, the seventh stage is training in sabotage operations on land. Subversive actions mean secret attacks on enemy targets – army headquarters, military bases, terror control headquarters.
OUTSTANDING OFFICERS OF THE UNIT
The first commander of the unit was the future Admiral Yohai ben Nun. In 1948, he headed the division of boats and special torpedoes in the Israeli Navy.
During this period, Jewish forces in Palestine, and later the newborn State of Israel, waged a war of independence against Arab countries (1947-1949). The Egyptian Navy conducted naval operations against the new state with superior forces.
Yohai ben Nun led a group of special forces using special torpedoes. The group managed to destroy the leading ship of the Egyptian fleet, the Emir Farouk. For this operation, Yochai ben Nun received the title of Hero of Israel. In 1950, he headed a new unit, Shayetet-13, which, as already mentioned, combined a marine company and a boat division.
In 1960, Yohai ben Nun became the head of the Israeli Navy. He developed a naval doctrine, which was based on the provision that the fleet should have small ships and high-precision missile weapons. This doctrine allowed Israel to maintain parity with the combined naval forces of Arab countries.
Vice Admiral Ami Ayalon began his service in Shayetet-13 as an ordinary fighter. He proved himself in the six-day war against the Arab countries (1967), as a result of which he was promoted to officer. During the Israeli-Egyptian "war of attrition" (1969-1970), Lieutenant Ayalon showed remarkable bravery, leading an amphibious group of naval commandos who landed on the Green Island and destroyed the Egyptian garrison. For this operation, he was awarded the medal "For Heroism".
Subsequently, Ami Ayalon headed the Israeli Navy. He contributed to equipping the fleet with corvettes and modern submarines. Upon completion of command of the fleet, Vice Admiral Ayalon headed the Shabak - Israeli counterintelligence.
Major General Yoav Galant also began his career in the special forces as an ordinary soldier. He participated in many Shayetet operations against Palestinian terrorists, quickly built a career and became the commander of this elite unit with the rank of captain of the first rank. Subsequently, he joined the Ground Forces and headed the Southern District of the Israel Defense Forces. The crown of Major General Galant's military career was the post of Minister of Defense.
IMPORTANT OPERATIONS OF MARINE COMMANDOS
During the Arab-Israeli wars and in the process of countering Palestinian terrorist activities, Israeli naval commandos concentrated on three types of operations:
naval sabotage against the Navy and coastal facilities;
seizure of ships with weapons intended for Palestinian and other terrorist groups;
counter-terrorism activities against the leaders and militants of these groups.
For the first time, the naval commandos loudly declared themselves during the "war of attrition" with Egypt. On July 20, 1969, the Shayetet unit made the already mentioned raid on the Green Island, an artificial island in the Red Sea near the mouth of the Suez Canal, where the British built a reinforced concrete fort. The first group of fighters landed on special torpedoes and destroyed the military guard of the Egyptians. The second group moved out secretly by swimming. The third group landed on boats. During the battle, the Egyptian garrison of the island was destroyed.
During the Yom Kippur War, Shayetet saboteurs infiltrated an Egyptian naval base and blew up three boats - a rocket and two torpedo boats. It happened on October 17, 1973. And on October 21 of the same year, assault groups of Israeli combat swimmers shot Egyptian boats from grenade launchers at the Navy base, carrying out a covert landing.
In 1985, Israeli special forces infiltrated a port in Tunisia and blew up a flotilla of a Palestinian group carrying weapons. Operations to seize weapons for terrorists have played a significant role in reducing terror in Israel. In particular, Iran was engaged in providing Palestinian terrorists with weapons. This mission was entrusted to an elite Iranian unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
In May 2001, the Shayetet unit conducted an operation against the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which was secretly transporting weapons from Lebanon. The cargo for the terrorists included rocket-propelled mortars, grenades, machine guns. The ship was captured by Shayetet fighters and taken to Israel.
In January 2002, the Iranians sent the militants of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) a transport ship "Karin A" loaded with rocket-propelled mortars, sniper rifles, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers, anti-tank missiles and mines. The assistants of the leader of the Palestinian Authority were supposed to meet the Iranian vessel.
Israeli combat swimmers were ordered to enter the ship and confiscate the cargo. They split into two groups. The first group landed on the ship from the air by cable from helicopters. The second penetrated by carrying out a covert approach to the vessel on speedboats. The capture was carried out without a single shot. The total weight of the captured weapons was 50 tons .
In November 2009, naval commandos intercepted the vessel "Francop", going from Iran through Egypt and Cyprus to Lebanon. The weapons were intended for the Lebanese Hezbollah group. The cargo weighed 500 tons and included mines, artillery shells, rockets for rocket-propelled mortars. The Israelis secretly boarded an Iranian ship, seized it and delivered it with cargo to Israel.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the unit's raid groups made covert infiltrations into Lebanon from the sea, where fighters killed a number of Hezbollah commanders.
PARTNERS
Italy became the first partners of the Israeli naval special forces. Fighters of the Italian naval sabotage forces and Italian veterans of World War II trained Israelis to conduct special operations at sea. Italy supplied Israel with special torpedoes controlled by an operator. Italian combat swimmers trained Israeli naval commandos.
France has also become a partner of Shayetet. The French naval special forces Hubert trained together with the soldiers of the Israeli special forces.
Recently, Israeli special forces have been conducting joint training with navy seals from the United States. The Americans have accumulated a fair amount of experience in counterterrorism and counter-guerrilla actions.
OPPONENTS
The Palestinian organization Black September, known in the 1970s, aimed to carry out terrorist actions against Israeli statesmen, civilians, and transport. In 1973, the Shayetet fighters carried out a successful action to destroy the leadership of this organization in Beirut.
The arms supplies from Iran for sabotage and terrorist purposes mentioned above were directed by the PLO, the PFLP and Fatah ("Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine"). This supply channel by Israeli naval commandos was largely blocked.
In 1988, Shayetet fighters ensured the destruction of terrorist Khalil al Wazir in Tunisia. The naval commandos helped the assault group to land from the sea, provided cover and withdrawal.
The Israeli Naval Special Forces is a kind of model unit. Prior to its creation, naval commandos were used only for naval sabotage against enemy ships and ships. For the first time, the Israelis began to use combat swimmers for anti-terror purposes. The leading naval special forces units of other countries have taken as a basis the Israeli naval anti-terrorist experience.
Timur Akhmetov
Timur Shamilevich Akhmetov is a journalist.