Itongadol.- The State Archives released several documents on Sunday in connection with the sinking of the Israeli Navy submarine INS Dakar on January 25, 1968, that killed 69 crew members and left a whole nation in mourning.
The submarine had been bought from the British by the Navy, and had set sail for Israel’s northern city of Haifa from Portsmouth in south England, when it mysteriously went under. The vessel’s remains were found fourteen years ago on the Mediterranean seabed between the islands of Crete and Cyprus.
The sixteen documents being made public for the first time include Foreign Ministry Cables and the minutes cabinet meetings detailing various circumstances and causes, however the exact reason why the Dakar sunk is still not clear.
The documents detail the Navy’s highlighting of three scenarios that may have led to the tragic event – including a technical or human error, an attack by a Soviet fleet patrolling the Mediterranean at the time that may have been caught off guard, or a collision with another sea vessel.
Several documents have still not been cleared for the public, including an original 87-page report on the loss of the submarine handed over to then-defense minister Moshe Dayan by then-Navy commander Shlomo Harel on March 1, 1968. The report included gathered facts, data, and conclusions as they were known then by Israel’s Navy headquarters.
Even though the Dakar’s last transmission was sent from a position north of the Egyptian city of Alexandria, Harel told the government in 1968 that it was unlikely that Egypt had sunk the ship.
The documents also detail how Ankara did not allow Israel to search for the vessel along Turkey’s southern coastline, although the Turks had agreed to carry out their own search with guidance from the Israelis. The search operation was thought to have been particularly sensitive at the time as it clashed with Turkey’s preparations for an invasion of Cyprus, which only took place another 6 years later in 1974.
387