I.N.S. Dakar
January 2nd, 2009Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 00:58:30 EST
>From: EDWARD WITTENBERG
>To: MARHST-L@POST.QUEENSU.CA, MAHAN@MICROWRKS.COM
>CC: wew@papa.uncp.edu
>Subject: I.N.S. Dakar
>Precendence: bulk
>Sender: mahan-owner@microworks.net
>Resent-From:
>Resent-Date: Fri, 8 Aug 97 22:00:15 EST
>Resent-To: dave@openlines.com
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>
>The following excerpt is taken from World Maritime News –
> Steve Schultz (sschultz@execpc.com), Ed.
>
> >U.S. Navy’s NR-1 searching for Israeli submarine missing almost 30
>years
>
> The U.S. Navy’s nuclear research submarine NR-1 has spent
> the last three weeks searching for an Israeli Navy attack
> submarine that sank off Egypt in January 1968. The search is
> reportedly outside Egyptian territorial waters, but with the
> cooperation of the Egyptian government. The NR-1 has been
> searching for the I.N.S. Dakar, originally the British Royal Navy’s
> H.M.S. Totem, built in 1944. Israel bought two submarines,
> including the H.M.S. Totem, in June 1965. On 9 Jan., 1968, the
> I.N.S. Dakar sailed from Portsmouth, England, for Haifa, Israel,
> with 69 crewmembers. On 24 Jan., south of Crete, Greece, the
> I.N.S. Dakar radioed the Israeli Navy headquarters, seeking
> permission to dock early. The request was denied and it never
> arrived. On 4 Feb., the I.N.S. Dakar was declared sunk and its
> crew missing. On 9 Feb., 1969, the submarine’s emergency buoy
> was found by a fisherman off Khan Yunis in Gaza. The NR-1 is
> operating from the Carolyn Chouest (U.S.-registry 2,110-dwt
> offshore supply vessel built in 1994), chartered from Edison
> Chouest Offshore Inc. This is the second major search for the
> I.N.S. Dakar since it was listed as missing. In 1986, Israel and the
> United States sought the submarine during Operation Challenge
> Express. >
>
>I am not sure, but I think this incident was the inspiration for Dr.
>Robert D. Ballard’s book _BRIGHT SHARK_, which deals with the sinking
>of an Israeli submarine in the Aegean. The submarine was engaged in
>transporting Russian Jews to Israel, in addition to certain military
>supplies that Israel had obtained from the Soviet Union. In the book,
>the Israeli government pulled out all the stops to ensure that no
>information was retrieved from the wreckage by the American
>oceanographers which discovered her.
>
>Edward Wittenberg
>wew@papa.uncp.edu