Posted on 07/16/2006 7:25:19 AM PDT by Jeff Head
The remains of three missing Israel Defense Forces soldiers who disappeared when their warship was attacked by Hezbollah off the coast of Lebanon were found Sunday aboard the damaged vessel, military officials said.
The body of a fourth soldier hurt in the attack was identified Saturday as Staff Sergeant Tal Amgar, 21, from Ashdod.
The three soldiers have been named as Sergeant Yoni Hershkovitz, 21, from Haifa; Corporal Shai Atias, 19, from Rishon Letzion and First Staff Sergeant Dov Shteinshos, 37, from Carmiel.
The incident occurred close to 8 P.M., west of Beirut, when the INS Spear, a Saar-5 Class destroyer, was on patrol as part of the naval blockade imposed on Lebanon since Wednesday.
The Saar-5 class is equipped with very advanced defensive systems. However, these were not in operation at the time of the attack, partly because of the number of IAF aircraft operating in the area. It was feared that if the system was in operation, it would mistakenly identify friendly aircraft as enemy targets and engage them.
The Navy has already issued new orders to its vessels operating off Lebanon.
The missile struck the vessel near its helicopter landing pad at the rear of the ship. A large explosion caused the landing pad to cave in and be engulfed in flames that threatened the aviation fuel storage below.
Initial assessment held that the ship had been struck by an unmanned aerial vehicle loaded with explosives. However, later in the night it became clear that a missile had hit INS Spear.
The missile, is a C-802 radar-guided anti-shipping missile manufactured in Iran using Chinese technology. Its range is estimated to be about 110 km.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Well, their Navy is small and probably pretty subordinated to their Army is my guess, if not in fact, at least ideologically. I was surprised by that terminology too.
You are welcome.
Made by Northrup Grumman ship systems, in Pascagoula, MS.
FYI...more recent and detailed info from Israel here.
?
Yea...he was hurt real bad, as in killed.
Thanks Jeff. This jives pretty well with what we were able to surmise from the earlier piecemeal reports.
Editorially speaking, if the IDF Navy can't operate their defensive systems while conducting joint operations they really need to take a step back. This probably a practice and procedure problem that needs to be addressed.
Thanks, Jeff. You were right: the ship's defenses were "down." Sigh....
A hit at the helo pad would most likely take out port and starboard steering gears. Basically hydraulic systems are used to turn the rudder. It could also effect the stern tubes for the screw shafts causing massive flooding. The reason the bodies were not found then likely was because of damage control procedures of securing flooded compartments. If they got it to a dry dock they could pump it out and recover their dead. They likely knew where they were but could not have a visual. By most Naval protocols that is still considered missing.
I think {not sure though} the engine rooms themselves were likely spared they should be further fwd closer to mid ship. The screws and rudder would be roughly under the helo pad set back about 10-15 or so feet toward the bow. If the pad and the steering gears is all they lost below decks they came out lucky damage wise. There's not much that far aft below decks though on most ships except storage and what I mentioned above.
Agreed. I believe however that they can conduct joint operations and are now doing so. New orders were issued an another Saar 5 is now on station.
Great analysis snipe...and I agree with you completely.
Yep...tough for me to believe...but apparently based on their intelligence that is how they ran the operation. Makes no sense to me to have a sophisticated anti-air corvette on station in combat with its anti-air systems not operating.
Sounds like, from this description, that the missile hit from directly aft, and that apparent missile hole in previous pictures was more likely an outlet line/bilge exhaust that was stained by smoke from the fire.
Thanks, Jeff. This makes more sense. The more that I looked at the pics from yesterday, the less they appeared to be after-action shots. I'm glad that they found the missing guys.
That ship has a crew of only about 60 guys, so for there to be 4 fatalities there must have been some really serious damage back aft. It hit the flight deck, and damaged the rudders? This missile was no dud, as some were speculating yesterday. It definitely went boom.
You see this thread?
Where the helo was sitting was actually aft of it's normal pad. That was as close to parking it in the sea as they could get and still try and get it home.
Yep, that's how I am reading it too.
makes sense.
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