HMS Zealous (R39)

HMS "Zealous" was a Z Class Destroyer built in 1944 by Cammell Laird.

World War II

"Zealous" was one of four British destroyers of the Home Fleet that rescued 525 Norwegians, who had been hiding from German patrols in caves on the snow covered mountains of Sørøya island, Norway for three months. The rescue involved the destroyers on a daring race 60 miles behind enemy lines. The Norwegians were safely evacuated to the British port of Gourock.

"Zealous" made two trips from the UK to Russia as part of the Arctic Convoys taking supplies around Norway to Kola. Under the guidance of Commander R.F. Jessel RNDSO she ran the gauntlet of German U-Boats and aircraft.

On April 5, 1945 she was involved in an attack on a convoy entering the Jøssingfjord on the coast of Norway. One merchant ship was sunk and two were damaged. [ [http://www.jproc.ca/iroquois/g89_clip8_attack.html Convoy attack] ] When the Germans were on the brink of capitulation, the ship was ordered to Copenhagen. There she was mistaken by excited German soldiers as a German destroyer sent to evacuate them.

Commissioned as Eilat

"Zealous" was sold to Israel in 1955 and commissioned into the Israeli Navy as "Eilat" (named for the Israeli southern coastal city of Eilat) in July 1956. On 31 October 1956, during the Suez Crisis, "Eilat" was involved in a counter-attack against the Egyptian destroyer "Ibrahim al-Awal", forcing her to retreat. She was then disabled by Israeli aircraft and forced to surrender. [ [http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/printer_103.shtml Suez Crisis] ]

"Eilat" was on patrol during the night of the 11-12 July, 1967, when she and two Israeli torpedo boats came across two Egyptian torpedo boats off the Rumani coast. They immediately engaged the vessels and sank both of them. [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/navywar.html Israeli Naval History] ]

"Eilat" was sunk by four Styx missiles launched by Egyptian missile boats on October 21 1967 off the Sinai. Out of a crew of 190, 47 were killed and another 41 were wounded.

Aftermath of the sinking

Though not highly publicized at the time, the sinking had a considerable impact on the Israeli Navy. Israel started to develop plans for ships better suited to missile combat, principally small and efficient ships armed with missiles, able to patrol Israeli shores and undertake offshore operations at high speed, while at the same time able to evade enemy tracking and missiles. [ [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Cherbourg.html As INS Eilat] ] The sinking also proved the effective capability of guided missiles in combat, and was a spur for many navies to continue to develop offensive and defensive strategies to deal with the new weapons. [ [http://www.missilethreat.com/cruise/id.106/cruise_detail.asp Missilethreat.com] ]

Notes

References

*Colledge
* [http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4534.html HMS Zealous at Uboat.net]

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/84/a1959384.shtml BBC.co.uk - the People's War]
* [http://eilat48.tripod.com Eilat - The 48th Soul - The story of the Israeli navy ship "Eilat"]
* [http://it.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geumUDJP1GgWQBzx0bDQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTFiaDhiYWtmBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDOQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0lUMDI2NV8yNjUEbANXUzE-/SIG=12ref3326/EXP=1191081347/**http%3A//www.btinternet.com/~david.manley/naval/Bulldogs/AIW_Campaign.pdf Pdf article]