A port city since the 14th century BCE, because of its relatively sheltered natural bay, such a rare feature on the eastern Mediterranean coast, Haifa is Israel's third city and one of Israel's remaining two commercial ports, the other being Ashdod to the south. Having formerly been the western terminus of the oil pipeline from Iraq via Jordan, Haifa Bay remains a centre of heavy and petro-chemical industry. The Haifa refinery processes some 66 million barrels of crude oil a year, and the Port of Haifa is the leading Israeli passenger port as well as a major cargo harbor.
Here we all are on the Louis Promenade overlooking Haifa Bay, with Acco to the north, and the white chalk cliffs of Rosh HaNikra, at the border with Lebanon, just visible on the horizon.
The idea of our family day out was to beat the intense heat by visiting museums relating to Haifa's naval and maritime history. Each of the two musuems we visited had Merseyside (Liverpool or Birkenhead) connections through its exhibits - see if you can spot them in the text andf captions below!
We started at the Clandestine Immigration and Navy Museum which, in typical Israeli style, was half-closed without the website mentioning this. Of course the half that was closed was the air-conditioned inside part, which is being fully refurbished and will be worth a further visit. It tells the story of the Israeli Navy’s history with a large collection of both clandestine immigration and naval items.
The ship "Af-Al-Pi-Chen" ("In spite of all that"), which ran the British blockade during the mandatory period, and brought 434 immigrants to the country, now incorporated as part of the (closed for refurbishment) Clandestine Immigration and Navy Museum building, and housing most of the exhibits devoted to the clandestine immigration and to the history of Israel’s Navy up to the Yom Kippur War. During the war of liberation, it served the Israeli Navy as a tank launcher.
But despite the almost overwhelming heat, we enjoyed a talk by a Navy recruit (the museum is owned and run by the Navy and Ministry of Defence) under a spreading tree, and then explored the outdoor exhibits of two retired ships and a submarine as well as various gunboats and other paraphernalia.
A naval rating giving us a talk about the musuem, beneath a shady tree.
Monument to the fallen of INS Dakar, outside the museum. In October 2000, the Israeli Navy raised the Bridge of INS Dakar, which sank in 1968 and was located in 1999 on the sea floor in the Mediterranean Sea, between Crete and Cyprus, and brought it to the Port of Haifa to use as a monument. The salvaged part of the conning tower was incorporated into a monument which was opened in May 2003.
INS Gal, the first-commissioned Type 540 Gal-class submarine (in 1976), a slightly modified variant of the German HDW Type 206 submarine class (which includes the distinctive dome, or bulge, in the front of the boat), modified for Israeli requirements. The Gal class submarines were built to Israeli specifications at the Vickers shipyards Type 540 at Barrow in Furness in the UK rather than Germany for political reasons. "Gal" (גל - Hebrew for "wave") was the name of the son of Abraham (Ivan) Dror, 3rd commander of the squadron and head of the project. The submarine was decommissioned in 2000 and displayed at the Clandestine Immigration and Navy Museum, Haifa since 2007.
“Up Periscope!” Yonatan on board INS Gal
Yonatan inspecting INS Mivtach ("Reliance"), Sa'ar 2-class missile boat, Converted from Sa'ar 1-class patrol boat in 1974; German-Israeli design, built in France.
View of the National Maritime Museum and Bahai Cemetery from INS Mivtach.
An ex-British ASW (anti-submarine warfare) simulator, itself a former London bus (?), used by the Israeli Navy from 1959-1970.
A captured speedboat taken from PLF rebels in 1990 during an attempted terrorist attack at Nitzanim.
Monument to the Fallen of INS Eilat, outside the museum. Sculptor: Igael Tumarkin.
Built at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead in 1942 and commission as HMS Zealous, the ship was sold to Israel in 1955 and renamed INS Eilat. She was sunk on 21 October 1967 in international waters off Port Said in the Sinai by three Styx missiles launched by Egyptian missile boats. Out of a crew of 199, 47 were killed and more than a hundred were wounded.
"Kesher Hadorot" (Connection between Generations), a monument by Yitzhak Danziger to Clandestine Immigration.
The Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum is to be found where the steep, northern rock face of Mount Carmel plunges to the plain at the very tip of the promontory on the shoreline, south of Haifa port, almost directly below the mouth of the Cave of Elijah; immediately adjacent and above it is the National Maritime Museum. So we braved the heat to climb the hill to the entrance (why these somewhat topic-related museums are not connected comes down to “politics” – the Maritime museum is run by the City – and even their one-time joint-ticket has fallen by the wayside recently).
View of the National Maritime Museum and Bahá'i cemetery from INS Mivtach, Clandestine Immigration and Navy Museum.
Elijah's cave, one of the most sacred caves in the Holy Land. According to the tradition of all faiths (Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze) it was one of the places where Prophet Elijah lived and hid.
On the way we caught glimpses of a beautiful cemetery, hidden and sandwiched between the two museums. This six-acre plot is the Bahá'i cemetery, and it is kept in the same tended style as the Bahá'i gardens, with hedges, palm-trees and floral plantings. Purchased at the behest of 'Abdu'l-Baha, the cemetery's earliest recorded burial, in August 1911, was that of the first cousin of the Bab, Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi Afnan, the Government Deputy.
Haifa Bahá'i cemetery.
The National Maritime Museum, established in 1953 as the private collection of its founder and first director, the late Aryeh Ben-Eli.
The National Maritime Museum is devoted to the maritime history of the Mediterranean basin, the Red Sea and the Nile over 5,000 years of maritime history. The Museum collection came into being in 1953 as the private collection of its founder and first director, the late Aryeh Ben-Eli. There is a beautiful collection of ships’ models, both commercially made and by sailors, many not in glass cases which makes viewing them a real pleasure. One large 18th century Maltese model of a Mediterranean galley had already caught our attention, when I noticed it was on view courtesy of Liverpool City Museum!
18th century Maltese model of a Mediterranean galley, courtesy of Liverpool City Museum.
Similar to Liverpool, there were sections on piracy, seamen’s crafts, etc, as well as on local shipping, scientific instruments, the crusaders and more. One especially impressive exhibit is the so-called Atlit Ram, one of the largest single bronze castings ever found, weighing half a ton, dated between 300 and 500 BCE. Originally attached to the prow of a vessel at or below the water-line, and intended to ram enemy vessels, it was found off Atlit, south of Haifa, in 1980. I’m afraid my picture below does not do it justice.
The Atlit Ram; you can see a helmet surmounted with a star – the sign of the Dioscuri – in the casting.
Fishing boat found in the Kinneret in 1986 by two fishermen from Kibbutz Ginosar, dated between 130 BCE and 80 CE.
Models of boats.
Examples of knots, including a magen david!
Amphorae found on the sea-bed of the Mediterranean.
And the Mersey connections? The INS Eilat, the monument to which is outside the Clandestine Immigration and Navy Museum, started life as HMS Zealous, built at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead in 1942 and sold to Israel in 1955; and at the National Maritime Museum, 18th century Maltese model of a Mediterranean galley, courtesy of Liverpool City Museum!