INS Dakar

    The Dakar was originally a British T-class submarine which was launched September 28th, 1943 by the British navy. It was active in the British navy until it was purchased by Israel in 1965. After successfully completing two months of trials, Dakar docked in Portsmith, England. On January 9th, 1968, Dakar departed the shores of England. On January 15th, Dakar was speeding passed the Straight of Gibraltar and making excellent time. Because of her excellent time (averaging over 8knots) they moved the welcoming ceremony from February 2nd to January 29th. At 0610 hours on January 24th Dakar sent its last transmission in regards to its location. Less than eighteen hours later it was never heard from again (1, 2).

(Above picture is the INS Dakar before its launch from Portsmith, England graciously taken from Wikipedia.org)

    On January 26th an international search and rescue operation began, including units from Israel, Great Britain, the United States, Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. On January 2, a radio station in Nicosia, Cyprus, received a distress call on the frequency of Dakar’s emergency buoy, apparently from south-east of Cyprus, but no further traces of the submarine were found. On 31 January, all non-Israeli forces abandoned their search at sunset. Israeli forces continued the search for another four days, giving up at sundown on 4 February 1968 (1, 2).

    On 24 May, 1999 a large body was detected on the seabed at a depth of some 3000 meters (9800 feet). On 28 May the first video pictures were taken, making it clear that it was Dakar that had been found. She rests on her keel, bow to the northwest. Her conning tower is snapped off and fallen over the side. The stern of the submarine, with the propellers and dive planes, broke off aft of the engine room and rests beside the main hull. Some small artifacts were recovered, including the boat's gyrocompass (1, 2, 6).

    The exact cause of the loss is unknown, but it appears that no emergency measures had been taken before Dakar dove rapidly through her maximum depth, suffered a catastrophic hull rupture, and continued her plunge to the bottom. The emergency buoy was released by the violence of the hull collapse, and drifted for a year before washing ashore (1, 2).

    Today in Israel numerous streets, buildings, and schools are named for the submarine and its perished crew members. It is considered to be the greatest tragedy that has ever occurred in the Israeli Navy.

(Above picture is how the Dakar likely sank taken graciously from Wikipedia.org)