By the early 1960s the Israeli navy was clearly falling behind dramatically. This is why it was decided to build new ships and especially missiles. For this purpose, the German Lurssen shipyards were chosen, but with the intervention of the Arab League, the Germans backed down.
So the maneuver was chosen... The boats would be built in France with German engines. In early 1695 Israelite crews were sent to France. Then the relations between France and Israel were good. However, this soon changed after the Israeli attack on Beirut airport in 1968.
France embargoed Israel. Despite the embargo the construction of the vessels continued at the Herburg shipyards as Israel had paid for the vessels. However, the reinforcement of the Egyptian navy by the Soviets with Osa and Komar missiles made the need to acquire the "Herburg missiles" from Israel imperative.
Plan and preparations
Under these circumstances, the Israelis decided to react forcefully. Their reaction was based on Rear Admiral Mordechai Limon's plan. Five of the 12 missiles ordered were ready and would begin the phase of sea trials. This is exactly what the Israelis decided to take advantage of in order to bring the ships from Cherbourg in northwestern France to Haifa in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Israelis set up a shell company, Starboat, based in Panama that was supposedly engaged in oil exploration and was Norwegian-owned. All of the front company's staff were members of the Mossad. The front company asked the French to buy the Israeli ships to protect the drilling, as was the official justification. The agreement of the "company" with Israel, to which the missiles belonged, which had paid for them, was closed and the ships became the property of Starboat and with the signature of the French Minister of Defense.
A few Israeli sailors remained on the ships to train, supposedly, the company's new crews. But soon, secretly, 80 more Israeli navy men arrived in France. The Israelis had arrived in Europe in pairs as tourists and arrived in France, of course in political form, from various European countries, so as not to arouse suspicion.
The next difficulty was to refuel the ships. This was done gradually and with great care. By December 23, 1969, the Israeli "tourists" had arrived in Cherbourg, and the next day the resupply was completed. Food supplies were also ensured by purchases from the local grocery stores, in small quantities each time!
In order not to arouse suspicion on the night of departure by the noise of the engines, the Israeli boats regularly started their engines in the evenings. The Israelis, however, had also secured the supply by sea off Gibraltar and then off Lampedusa
Escape…
At 02:30 on December 25, the Israeli ships sailed as quietly as they could from the port of Cherbourg. The French understood nothing. They learned about the escape of the Israeli missiles from the British BBC 12 hours after the incident. French TV crews flew by helicopter into the North Sea to find out if the boats had sailed for Norway where they had been sold – to Starboat.
However, the rockets had already passed through the Bay of Biscay and entered the Mediterranean. They were refueled according to plan off Gibraltar, but one of them accidentally got water in the tanks which were emptied and cleaned before refueling resumed. The British spotted the ships and demanded to know their identity.
The Israelis did not respond and the British contented themselves with wishing them a "good trip", having realized that it was the Cherbourg boats, as the story, via the BBC, had already "travelled". Israeli vessels were spotted by journalists in the Mediterranean. South of Crete, Israeli F-4 fighters appeared above them and escorted them safely.
French setback... but the ships arrive
In the meantime, there was an uproar in Paris... The president blamed Defense Minister Michel Debre who ordered the French head of the armed forces to attack the ships with aircraft... The order was canceled by Prime Minister Delmas fearing escalation. The Israeli ships traveled a distance of 5,825 km arriving in Haifa on December 31, 1969.
The five vessels were INS Sufa (Storm), INS Ga'ash (Volcano), skipper Lt. Gil Koren, INS Herev (Sword), INS Hanit (Spear) and INS Hetz (Arrow). Unable to do anything else, the French expelled Limon, while the French officers in charge retired. Another consequence was the defense disengagement of Israel from France and the shift towards the USA. The "Herburg rockets" immediately after their arrival were equipped with surface-to-surface missiles Gabriel (later also Harpoon), Israeli electronic systems of MABAT and Rafael.