The Type 540 ''Gal''-class submarine is a slightly modified variant of the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
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 as the Vickers Type 540 at the
Vickers shipyards in
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...
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 ''Gal'' class of submarines were the first
Israeli Navy
The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...
submarines built to Israeli Navy specifications. They supplanted previous generations of submarines employed from 1958 by the Israeli navy which were refurbished and upgraded boats of the British
S class and
T class; submarines whose hull designs dated back to the decade before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
Since entering service in the late 1970s, these small but agile and sophisticated submarines were continuously upgraded with newer systems to maintain their technological edge. They were somewhat unusual in that all boats of the class were at one point equipped with six-tube retractable
Blowpipe surface-to-air missile launchers controlled from inside the boat, though these were later removed. The Israeli newspaper
Maariv
''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''.
The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms ...
reports that ''Gal''-class submarines were active in the
1982 Lebanon War.
During the war, a ''Gal''-class submarine fired two torpedoes and sank a Lebanese refugee boat, killing 25 people on board. During 1983 torpedo tube launched
Sub-Harpoon anti-ship missiles
An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good ...
and associated fire control systems were added to all boats of the ''Gal'' class.
NT 37E torpedoes were acquired to replace the older
Mk 37 models in 1987–88. All extensively overhauled in 1994–95, including improved sensors and fire control system.
In the late 1990s, the ''Gal'' submarines were replaced with the new, much larger s built by HDW in Germany. The ''Gal'' boats were decommissioned in the early 2000s. One was scrapped and two were sent to HDW in Germany in hopes of finding a foreign buyer. When none was found, in October 2007 ''Gal'' was shipped back to
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
, Israel and is now on display in the
Israeli Naval Museum. Some changes were made in the submarine to make it accessible to visitors, such as entrances cut into her port (left) side.
Ships
The first ship commissioned was ''Gal'' in December 1976. It was damaged by grounding on her delivery voyage but was repaired. ''Gal'' is now on display at the Israeli Naval museum in Haifa.
The next two ''Gal''-class submarines were named after their retired Israeli submarine predecessors of the retired British T class who themselves were named after two
sea monster
Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are of ...
s mentioned in
Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
51:9:
"Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days, In the generation of old! Art thou not it that hath cut
Rahab
Rahab (; Arabic: راحاب, a vast space of a land) was, according to the Book of Joshua, a woman who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites in capturing the city by hiding two men who had been sent to scout the city ...
(Rahav), and wounded the dragon? (in Hebrew,
Tanin)" These names will also be placed on two boats of the ''Dolphin'' class.
References
Sources
*''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995''
*http://www.submarines.dotan.net/gal/
*http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/gal.htm
*http://www.dolphin.org.il
{{Modern German submarines
Submarine classes
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
Submarines of Germany