The Boats of Cherbourg: The Navy That Stole Its Own Boats and Revolutionized Naval Warfare

Abraham Rabinovich writes so well that I kept fearing the day I would finally finish reading his masterpiece of international intrigue. The story, for Israel, is not unlike the American "skunk works" ultra-secretive design of the "Stealth Fighter" & "Stealth Bomber" - in that, in near total secrecy Israel revolutionized naval warfare. However, the United States is expected to create technological breakthroughs with the amount of resources availbe to her. In the 1960's Israel's flagship was a destroyer named "Eliat." Like everything in the Israeli navy - the "Eliat" was a 'hand-me-down' from the French Navy. Israel could not afford to add another destroyer to its tiny navy and this created a dilemma. What the Israeli Navy needed was a 'force multiplier' - several fast multi-purpose ships that packed a serious punch. In fact, Israel needed enough boats to simultaneously mount an attack/defense against Syria and Egypt. A young Israeli engineer named Even-Tov became convinced that he could design a devastating sea-to-sea missile that used an altimeter and radar. Even-Tov convinced the Defense Minister - Yitzhak Rabin that he could deliver a sea-to-sea missile, code-named 'Gabriel', within a year. This promise of a "serious punch" was the catalyst for the most intensive weapons system design project the Israel people (let alone the Israeli Navy) had ever undertaken. Israel's future Navy would be centered entirely on a small fleet of "missile boats." Up until this time, only the Soviets had created missile boats. It was only a matter of time before the Soviets shared a few missile boats with Egypt. In fact, Egypt used a "Styx-class" missile boat to sink the "Eliat." The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) sent naval officers to Europe to look for this do-it-all boat on which to place 'Gabriel' along with the hopes of the future navy. They decided, in principal, on a German ship design called 'Jaguar.' The Israeli officer's report would explain that many of the European boats he reviewed were nice but the Jaguar was a "boat made for war." IDF engineers spent over 18 months redesigning the wooden boat to be a couple meters longer and steal-hulled. This book reveals the Israeli geniuses that revolutionized naval combat. If it were only as simple as having the right idea, the right people, in the right place, at the right time - a French embargo was instituted within months of the delivery of the last five boats. I won't reveal any more of the story. This is a wonderful book. I also strongly recommend "Six Days of War" by Michael B. Oren.

I very much enjoyed reading this book. The first ship in history to be sunk by a guided missile launched from another naval vessel was the Israeli destroyer Eilat. This was an unprovoked attack from a Soviet-built missile boat while the Israeli ship was in international waters. The Israeli navy realized that three objectives had to be met. First, rather than larger destroyers, small, fast missile boats more appropriate to Israel's needs would have to be built. Second, electronic countermeasures would need to be developed to protect Israeli vessels from Soviet-built Egyptian and Syrian missile boats. Third, Israel would have to design its own guided missiles to eliminate the threat posed by the Arab missile boats. This book tells the true story of how Israel accomplished all three goals, just in time to defend itself during the 1973 Yom Kippur war.The missile boats were built under contract in Cherbourg, but France imposed a one-sided embargo of supplying military hardware to Israel during the time the last of the boats were being built. Israel completed the order by spiriting these boats out of France. Israel's Gabriel guided missile was ten years ahead of the Harpoon missile developed by the United States. The effectiveness of the defensive electronic countermeasures was theorectical, and could not be tested until used for the first time in battle. Mr. Rabinovich does an excellent job of relating this true story, and keeps the reader interested through the entire book. I also recommend Mr. Rabinovich's book on the Yom Kippur war.

I picked this up after reading Herman Wouk's "The Hope" and "The Glory". The Cherbourg Boats are mentioned in them and it prompted me to want to learn more about the event. "The Boats of Cherbourg" fit the bill perfectly, describing the history of the situation, the personalities involved and how it was pulled off.

Well written, easy to read page turner, incredibly well researched. It’s really the definitive history of the Israeli Navy.BZ!

Aside from the cloak and dagger element of the Israeli operation to take possession of the boats that had been purchased, the book describes in detail the reasons behind the purchase and the dire necessity to receive them.The French had put an embargo on the boats but refrained from publishing it for fear of strikes. The Israelis set up a convoluted way to reacquire the boats in a "not illegal" way.The aim of these boats was to be the vector for the Gabriel sea-to-sea missile the Israel had developed following the sinking of one of its ships by a Soviet missile. The Gabriel was, at the time, the most advanced of its type in the world. No other country had anything near to it.The proof was established during the 1973 Yom Kippur war when the Israeli navy managed to defeat both the Egyptian and the Syrian navy without sustaining a single loss.A fascinating read altogether.

The heroic exploits of Israel's Special Forces, Paratroopers, Golani Brigade, tank forces have proven that Israeli Jews are great warriors like their biblical forefathers, but this book reveals something of was not aware of: the heroics of its navy. So incredible are its accomplishments, that this page turner reads like a suspense novel, from the stealing of the missile boats from the French port of Cherbourg after Israel was denied possession due to the French embargo, to its defeat of the combined Arab navies in 1973, and its continued role in making the Israeli coasline one of the safest in the world, I recommend it highly to anyone desiring to read about breathless courage of the few against the many. I only wish I could have been one of the participants.

IT is fantastic story. How Israel managed to bring the missile boats out of Cherbourgh harbour is magnificent. What is even more fantastic is their victorys during the Yom Kipur war.

Mon évaluation porte sur la forme uniquement:livre imprimé vraiment n'importe comment,le rendant difficilement lisible.

This is a superb account not just about how the Israelis managed to snaffle their boats out of a French harbour where they had been paid for but embargoed by the French, and sail them back to Israel, but an outstanding account of how Israeli ingenuity turned small patrol boats into battle winning weapons. It is superbly written and grips the reader throughout the book. Highly recommended.

Abraham writing style is concise & easy to read, but he covers the story in all its detail. An amazing account of Israel's Naval Boats

This is one of those true incidents which are the stuff of legends. Israel had ordered and paid for a dozen boats which were to be manufactured in Cherbourg. Seven of these had already been delivered when politics intervened and the French President imposed an arbitrary embargo on any further deliveries to Israel. And so these five boats languished in Cherbourg and any amount of diplomatic pressures failed to have any persuasion on the French. And so the Israelis embarked on a mission which entailing their own boats from right under the nose of the French. This book brings to light not only the panache and chutzpah of the Israeli secret services but also reveals as to how these very boats were to one day literally transform the whole concept of naval warfare. Abraham Rabinovich deserves to be commened for having brought about this detailed and authoratitive book on the whole saga of the 'Boats of Cherbourg'.

Magnífica descripción de la historia de los patrulleros de Cherburgo. El libro está muy bien documentado, y tiene todos los ingredientes de una novela de Tom Clancy, solo que no es ficción. Podríamos dividir la historia en dos partes. Una es el desarrollo del proyecto de patrulleros armados con misiles por parte de Israel, que tuvo para ello que encargar los barcos (sin sus armas) a astilleros en el extranjero, y la otra es la parte naval de la guerra del Yom Kippur.El desarrollo de los misiles antibuque está muy bien descrito en el libro, y constituye toda una hazaña tecnológica y una prueba de tesón. Téngase en cuenta que cuando ellos los concibieron, no existían en ninguna marina del mundo los misiles superficie-superficie.El periplo de los patrulleros de Francia a Israel es toda una aventura, pero lo más intenso del relato viene después. La guerra del Yom Kippur en la mar es fascinante.Por poner una objeción, tal vez pueda resultar difícil recordar a lo largo de la lectura a todos los personajes que toman parte en la historia y que salen repetidas veces, al no estar uno habituado a los nombres hebreos.A uno le da que pensar el cómo una nación sin tradición marítima como Israel fue capaz de los logros relatados en este libro. Posiblemente, aunque resulte irónico, fuera esa falta de tradición la que le permitió a la marina israelí afrontar los retos de una manera práctica, libres de la rigidez y la enorme inercia propios de organizaciones con excesivas normas, y demasiado jerarquizadas. En España, por desgracia, resulta difícil, por decirlo suavemente, imaginar una historia similar.En definitiva, se trata de un libro que engancha, digno de tan magnífica historia. Altamente recomendable, como mínimo, para todos aquellos interesados en la historia naval de tiempos recientes.