Sa'ar 2-class missile boat

	INS Mivtach on display at the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum, Haifa
Class overview
Name	Sa'ar 2 class
Builders	Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie
Operators	Israeli Navy
Preceded by	Dvora-class fast patrol boat
Succeeded by	Sa'ar 3-class missile boat
In commission	1967-1997
Completed	6
General characteristics
Type	Missile boat
Displacement	220 tons (250 tons loaded)
Length	45 m (148 ft)
Beam	7.62 m (25.0 ft)
Draft	1.8 m (5.9 ft)
Propulsion	4 diesel engines, four shafts, total of 12,800 hp (9,500 kW)
Speed	40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph)
Range	2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement	40
Sensors and ; processing systems	Thomson-CSF Neptune THD 1040 air & surface surveillance radar; Selenia Orion RTN-10X fire-control radar; ELAC hull-mounted sonar; variable depth sonar;
Armament	4 × RGM-84 Harpoon SSMs; and; 2 × Gabriel II SSMs; or; 5-8 x Gabriel II SSMs; 1 × Bofors L/70 40 mm gun; 2 × 0.30 in (7.62 mm) caliber M1919A4 Browning machine guns; 4 × 7.62 mm FN MAG 58 general-purpose machine guns;

The Sa'ar 2 class ("Shalechet") is a

Israeli Navy modification of the German Navy's Jaguar-class fast attack craft. Three of the ships class were converted from Sa'ar 1-class patrol boats

in 1974.

Design and development

The Israeli naval command had reached the conclusion by the early 1960s that their old Second World War-era destroyers, frigates and corvettes were obsolete and new ships and vessels were needed.

INS Eilat at the time of her sinking, surveyed the available torpedo boat designs and recommended the German Jaguar class.^[5] The Israeli Navy asked Lürssen, the shipyard which built the Jaguar class, to modify the wooden design by switching to steel construction, adding 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) to the length, and revising the internal compartmentalization.^[6] Due to Arab League pressure on the German government, this plan was not continued and a new builder was sought.^[7] The Israeli Navy discovered that the Cherbourg-based Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie shipyard owned by Félix Amiot had experience building patrol boats in cooperation with Lürssen and would build the boats, based upon the German designs and plans.^[8] The engines were imported from Germany.^[9] The project received the codename "Falling Leaves" (Hebrew: שלכת).^[10]

An initial group of six boats was ordered in 1965, with an armament of Bofors 40 mm guns and torpedo tubes and provision for fitting sonar. This group was designated the Sa'ar 1 class. When refitted with Gabriel anti-ship missiles, they became the Sa'ar 2 class. A second group of six boats, the Sa'ar 3 class, was ordered in 1968, with an OTO Melara 76 mm gun instead of the Bofors guns of the Sa'ar 1 class and with anti-submarine provisions omitted.^[11]

Description

The boats were long, slender vessels. They measured 44.9 metres (147 ft 4 in) in length, with a

diesel engines giving a total power of 13,500 bhp (10,100 kW) and driving four propeller shafts. This gave a maximum speed of 42 knots (78 km/h; 48 mph). Range was 2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) or 1,000 nautical miles (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).^[11]

The vessels in the class come in two versions of armament. One version is equipped with five to eight

Gabriel II surface-to-surface missiles (SSM), one Bofors L/70 40 mm gun, two 0.30 in (7.62 mm) caliber M1919A4 Browning machine guns and four 7.62 mm FN MAG 58 general-purpose machine guns

.

The other version is equipped with four

RGM-84 Harpoon

SSMs and two Gabriel II SSMs.

Boats in the class

Number	Name	Translation	Builder	Launched	Fate
Sa'ar 2 class^[12]
311	INS Mivtach	Reliance	Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie	11 April 1967	Retired 1994^[13]
312	INS Miznak	Jet branch		1967	Retired 1994^[13]
313	INS Misgav	Stronghold		1967	Retired 1994^[13]
321	INS Eilat	Eilat		14 June 1968	Retired 1994^[13]
322	INS Haifa	Haifa		14 June 1968
323	INS Akko	Akko		1968

References

Citations

^ Friedman, 1989. p. 230.
^ Friedman 1997. p. 304.
^ Friedman 1997. p. 628.
^ Rabinovich, pp. 23-27
^ Rabinovich, p. 35
^ Rabinovich, pp. 47-48
^ Rabinovich, p. 61
^ Rabinovich, pp. 62-63
^ Rabinovich, p. 18
^ Rabinovich, p. 56
^ ^a ^b Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 192–193.
^ Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 193
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Baker 1998, p. 367.

Sources

Baker III, A.D. (1998). The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1998–1999. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 1-55750-111-4
.

Friedman, Norman (1997). The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapons Systems, 1997-1998. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 1-55750-268-4
.

Friedman, Norman (1989). The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapon Systems. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 1-55750-262-5
.

Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław, eds. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 1-55750-132-7
.

Rabinovich, Abraham (1988). The Boats of Cherbourg. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Co.
ISBN 0-8050-0680-X
.

[1] Friedman, 1989. p. 230.

[2] Friedman 1997. p. 304.

[3] Friedman 1997. p. 628.

[4] Rabinovich, pp. 23-27

[5] Rabinovich, p. 35

[6] Rabinovich, pp. 47-48

[7] Rabinovich, p. 61

[8] Rabinovich, pp. 62-63

[9] Rabinovich, p. 18

[10] Rabinovich, p. 56

[conways47_p192-3-11] Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 192–193.

[12] Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 193

[cf98_p367-13] Baker 1998, p. 367.

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Sa'ar 2-class missile boats
Mivtach Miznak Misgav Eilat Haifa Akko
Preceded by: Sa'ar 1 class Followed by: Sa'ar 3 class
List of ships of the Israeli Navy