The British transport Empire Heywood, which has been under repair here since last Sunday when an explosion in its hold blew a hole in the vessel’s side, hurriedly sailed from Haifa last night with 750 Jewish deportees after an anonymous telephone call warned the port manager that the ship would be blown up.
The vessel is expected to cruise in the Mediterranean for several days before proceeding to Cyprus, as sufficient camp facilities are not ready.
Meanwhile, the Empire Rival, the Heywood’s sister ship on the Cyprus shuttle run, is reported to be settling by the stern, but naval exports say that it is not expected that the ship will sink. Both the Heywood and the Rival were sabotaged by the Haganah, a “Voice of Israel” broadcast said yesterday.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.