Reports from Moscow today quoted Soviet sources as identifying the guided missiles which sank the Elath as the Soviet Styx type. The Soviet sources said they were fired from 160-ton Osa-class missile attack boats which the Soviet Union recently supplied to Egypt. The craft were used for the first time in combat.
The Styx is described as a rocket-powered projectile which, like a small airplane, can change course to insure a direct hit. The three missiles that struck the Elath hit her in the boiler room, the engine room and at the stern, presumably where the vessel’s steering gear is located. A fourth missile reportedly exploded in the water. Each of the Osa-class boats carries four missile firing tubes.
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.
