Israel in Mourning As Submarine Dakar is Officially Declared Lost

Flags flew at half mast throughout Israel today following a nationally broadcast statement by Defense Minister Moshe Dayan officially declaring the missing submarine Dakar, which disappeared 41 days ago, to be lost with her 69 officers and crew. The Knesset held a special mourning session attended by President Zalman Shazar while, at a special session of the Cabinet, Prime Minister Eshkol issued messages of condolence to the families of the Dakar’s crew.

Funeral services for the deceased Navy men were recited by the armed forces chief chaplain, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, aboard the destroyer Yaffo, ten miles out at sea. Admiral Shlomo Harel, commander of Israel’s Navy, delivered a eulogy. Three wreaths were cast into the sea, representing memorial tributes from the Defense Ministry, the Navy and the submarine flotilla.

(Memorial services for the Dakar’s crew were held today in New York and Philadelphia, attended by local dignitaries, members of the Israel diplomatic corps and representatives of the four nations which aided Israel in a fruitless search for the submarine. In Philadelphia, Admiral Robert H. Speck, Commandant of the Fourth Naval District, spoke on behalf of those nations.)

The Dakar, a British-built submarine purchased by Israel last year, went missing in the Eastern Mediterranean on Jan. 25, 1968 while on her maiden voyage under the Israel flag from Portsmouth. England to Haifa. A two week air-sea search by Naval units of Israel, the United States, Britain, Greece and Turkey failed to turn up any evidence of the Dakar’s fate.

Faint hopes persisted that some clue would be discovered. Today, however. Gen, Dayan informed the Cabinet that such was not the case. Memorial parades will be held on military and naval posts throughout Israel tomorrow. The Chaplain’s office announced that the shiva, the traditional seven day mourning period, will begin for the families of the Dakar men today.

The Dakar’s loss adds another name — and another nationality — to the long roster of ships that have vanished without trace. But the mystery of how a modern undersea craft with the latest equipment and a highly trained crew could disappear in the heavily trafficked waters of the Mediterranean, will persist. Though built 25 years ago, the Dakar was rennovated to an extent that amounted to an almost complete re-building last year. She was equipped with the most modern navigational aids, radar and other devices. Her crew trained in Britain for months before taking over the craft and she underwent extensive tests, including diving to a depth of 360 feet, under the supervision of British and Israeli naval experts. The Dakar left Portsmouth for Israel on Jan. 9 and re-fueled at Gibraltar. After that, she was ordered to proceed to Haifa submerged. A sister submarine, the Dolphin, which accompanied her, arrived at Haifa without incident.

In his eulogy today aboard the Yaffo, Admiral Harel said: “This sea, which was so cruel to us, is actually our only open border to the free world. It was on a mission to safeguard this border and assure its being kept open at all times, that the 69 heroes of the Dakar perished. Their sacrifice has not been in vain.”