Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Lamed-Hay [35] Heroes of Gush Etzion ל"ה גיבורי גוש עציון was a two-masted schooner
Registered name: Syvlia Starita Giosue Carducci
Nickname: הזקנה The Elder
Built: at the shipyard at Via Reggio, Skeleton made of wood veneer.
Engine: Mercedes Benz 4-cylinder diesel, 2,120 horsepower, 800 basket "d (actual 500)
Speed: 5 - 6 knots
She belonged to the Mario Starita Company, and was registered in Napoli.

Syvlia Starita Lamed-Hay [35] Heroes of Gush Etzion הל"ה גיבורי גוש עציון was acquired by Mossad leAliyah Bet, through a local Italian agent.

On January 17, 1948, Lamed-Hay Heroes of Gush Etzion "ל"ה גיבורי גוש עציון sailed from Venice, carrying 274 (280) passengers (179 men and 88 women, of whom 12 children and teenagers.
Most of the Maapilim were from Hungary and Romania, members of the Zionist movement, Mizrachi - 7, Ehud - 49, haShomer haTzair - 47, Gordonia - 21, Habonim - 42, Dror - 45), who on January 14, 1948 had been transported by train to Venezia.
The Maapilim, shuttled at night in two motor boats, boarded at Palestrina, some 12 miles from the city..
She had a Captain, three sailors, two old mechanics, who had already been on other voyages, the Chief Engineer, an Italian, had sailed Af-Al-Pi.
Italian customs authorities seized much of the food brought by the Joint Distribution Committee, and Ada Sereni intervened on behalf of the passengers.

January 17, 1948, 05:30AM, a tugboat arrived to tow Lamed-Hay Fallen Heroes of Gush Etzion "ל"ה גיבורי גוש עציון through the canal to the outside of the port.
The tugboat towed her on to a sandbar, and someone was sent to Venezia with the tugboat to get another tug to help, and with help from Ada Sereni, another tugboat came, and with the tidal currents receding, she was pulled off the sandbar.

Lamed-Hay [35] Fallen Heroes of Gush Etzion "ל"ה גיבורי גוש עציון sailed through the Palestrina channel to the Adriatic Sea, along the Italian west coast, Golfo di Manfredonia, to the Canale d'Otranto,
On the night of the January 17,1948, a storm forced her to dock at Otranto, until the following morning, when she sailed towards the Greek islands.

On January 29, 1948, Lamed-Hay [35] Fallen Heroes of Gush Etzion "ל"ה גיבורי גוש עציון encountered another storm.
On January 30, she had engine problems.