Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד was a revised Flower Class (1943-44 Program) Canadian corvette
Registered name: HMCS Beauharnois
Built: 1943, by Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Co., at Quebec City
Laid down: November 8, 1943
Launched: May 11, 1944,
Commissioned: September 25, 1944
Displacement: 970 tons (1170 - 1350 full complement)
Length: 208.3 ft. Width: 33.1 feet
Draught: 11 feet
Sir W. Wakefield cites: The gross registered tonnage GRT of HMCS Beauharnois was 1,039 tons
Her short length and shallow draught made them uncomfortable ships to live in.
Power: 2,750 shp
Engine: 4-cylinder triple expansion engine
Top Speed: 16 knots
Armament: 1 x 102mm 1-4" gun 1 2 pounder gun 1 Hedgehog, 2 Depth charge throwers 2 depth charge chutes (30 charges)
Max speed: 16 knots
Complement: 47-109; Officers: 6; Crew: 79
Pendant: (Hull Number): K540
As Colon, she sailed under Panamanian flag.
She was named Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד, after Colonel Josiah Wedgwood, M.P, Baron Wedgwood of Barlaston, who urged that no obstacles be put in the path of the Palestine restoration movement, and was critical of appeasement and of limitations on the migration of Jews to Palestine as described in th 1939 White Paper, and of German refugees to Britain and worked tirelessly to help European Jews.
Gan Yoshiya גן יאשיה‎, a moshav in Emek Hefer, was named in the honor of Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד.

HMCS Beauharnois served as escort of supply convoys from the United States to England.

On July 12, 1945, HMCS Beauharnois was paid off, and decommissioned.

In 1946, HMCS Beauharnois was acquired, through the generosity of Rudolph Sonnenborn, of Baltimore, by Mossad leAliyah Bet, together with ex-HMCS Norsyd, for $150,000US, and refitted at an equal cost.

In April, 1946, on the day after Passover Seder, HMCS Beauharnois and Norsyd sailed from the Port of New York.
David Gottlieb cites: "Our ship was berthed in the Todd shipyards on Staten Island for three months while it underwent repairs and was readied for an Atlantic crossing and in that interim our crew was moved to a ‘safe house’ in the Seagate area of Coney Island."

Out at sea, Beauharnois suffered from continuous engine trouble, and sometimes was forced to stop and float along while temporary repairs were made.
She put in to Ponta Delgada in the Azores, for serious repair work, and she stayed there for ten days.
Aryeh Malkin cites that while in port at Ponta Delgada, " a Rabbi from Lithuania who was the only Jew on the island found our ship and begged the captain to take him along; he promised to earn his keep at kitchen work and the captain thought he might be needed once we took on our passengers."

On June 19, 1946, Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד sailed from Vado, near Savonna, carrying approximately 1,250 Eastern European passengers, half of whom were Polish, most of the remainder were Greek, with a few Italians and a few Russian partisans.
She sailed south along the coast of Italy and through the Strait of Messina.
Yehuda Silverman Sela cites: "on the ‟Wedgwood‟ there were 30 crew members; five of them were Israelis, three of them specialists including the Captain and the First Mate. The other twenty-two were all members of youth movements who intended to remain in Palestine."
Benyamin Strasberg Native cites: Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד sailed northwest from Savona "to a place where there is now a power station and a pier for loading bulk products, we anchored and waited for the Ma’apilim."
"They waited for passengers, who were coming from several distant places in Italy. In the morning, Italian police appeared, and took up positions around Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood, the maapilim boarded. When they were all on board, lines to the shore were cut and the ship moved out and sailed to the south leaving the police helpless. Eliezer Tal and and Yisrael Rotem left in a lifeboat, and returned to shore."
David Gottlieb cites: As the Maapilim boarded Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד, the Carbonari were sent to stop the loading, and encountered Yehuda Arazi and American journalist, Izzie F. Stone. “When Stone saw the Carbonari, he took out his press credential, which had been issued by the U.S. State Department, and said he would report them to Washington for preventing Holocaust survivors from going to their homeland. The Italian police captain wanted Izzie to come to the police station and asked him to get the ship to promise we wouldn’t leave. However, we were given permission to finish loading, and once we did, we cut our lines and headed out to sea, leaving Stone behind.”
Dov Magen served as Commander aboard Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד when she sailed from Vado.
In his report, Dov Magen cites: "the crew was of low standard, technically."
Israel Auerbach served aboard aboard Beauharnois Josiah Wedgwood יאשיהו ווג'ווד when she sailed from Vado.
Israel Auerbach cites: “The crew was not bad. The men were disciplined and ready to do whatever had to be done. Most of the trouble was with the Captain and the First Mate (who were usually uncontrollably drunk). The relations between the officers and the Palyamnikim and sailors were warm and good. My conclusion is that it is always better to work with our own people than with foreigners. We can get along with our own people better.”