Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Haganah הגנה was a revised Flower Class Canadian corvette (1942-43 Program)
Registered name: HMCS Norsyd Nickname: Nur
HMCS Norsyd was named for North Sydney, Nova Scotia
She sailed under Panamanian flag
Built: by Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Co. Quebec City (Builder: Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., Collingwood)
Ordered:January 2, 1942
Laid down: January 14, 1943
Launched: July 31, 1943
Commissioned: December 22, 1943
Displacement: 970 tons
Length: 208.3 feet
Beam: 33.1 feet
Draught: 11 feet
Top Speed: 16 knots
# Officers: 6 # Crew: 79
Weapons: 1-4" Gun, 1-2 pdr, 2-20mm, Hedgehog
Pendant (Hull Number): K520

In 1946, HMCS Norsyd and her sister ship, HMCS Beauharnois, were purchased by the FB Company, when they were put up for sale as war surplus.
Palyam.org cites: both 'vessels were made serviceable for crossing the Atlanticat a shipyard in Staten Island."

On February, 1946,in the afternoon, SS Haganah הגנה Norsyd sailed from Staten Island, where she had been moored alongside SS Beauharnois in Brewers Drydock.

David Baum served as Second Engineer, and Engineering officer aboard SS Haganah הגנה K18 and K28.
David Baum cites:when SS Haganah הגנה arrived at Marseille, "Our first contacts were Rudy (Shmaria Tzameret) and the Baharlia Brothers (ship chandlers), all very impressive people. The crew worked on regular maintenance while a shore gang installed the wooden shelves which served as bunks for the olim."

Arye Friedman served aboard SS Norsyd Haganah הגנה when she sailed from New York.
Bernard Marks cites: "the Norsyd “Hagana” bound for Marseilles, France. It was here that our Scandinavian Captain debarked and we all moved up a notch. Arieh became captain, Larry Silverstein became first mate and I became second mate."

Bernard Marks served as Second Mate aboard SS Haganah הגנה K18 and K28.
Bernard Marks cites: "I presented myself to Captain Arieh Friedman (an Israeli) on board SS Norsyd which was moored alongside the SS Beauharnois in Brewers Drydock on Staten Island. These sister ships were Canadian corvettes and the first ships from America to enter the Aliya Bet “trade”. In fact, this situation was so new that we actually picked up bunker oil in British Gibraltar. We departed Staten
Island in the afternoon on an early February 1946 day. The Beauharnois “Wedgwood” bound for Italy and the Norsyd “Hagana” bound for Marseilles, France."

In 1946, Harry Silverman was asked by Yona Yanai of kibbutz Ein haShofet, Shaliach for haShomer haTzair in the United States, to sign up to serve on a Haapalah boat.
Harry Silverman sailed to France, aboard SS Haganah הגנה., and await passage to Palestine.
Harry Silverman remained aboard SS Haganah הגנה and served in the Galley.
Harry Silverman cites: "five men from my kibbutz (Gimel) and from Kibbutz Daled sailed on the "Haganah" for France, and I was one of them."

I.F. Stone sailed aboard SS Haganah הגנה to France, where he joined displaced persons as they sought a clandestine port of embarcation, joined an illegal convoy, ran the British blockade, and landed illegally in Palestine.
I.F.Stone sent regular dispatches on the conflict between the British and Palestinian Jews, and Harry Silverman helped him with photographs of the ship and its passengers.
Underground to Palestine first appeared as a series of articles published in PM, which won the Newspaper Guild of New York, Page One award in 1947.
It was published in 1946, then reprinted in 1978 as Underground to Palestine - and Reflections Thirty Years Later
I.F. Stone cites: “They have been kicked around as Jews and now they want to live as Jews. Over and over I heard it said: ‘We want to build a Jewish country. ... We are tired of putting our sweat and blood into places where we are not welcome.' ... These Jews want the right to live as a people, to build as a people, to make their contribution to the world as a people. Are their national aspirations any less worthy of respect than those of any other oppressed people?”
I.F. Stone cites in Underground to Palestine: "We felt proud and exultant to arrive with the Jewish flag at our mast. The refugees looked for the first time upon the Holy Land with wondering and often tear-filled eyes. This was the sight for which they had longed with all their hearts, the sight for which they had risked their lives crossing one illegal border after another and on the high seas.¨

On June 23, 1946, SS Haganah הגנה sailed from Marseille to Sète, where 1,000 passengers came aboard.
Fritz Liebreich cites SS Haganah הגנה carried 1,015 passengers.
AmutaYam.org.il cites SS Haganah הגנה carried 999 passengers.
Palyam.org cites "The Balboa took aboard 999 Maaplim and carried them within 50 miles of Palestine."
David Baum cites: "we boarded 999 olim at Port-de-Bouc."
Harry Silverman cites: "On the 2"° July 1946 we left the small port of La Ciotat without any mishaps and with the full support of the French."
Bernard Marks cites: "we picked up 1200 survivors in Port de Bouc and set sail East"
Aryeh Friedman served as Captain aboard Balboa SS Haganah הגנה
Yehoshua Rabinovitch Bahrav served as Palyam Commander aboard Balboa SS Haganah הגנה
Abraham Lichovsky served as Gidoni , wireless radio operator, aboard Balboa SS Haganah הגנה
Bezalel Drori served as Palyam Escort aboard Balboa SS Haganah הגנה

David Baum served aboard SS Haganah הגנה on her voyage from Sète.
David Baum cites: "Visitors from Mosad I'Aliyah Bet came to see the first volunteer-Jewish crew. We were taken to the camp at St. Gerome and met with the staff and our future passengers. This was a mutually beneficial experience: for us, it was our first contact with survivors anxious to get to Eretz Yisrael. For them, it was a much-appreciated surprise to meet the Jewish-American crew.
Upon completion of the preparations, we boarded 999 olim at Port-de-Bouc and set sail."

On June 30, 1946, Balboa SS Haganah הגנה transferred her passengers at sea, about 100 miles off the coast of Palestine, to a Turkish boat, Akbel, renamed Beriah ביריה, after a Zionist settlement which had been taken over by the British earlier that year.
Palyam.org cites "Balboa SS Haganah הגנה tcarried them within 50 miles of Palestine. She met with the old Turkish tub, the "Akbel" at a preset coordinateat sea, and transferred all the Maaplim to the Turkish vessel by launch."
Bernard Marks cites: Balboa SS Haganah הגנה was "followed by a small Turkish “tub” caller Akbel and renamed “Biria”. The ruse was that we were to pretend we were disabled and signal our distress to Akbel, when she came to our rescue, take her by force. We would then install our “cargo” on her and the shoo-shoo would compel her to sail to Haifa, while we returned to Europe for another load."
Akbel Beriah ביריה was intercepted by HMS Virago and towed into Haifa, and her passengers were interned.

Avraham Lichovsky served as Gidoni גדעוני, wireless radio operator, aboard SS Haganah הגנה.

The Maapilim aboard SS Haganah הגנה were transferred to another ship offshore from Algeria., and SS Haganah הגנה returned to Europe, stopping at Milos Μήλος, to take on fuel and food, and set sail for Yugoslavia.
David Baum cites: "Our next port was an anchorage at Milos, where we refueled from oil drums. Aryeh Paar, Larry Silverstein and Berney Marks rigged up a boom and added blocks and tackles, using the anchor windlass for power. They lifted the drums to the deck where Sammy Applebaum and I ruled them above a trough and spilled the oil into the double bottom. "
Yehuda Sela cites at Milos Μήλος, they met "two Israelis waiting for us there; one was Benyamin Yerushalmi, active in the Mossad for Aliyah Bet."

In July, 1946, SS Haganah הגנה sailed from Milos to Bakar, in northern Yugoslavia, with an overnight in Split.

On July 30, 1946, SS Haganah הגנה received word that the Maapilim would arrive at night, and that evening a train arrived, and stopped close to SS Haganah הגנה.
At night fall, the Maapilim began to board; the boarding continued for hours.
Yehuda Sela cites "At first sight, the human material seemed of a different caliber than on the first trip - they were definitely an older group of people. There were also children and even some infants. A group of Hungarian Shomrim came on board with a flag and took their places among the passengers."
David Baum cites: " The olim arrived by rail, and when they lined up alongside the ship, we could see there were more people than on the first trip. As boarding proceeded we were amazed to see a second train arrive. The total number of passengers was 2,678. "

On July 31, 1946, SS Haganah הגנה sailed from Bakar, carrying 2,678 passengers, and made her way through islands of the Adriatic.
AmutaYam.org.il cites SS Haganah הגנה sailed from Bakar on July 25, 1946, carrying 2,768 passengers.
Palyam.org. cites SS Haganah הגנה sailed from Bakar on July 24, 1946, carrying 2,768 passengers.
David Baum cites: "The total number of passengers was 2,678."
The engine conked out, SS Haganah הגנה began to list, and without the engine, there was no electricity and the air-conditioning stopped working.
David Baum cites: "We had trouble with the fuel, and because of the crowd of people everywhere we could not get to the fuel tanks to see what the fuel situation was. We probably drew too much fuel from one tank and reached the water at the bottom of the tank. The water is what probably killed the engine. We went down to the engine room and started pumping from another tank. We also took wood from a large number of bunks and burned it for fuel to get the engine running again. That, together with the pumping from a full tank, got the engine running and the ship moving. The temperature in the engine room had gone up to 48° C, but the crew, together with the partisans who helped them, worked in shifts for a short time and then rotated, until the situation was back to normal.

A British warship answered the distress call from SS Haganah הגנה, and approached, shining a searchlight on the ship, and asked over a megaphone the identity and purpose of the boat.
The response from SS Haganah הגנה was that she was carrying Jewish passengers to the Land of Israel and needed help.
The British left SS Haganah הגנה, and the crew repaired the engine.
Yehudah Sela cites "in the midst of all our troubles, two healthy babies were born and their names signified the struggle that we had all gone through and which was still not over: Nachshon (the first to enter the waters of the Red Sea at the command of Moshe) and Gonen (Defender). Some time later these babies were a source of inspiration for a poem by Natan Alterman: "A Conversation Between Nachshon and Gonen."

As SS Haganah הגנה approached territorial waters of Palestine, the British intercepted her, and commanded that she stop, but SS Haganah הגנה did not heed the instruction, and continued, under full steam, toward Haifa.
The Captain of the British destroyer cites: "The cannon shot across the bow was disregarded with disdain and it may be necessary to fire a volley from a Lewis machine gun into the bridge.”
Then, a second British destroyer, rammed SS Haganah הגנה, disabling her propeller, and sent over a detachment of British Marines to board Haganah הגנה.
While the Maapilim resisted the British attacks, the crew and Palyam members changed their clothes, becoming indistinguishable from the other passengers.
SS Haganah הגנה was towed to Haifa, and the Maapilim were transferred to Atlit Detention Camp.
David Baum cites: "Since the Wedgwood and Beria had arrived during the preceding weeks, the camp at Atlit was full. Our passengers were divided up onto several Aliyah Bet ships which had previously been captured by the British and were tied up to the Haifa breakwater.
Eventually the passengers were taken to Atlit."

In April, 1946, HMCS Norsyd sailed from New York for Marseille, having been renamed Balboa, and posing as a UNRA vessel.
The Captain who served aboard HMCS Norsyd Balboa was Swedish, and had signed on to deliver her to Europe.
Aryeh Friedman served as Palyam Escort and First Mate aboard HMCS Norsyd Balboa when she sailed from New York.
Palyam.org cites: the crew of HMCS Norsyd Balboa 'consisted of ex-GIs and others, all of whom were members of haBonim and haShomer haTzair youth movements in America and Canada."