Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Af Al Pi Chen אף על פי כן was was built as a Mark 2 tank landing craft
Formerly: TLC 147
Registered name: Farida Michele Parma,
Nickname: haPoleshet
Class: LCT(2), Tank Landing Craft, then LCT(R)(2) LCT Rocket.
Built: December, 1942, Stockton Construction Co. on Thornaby, Briton
Launched: September 23, 1941
Length: 48.5m, 159' 11"
Beam: 9.1m, 30'
Displacement: empty 300 tons, loaded 700 tons
Armament: 2-2 lb. pom-pom AA, a few machine guns
Engine: 3 diesel engines, 16 cylinder 150 horsepower
Speed: 7 knots
Af Al Pi Chen אף על פי כן means In Spite of This in Hebrew.

From March through May of 1943, Af Al Pi Chen אף על פי כן LCT(R)147 was a Tank Landing Craft serving in the British home waters, converted into a Landing Craft Rocket at Portsmouth Dockyard, which allowed firing of approximately 1000 rockets in preparation for a landing.
There were five reloads stored below deck, and the rocket stands and false deck could be disassembled after the initial assault if needed.
In June, 1943, she was transferred to the Mediterranean where she served during the invasion of North Africa.

In May, 1945, Af Al Pe Chen LCT(R)147 was paid off from British service.

In March, 1946, LCT(R)147 was transferred to the Italian Navy.
Shortly after, she was purchased by an Italian shipping company and renamed Michael Parma, and was used to haul agricultural products.

In 1946, TLC 147 was acquired by Mossad leAliyah Bet.

Af Al Pi Chen אף על פי כן LCT(R)147 was sailed by Palyam members from Venezia, towing a 200 ton tanker.
She encountered rough seas, and the tanker broke away forcing her to take refuge in Ancona.

On September 15, 1947, Af Al Pi Chen אף על פי כן sailed from Formia, carrying 434 passengers.
The Historic Naval Ships Association cites: " On 17 September 1947, Af Al Pi Chen departed Formia, Italy with 434 holocaust survivors crowded on board."

On September 17, 1947, just weeks after Exodus 1947, Af Al Pi Chen אף על פי כן sailed down the Adriatic Sea, for Palestine.
She was detected by a British plane west of Port Said بورسعيد‎, and intercepted by 4 British destroyers, including HMS Talybont.
There was a short struggle during which Af Al Pi Chen אף על פי כן was rammed by one of the destroyers; the British boarding teams took over the ship.
She was towed to Haifa חיפה, where the passengers were transported to Cyprus Κύπρος.
After internment, most passengers eventually made their way to Israel in 1948.

In 1956, during Operation Musketeer מבצע מוסקטר, Af Al Pe Chen אף על פי כן operated as a Tank Landing Craft one last time.
Although her engines were broken down, it was planned to push her with a tugboat to land tanks near Gaza strip.
The IDF took over the area before Af Al Pe Chen אף על פי כן arrived so the landing was no longer needed.

In 1958, Af Al Pe Chen אף על פי כן was decommissioned.

Yosef Almog realized that the Af-Al-Pi-Chen, retired from the Israeli Navy, was scheduled to be sold for scrap, was nearly all that was left of a heroic episode in the history of the State of Israel.
In 1968, Af Al Pe Chen אף על פי כן was hauled up on shore, cut into sections and reassembled, and became the centerpiece of the David HaCohen Clandestine Immigration and Navy Museum museum מוזיאון ההעפלה וחיל הים, at Allenby Street 204 דרך אלנבי, near the National Maritime Museum המוזיאון הימי הלאומי and Elijah's Cave מערת אליהו, in Haifa חיפה.
ISRAEL Magazine cites: "Part of the ship has been refitted with 50 cm. wide berths squeezed into the cramped belly of the ship; other parts of the ship, and the adjacent pavilion, display memorabilia from the period - ship models, historic photos, newspaper accounts and mementos from other "illegal" immigrant ships."

The Jewish Virtual Library.org cites: "On the 27th of September 1997, a 78 year-old Israeli presented himself at the Clandestine Immigration & Naval Museum near the southern entrance to Haifa, bearing a wreath and a simple poem he had penned: "I salute the Af-Al-Pi-Chen and all her sister ships – including those that went down...for on Israel’s 50th Independence Day, each and every one should go down in history as an oniyah lochemet – an ‘embattled ship’ – whose battles contributed immeasurably to the establishment of the state."
"Chanoch Touner – a Polish Jew who had survived the Holocaust because he was mobilized into forced labor (as in the movie Schindler’s List ) – had come to pay homage to the ship that had meant to bring him to the land of Israel fifty years earlier, a 42 meter-long vessel called the Af-Al-Pi-Chen (Despite All)."