Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Tiger Hill טייגר הייל had belonged to the Greek Pandelis Line.
Registered name: Zeinikos Thraki Θράκη Eustratios Ευστράτιος
ID Number: 5614236
Built: 1887, by A McMillan & Son, in Dumbarton, Yard No: 278
Thraki Θράκη was the second of the threesome of Albania/Thraki Θράκη/Ionia
Launched: September 4, 1887
Length: 80.5 meters, 264 feet
Beam: 10.4 meters, 34 feet
Capacity: 1,499 tons
Nicholas Peppas cites: Thraki Θράκη had a tonnage of 1,481 tons
Engine: triple expansion engines producing 1,700 horsepower
Service Speed: 13 knots

From 1887 to 1916, Thraki Θράκη was operated by the Vapeur Panhellenique Panhellenios of Piraeus.

In 1916, Thraki Θράκη was acquired by the Pandelis Brothers and renamed Eustratios.
Then, she was requisitioned by the Greek government and the Allies as a troop transport ship.
On April 4, 1918, Thraki Θράκη was torpedoed 5 miles off Boulogne, by U-boat, UC 78, commanded by Captain Hans Kukat, and she suffered severe damage.
She was repaired in Toulon, and was made available for passenger routes in 1919.

In 1930, Thraki Θράκη was transferred to the Hellenic Coast Lines and renamed Pilion Πήλιο.

In 1933, Pilion Πήλιο, only 45 years old, was saved from the 1932 mandatory retirement, renamed Kypros Κύπρος, and stayed in service for a few more years.

In 1938, Kypros was acquired by T. Papadimitriou, and renamed Ellhniko Ypethro.

In 1939 Kypros Ellhnikos Ypaithron was acquired by the General Steamshipping Co., and renamed Tiger Hill.
Nicholas Peppas cites: "the allegation of Tiger Hill being another 1890 Greek ship (Zeinikos) is incorrect."

On August 3, 1939, Tiger Hill טייגר הייל sailed from Constanţa, organized by Mossad leAliyah Bet, carrying 750 refugees, including 501 Poles, and 54 Russians who were living in Bulgaria and moved onboard.
Katriel Yaffe served as Captain מפקד aboard Tiger Hill טייגר הייל when she sailed from Constanţa.

Tiger Hill טייגר הייל took on board the passengers from Frossoula Prosula, another illegal immigrant ship that was marooned in Lebanon.
Ev Blustein cites: "En route to Palestine, the Tiger Hill was contacted by another ship bearing 650 refugees from Czechoslovakia , a transport organized by a group of wealthy young men when the Germans marched into Prague on April 30,1939 and known as the Black Rose Transport. Beset by many problems, The Black Rose transport had had an arduous journey of 127 days and arranged for the transshipment of is passengers onto the Tiger Hill swelling the number aboard to 1417."

Katriel Yaffe went from the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv to Tiger Hill טייגר הייל, by launch, to take over command.
The captain of the British launch that surveyed the coast was bribed to stay away from the area of Ashdod, where the landing was to take place. The captain betrayed the Jews, and was on the spot when the transfer of the passengers took place.
When a British coastal vessel headed toward Tiger Hill טייגר הייל, Katriel Yaffe turned her around, and headed back to international waters.
The British fired on Tiger Hill טייגר הייל, and killed two people.

On September 1, 1939, the first day of World War II, Tiger Hill טייגר הייל, having received new orders: “When night descends head right into the shore of Tel Aviv with everyone on board”, ran up on the beach at Tel Aviv, near ‘the Red House’, after being fired upon by British gunboats.
The passengers descended and dispersed quickly into the crowd that had assembled on the beach.
Katriel Yaffe, crew members, and the escorts, left Tiger Hill טייגר הייל in a small boat, and reached the Yarkon River safely.