# Israel claims its sub transited Suez Canal to warn off Iran



## CougarKing (4 Jul 2009)

How the Iranians will respond to this, if they even do so, will be another story altogether.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/660920




> Israelis say sub travelled through Suez Canal
> Jul 04, 2009 09:51 AM
> Diaa Hadid
> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
> ...


----------



## Kat Stevens (4 Jul 2009)

So, I guess the next move is for Russia to sell some Kilo boats to Iran.


----------



## aesop081 (4 Jul 2009)

Kat Stevens said:
			
		

> So, I guess the next move is for Russia to sell some Kilo boats to Iran.



Nope. Iran already has Kilo-class submarines.


----------



## Kat Stevens (4 Jul 2009)

Teach me to do my homework, won't it?


----------



## Old Sweat (4 Jul 2009)

Would someone who is knowledgeable comment on the veracity of this story. I know submariners are gutsy, but they also are close mouthed. Why would this be leaked?

The Canal is about 100 miles long and okay for a draught of 62 feet, or that at least is what google told me. Could not one but three Dolphin class submarines transit it undetected? Given the consequences of detection, to do so would suggest that the Egyptian government was complicit in the activty. Hmmm.


----------



## George Wallace (4 Jul 2009)

I doubt anything could pass through undetected, as they would have to pass through a Lock System.  To pass undetected would mean duplicity by a great number of people.


----------



## Old Sweat (5 Jul 2009)

There are no locks on the Suez Canal. Sea water can flow in from either end into the Great Bitter Lake.


----------



## George Wallace (5 Jul 2009)

No locks at the Mediterranean end?  Always thought there were.  Time to visit Google Earth....  :-\


----------



## George Wallace (5 Jul 2009)

With the shots of the canal on Google Earth, there is a lot of shipping passing throught the canal at one time, as well as a lot of Military installations along the canal.  I still see it as next to impossible for a sub to traverse the canal "undetected".  Someone (Several somebodies) has had to have remained silent.

What is the depth of the channel?

(Back to Google)

Facts and Figures......
of the Suez Canal



> In 2001 a large project got underway to deepen the Canal so that it could receive vessels of up to 210,000 tons with a depth of nineteen meters. And now things are getting even better and bigger with a planned development to 22 meters by 2010.





> *The Convoys*
> 
> Ships cannot just turn up at the Canal entrance, pay a man in the glass booth and then saunter on through. There is a large system and network of agencies and Government Bodies who control the arrangement of the Convoys and these must be strictly adhered to should one wish to sail through on time and with little hassle. To book a place on a convoy arrival times of the vessel must be sent 5 days prior to the event taking place.
> 
> There are three convoys daily passing through the Canal. There are two Convoys going Southbound (SB) and only one Convoy going Northbound (NB). The SB convoys are at 0100 and at 0700 hrs and the NB convoy is at 0500hrs. Vessels must arrive at a minimum of four hours before the departure time of the Convoy.


----------



## Old Sweat (5 Jul 2009)

Hereby displaying my landluber's grasp of all things nautical, I would not dismiss the story out of hand without further study. It seems to me that, however, to pull this off would require a lot of careful planning, tons of preparation, something like a very dark, very stormy night and sufficient reason to make the attempt. Besides, who the heck would be looking for a submarine(s) in the confined waters of the Suez Canal? One last point, in the Great War the Brits took submarines through the Dardanelles and played havoc with Turkish shipping in the Black Sea. The boats then returned to the Med. It might just be possible, which is why I am cannot understand leaking the story, unless somebody got really drunk and started bar room babbling. 

Edit to add: Link to characteristics of Israeli Dolphin class Submarine: 

http://www.nti.org/db/submarines/israel/index.html


----------



## Ex-Dragoon (5 Jul 2009)

The first line also states that one was deployed as part of a training exercise, with tensions ratchetting up there is no reason why the IDF would not keep the sub deployed to the Red Sea for a longer time period being supported from the Israeli naval base at Eilat.


----------



## GAP (5 Jul 2009)

Disinformation or it's ilk....works wonders in forcing Iran to cover one more area, which means they spread out their capability even more....


----------



## Ex-Dragoon (5 Jul 2009)

GAP said:
			
		

> Disinformation or it's ilk....works wonders in forcing Iran to cover one more area, which means they spread out their capability even more....



The piece does not state that Iran has redeployed any assets to counter the Israelis...


----------



## Old Sweat (5 Jul 2009)

The original story implies - in one of the high-lighted bits - that the transit was made with the cooperation of the Egyptian government. This is the simplest explanation by far, even if it may have been a deliberately low key event.


----------



## GAP (5 Jul 2009)

Ex-Dragoon said:
			
		

> The piece does not state that Iran has redeployed any assets to counter the Israelis...



Maybe so, but if you were in charge of security for Iran would it not now be worked into future scenerio's?


----------



## Ex-Dragoon (5 Jul 2009)

And warships and submarines make the transit on a daily basis, I think the media is looking for something that may not be there.



> Maybe so, but if you were in charge of security for Iran would it not now be worked into future scenerio's?


Well not knowing how often the Israeli navy deploys subs into the Red Sea it may be a non issue if they do it on a regular basis.

A question would be does Israel and other middle eastern countries have a mechanism in place similiar to the West that informs each other that they may be operating submarines in the area?


----------



## Ex-Dragoon (5 Jul 2009)

Update:

In this feature from defencenews.com it was the _first_ time an Israeli sub used the Suez.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4172569&c=MID&s=SEA


----------

