The Sa'ar 4-class, also known as the Reshef class, is one of the most successful missile
boats of all times. The vessels of this class had a big part in Israel's survival in the
most critical moments. They accomplished the tasks beyond the what is expected from a missile
boat. Now, we are investigating the Sa'ar 4-class, a true naval legend.
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Although the Sa'ar 4-class is not a pioneer of the use of anti-ship missiles in modern
navies, it is one of the symbolic names. To better understand the born of this class,
let's take a brief look at the developments in the world and Israel in the early 1960s.
Since the 1950s, the Soviet Union has been doing important work on anti-ship missiles
to balance NATO's mighty fleet. Naturally, this development paved the way
for the Western countries, which had the comparatively small naval power, to work in this field in
a short time. The Royal Norwegian Navy's decision to replace main surface combat ships with
missile boats in the early 1960s was the first concrete step in this area.
In the same years, the Israeli Navy had realized that its old major surface combatants were
obsolete. To protect the country from threats from the sea, Israel needed a new approach.
Yet, the Israeli Air Force had the lion share of the defence budget, and Tel Aviv did not
prioritize financing such a radical change. However, the sinking of the destroyer INS
Eilat with the Styx missiles fired from the Komar-class boats of the Egyptian Navy in
1967 revealed the urgency of the situation. In 1968, Israel began to equip some of its
Sa'ar 1-class boats with the locally developed Gabriel missiles. Three of these boats, defined
as Sa'ar 2-class after modernization, were commissioned.
In those years, as the main design criteria, the missile boats were being equipped with
only air defence guns. Like other examples, the Sa'ar 2-class had
an only anti-aircraft gun. However, Israel needed the boats with higher offensive capability.
Therefore, in 1969, the Israeli Navy began to commission the Sa'ar 3-class vessels which
had a 76mm gun. However, these boats did not fully meet the
needs of the Israeli Navy. This was because the Suez Canal was closed
after the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel had to operate in both the Mediterranean and the
Red Sea. But, the naval shipyard in Haifa was in the Mediterranean.
So, the Israeli Navy needed a boat capable of navigating around the entire African continent.
As the answer to this need, the Sa'ar 4-class, an enlarged version of the Sa'ar 3-class,
was designed. Different from the Sa'ar 3-class which had
one 76mm gun, there were two 76mm guns on the Sa'ar 4-class. So, it had nearly twice
more offensive capability. The Sa'ar 4-class could operate up to three
weeks without replenishment. The first boat of this class, INS Reshef,
was commissioned in 1973. Before the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli Navy had already
commissioned two Sa'ar 4-class vessel. Between 1973 and 1980, Israel built thirteen
boats in this class, ten for the Israeli Navy and three for the South African Navy.
Also, another six vessels were built locally for the South African Navy.
Today Chile, Sri Lanka, and South Africa are still using their Sa'ar 4s.
Israel is the former user of these boats. The basic model of the vessel used in Israeli
service has 45-person complement. Their standard displacement is 415 tons while the fully-loaded
displacement is 450 tons. The Sa'ar 4 has a length of 58 metres, a beam of 7.8 metres,
and a draught of 2.4 metres. Four 15,000 horsepower MTU 16V 956 TB91 diesel provides the maximum
speed of 32 knots. The boat can reach the range of 3,055 kilometres with a speed of
30 knots and 7,400 kilometres with a speed of 17.5 knots. The early version of the Sa'ar
4-class had two 76mm guns, two 20mm guns, and six Gabriel anti-ship missiles.
There are changes in the specifications of Sa'ar 4-class boats due to the modifications
made over time and the criteria determined by different countries for their specific
requirements. For example, the Israeli Navy had replaced
the bow gun of these boats with the 20mm six-barrel Mk 15 Phalanx close-in weapon system.
Besides, it reduced the number of Gabriel to four and fitted two to four RGM-84 Harpoon
anti-ship missiles onto the Sa'ar 4s. In 1977, Israel heavily modified INS Tarshish
of this class for helicopter operations. The 76mm stern gun was dismantled the boat was
fitted with a helipad. This was an experimental work which paved
the way for the Sa'ar 4.5-class boats. The Israeli Navy also modified two of this
class INS Nitzachon and INS Atzmaut for the anti-submarine warfare mission. It fitted
these vessels with 324mm torpedoes and the EDO 780 lightweight variable depth sonars
which replaced the stern 76mm guns. The South African boats have a length of 62.2
meters and a fully-loaded displacement of 430 tons. The complement of these boats is
47-person. The locally produced version of the Gabriel,
the Skerpioen missiles were removed from the vessels.
The South African Sa'ar 4s carry an RHIB boat and a small commando group on board. The South
African Navy reclassified them as offshore patrol vessels. These boats have one 76mm
and two 20 mm guns as well as two 12.7mm machine guns.
The Chilean boats have four 11,880 horsepower MTU 16V 538 TB82 diesel engines. The complement
of them is 51-person. The Gabriel missiles of the CS Angamos of
this class were replaced with four Exocet MM40 missiles in 2013.
The Sa'ar 4-class was born to fight. After they were commissioned, INS Reshef and
INS Keshet were preparing to sail from the Mediterranean, travelling the entire African
continent to the Red Sea. But just before their journey began, the 1973
Yom Kippur War brook out. So, they participated in the Battle of Latakia,
the first missile boats versus missile boats naval battle in the history. INS Reshef became
the first naval vessel fired the Gabriel missile for the first time in combat. She destroyed
a Syrian missile boat. INS Keshet participated with her sister in
the Battle of Baltim and hit an Egyptian Osa-class missile boat.
During the battle, The boat experienced flooding in the front engine room. After she fired
the second missile, INS Keshet had to slow down and stop. Because of this reason, the
boat disengaged the battle and withdraw towards Kishon Port. After one day of inspection,
she was repaired and went back to the war. The two Sa'ar 4-class boat also shelled frequently
Egyptian and Syrian coastal targets during the war.
In one of these missions, INS Keshet fired a Gabriel against a Syrian Komar-class boat.
But the missile accidentally hit a Soviet merchant ship.
The Sa'ar 4-class had proved itself in real combat. But more importantly, the missile
boat design criteria of Israel was more efficient. The powerful countermeasure systems of the
Israeli boats had made the Soviet missile ineffective.
Also, during the naval battles of the Yom Kippur War, some Syrian and Egyptian boats
survived, even they had gotten a hit by a missile.
The 76mm guns of the Sa'ar 3 and Sa'ar 4-class vessels sunk these damaged preys.
The Komar and Osa-class boats had no high calibre gun which can answer the naval gunfire
of the Israeli Navy. The impact of the Sa'ar 4-class boats had
led Egypt to try new tactics. Cairo had realized that it could not impose
a close naval blockade to Israel. Hence, by using one of its Skorkyy-class destroyers,
the Egyptian Navy tried to intercept maritime shipment to Israel from long distance.
However, the Sa'ar 4-class had a long-range. So, INS Keshet was sent to the area, and Egypt
had to pull back its destroyer. Shortly after the war, in 1974, INS Reshef
and INS Keshet sailed to the Red Sea. In this voyage lasted 35 days, they travelled nearly
23,000 kilometres. This was an astonishing success for such a small ship.
Two years later, INS Yaffo and INS Tarshish visited the USA.
After the Camp David Accords, Egypt left the list of enemies of Israel.
In this new peace era, the Sa'ar 4-class INS Tarshish became the first Israeli naval vessel
to pass through the Suez Canal in 1979. But the combat career of these boats had not
ended yet. INS Yaffo of this class blockade and shelled
the Port of Tyre in 1978, after the Coastal Road massacre.
She fired about 1,000 76mm shells. During this operation, INS Yaffo got a hit
from the stern. The shell penetrated the hull but did not explode. Still, the boat had to
leave the area for repairment. During the 1982 Lebanon War, the Sa'ar 4-class
boats secured the main landing in the north of Sidon, shelling the coastal targets.
They were also the main elements of the naval blockade of Lebanon.
During their service life, the Israeli Sa'ar 4-class boats continued to play important
roles in many other anti-terrorist operations. However, the Middle East of the 1990s was
very different from the 1970s. Israel had managed to make peace with Egypt a long time
ago. Syria, which was left alone after the end
of the First Cold War, was no longer a major threat.
Hence, Israel gradually began decommissioning its Sa'ar 4s.
Two of them were sold to Chile. The Chilean Navy is still using one of them, INS Reshef
with the name CS Angamos. Yet, INS Tarshish was cannibalized for spares.
The Sri Lankan Navy acquired INS Moledet and INS Komemiyut in 2000. These two boats are
still in the active list. The anti-submarine warfare version of the
Sa'ar 4-class was the last examples in the Israeli Navy. INS Nitzachon and INS Atzmaut
were decommissioned in 2014. The Sa'ar 4-class is a vessel which has defined
the modern missile boat design criteria. Thanks to it, the naval planners of the world have
perceived the importance of high calibre guns and powerful countermeasure systems on the
boats. The Sa'ar 4-class has shown that the missile boats can achieve great successes
despite their small size. It is the real proof that these tiny surface combatants could be
highly effective not only in coastal waters but in the open sea. So, we can easily say
that the Sa'ar 4-class is a true naval legend. Thanks for watching our video. And please
don't forget to subscribe to our channel and give us a thumbs up if you like our video.
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