137. Moledet — San Felipe
type: str
Departed Metaponto, Italy 23 Mar 1947, arrived 29 Mar 1947
ex-San Felipe, ex-Egil, ex-Samuel Gustaf Hermelin, built 1876, 749 gross tons, iron passenger steamer
1588 passengers
Former Swedish coastal steamer. The ship was captured at sea with engines stopped and a heavy list. The destroyers Haydon and Charity (556), minesweeper Octavia (265) and the frigate St. Brides Bay took the passengers off at sea, including many former partisans, before the ship was towed into Haifa by tug.
1023 men, 513 women, 41 children. Passengers resisted deportation to Cyprus.
Name means “Patria” referring to the French ship sunk by the Haganah at Haifa in 1940 (see No. 60, List 1).
Photograph source: Algerine Associates
Moledet