After 47 years, Israel Navy presents findings in sinking of submarine
Families of the 69 sailors who went down with the Dakar in 1968 finally receive a complete report on its disappearance
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday gave the families of 69 Israeli sailors killed in the sinking of the Israel Navy’s Dakar the complete report on the submarine’s disappearance 47 years ago.
The report, an assemblage of all the previous investigations and inquiries into the ship’s sinking in January 1968, didn’t include any new findings, the families said.
Maj. Gen. Ram Rothberg attended a forum in which the families of the 69 sailors, for the first time, could ask questions about the incident.
The British-made Dakar sank on January 25, 1968, with all hands and under mysterious circumstances when it was making its maiden voyage under an Israeli flag en route to Haifa. The remains of the submarine were only found in 1999 on the seabed between the islands of Crete and Cyprus.
No remains of the Israeli sailors have been found.
The Israel Navy’s investigations concluded that the demise of the Dakar was caused either by loss of control or a technical failure, but didn’t rule out the possibility that the submarine collided with another vessel.
“The families were thirsty for information and I answered each of their questions with the current head of the submarine fleet, Col. Doron,” Rothberg told Channel 10. “It’s a personal, moral and ethical obligation to the families.”
