Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Shayetet 13 שייטת (S-13), or ימי קומנדו Marine Commando, is the IDF's naval commando elite Special Forces (SF) unit that specializes in maritime hostage rescue and counter-terrorist missions.
Shayetet 13 שייטת is considered one of the top-three SF units in Israel (along with Sayeret Matkal, the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, and Shaldag, the Air Force commando unit.
Shayetet 13 שייטת is the Israeli equivalent of Britain’s Special Boat Service, is one of the most decorated units in the Israeli military.
Members of the unit experience combination of five months of infantry training and three months of specialized operations, including guerilla warfare, parachuting, and raids from both the sea and air.
Shayetet 13 שייטת plays a central role in combating terrorist organizations, and has won honor from the Israeli military leadership for its innovative techniques.
Only a handful of Shayetet 13 שייטת missions have been publicized or otherwise missions publicly attributed to the unit.
Shayetet 13 שייטת is organised into three companies, each company, or Pluga פלוגה, being assigned a particular role:
* Haposhtim Raids Pluga specialities include commando sea-to-land incursions. Within this unit are the best specialists in the Shayetet 13 שייט Organization. They are arranged in sniper, assault and anti-terrorist lines. A subordinate unit, the hostage rescue team, better known as Team four D4, specialises in counter-terrorism [CT] and Hostate Rescue [HR] operations.
* YALTAM ילטמ Underwater Pluga, the Navy Special Underwater Assignment Unit, has a number of missions, generally defensive. As its name suggest, the Israeli Navy Underwater Missions Unit ( ילטמ YALTAM Yechida Lemesimot Tat-Memiyot) is in charge on complex underwater assignments. These missions include: Search And Rescue (SAR) and the retrieval of submerged ships and airplanes; Various underwater construction, such as welding and explosions; The unit also posses strong Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) ability, allowing it to explode or disarm devices such as old mines and other detonating weapons. During wartime the unit will perform preemptive dives in Israeli harbors in order to prevent enemy divers’ incursions.The YALTAM ילטמ training tends to be shorter than in other SF units. YALTAM ילטמ is a frogman unit whose specialities include underwater demolition and underwater surveillance of targets. During the year of 2004, with the assistance of ANDI Israel, the Yaltam unit acquired operation ability in Technical and Tri-Mix diving. This ability included purchasing the necessary diving equipment and adjusting it to the unit’s unique needs, purchasing and building the breathing gas production system, training and certification of Yaltam divers as ANDI Technical and Tri-Mix divers and the production of specific diving tables. This new knowledge and ability puts YALTAM Unit ילטמ’s Dive Team and the Israeli Navy at the forefront and among the most professional divers in the world.
* 'Above Water' Pluga is similar to a US Special Boat Unit - using fast attack craft to deliver members of the Raids and Underwater companies to their targets, working closely with IN surface vessels and submarines during such operations. It is specialized in surface combat sudden action and attacks on vessels and coastal targets with the use of its Zaharon, Snunit, Moulit and Morena fast attack boats. One might even call the transportation company, as they often have the task of others will quickly and secretly transferred to the area of operations. According to numerical composition, it is the largest of the assault troops. Immediately behind it is the dive unit, and the smallest is the raids troop. All three work together very closely, supporting each other during the execution of a common mission.

Acrum Shavit cites: "In the summer of 1948 we received several special “explosive boats” from Italy and with them came the expert, Fiorenzo Capriott."
Fiorenzo Capriotti assumed the identity of Mr. Katz, a Romanian refugee on his way to Palestine, and went to Milano to meet Ephraim Ilin., who had acquiredt six MTM craft, which were tested out by Capriotti at Milano’s artificial lake; they were then packaged and sent to Israel.
Fiorenzo Capriotti was sent to Israel a few months later, where he mentored Yochai Fishmann Bin-Nun and Yosef Dror, and trained Israelis in the Lake Kinneret, who destroyed Emir Farouk, anchored in the port of Gaza and sank it, using the techniques that Capriotti’s comrades had used seven years before.
Fiorenzo Capriotti was not allowed to take part in the operation.

On October 22, 1948, Shayetet 13 שייטת Flotilla 13 was formed by Yohai Ben-Nun, commander of sabotage boat, unit and Yosef Dror, in charge of the divers, and members of Palyam פלי"ם units, including a unit of divers and a unit that operated Italian self-destroying boats used for sabotage.
They persuaded the Israeli Navy to set up a Naval covert operations unit, based on the Naval Brigade of the Haganah הגנה unit, S-13, which was a direct descendant of the unit for marine sabotage Yochai had created in the Palyam פלי"ם.
Avrum Shavit cites: "After having sunk the “Farouk” and a minesweeper off the coast of Gaza on the 22nd October 1948, we looked for a suitable place to set up a permanent base for our sabotage unit, and picked a spot near Atlit. This is where the 13th Squadron (the naval commandos)
started and I served in that unit, including reserve duty, for forty years, from 1948 to 1988."

Shayetet 13 שייטת (S-13) was modeled on the Light Flotilla Number 10 of the Italian Navy, which sank British ships in World War II.
Shayetet 13 שייטת originally had Italian equipment and even an Italian instructor.
Eric Salerno cites Fiorenzo Capriatti, a fascist close to Mussolini, coming to Israel to help create Shayetet 13.

Zalman Abramov served in שייטת Shayetet 13 for one year.