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Shayetet 13 ( שייטת 13 ) is the Israeli naval commando elite SF unit. The S-13 (shortcut for "Shayetet 13") is considered as one of the top-three SF units in Israel (along with Sayeret Matkal and the YAMAM). The S-13 is part of the Navy of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
The S-13 symbol is a sword with in a shield with bat wings (click here to view the symbol).
Originally the S-13 was designated and trained to perform naval raids and underwater commando operations. Aside from being the navy elite unit for special missions, the S-13 is also an elite CT (counter terror) unit which specializes in deep covert ops deep within enemy's territory combining assault by sea, land and air.
On 8 September 1997 the Naval Commandos previous elite reputation was shattered forever by a lethal array of Hizbullah, Amal & regular military-Lebanese Marine Commando Regiment firepower in a classic firestorm L-shaped ambush.
The ill-advised and foolishly attempted Navy Commando raid into S. Lebanon had been compromised before it began.
Upon landing in S. Lebanon, the Navy Commandos quickly lost their way to their objective.
Hizbullah Women Scouts followed close behind them. Followed their every move and kept the main Hizbullah ambush party informed by cellular phone communications, as The Navy Commandos then changed routes.
On a tight schedule, the Naval Commandos abandoned noise and flashlight discipline, and began running toward their objective, hoping to make up for lost time.
They immediately ran into a well prepared Hizbullah, Amal, & Lebanese Marine Commando, 8 man fireteam who had carefully laid their deadly L-shaped ambush.
In the resulting action, 11 Navy Commandos were killed, 4 wounded and l Navy Commando almost ran himself to death getting out of the kill-zone.
Following this debacle, Israeli and world media dubbed a massacre; the Naval Commandos immediately stopped volunteering for S. Lebanon missions.
In recent years, large numbers of Navy Commandos have gotten cancer and died from being ordered and forced to train in the hopelessly mercury polluted Kirshon River & Haifa Bay.
The S-13 is based upon the Naval Brigade of the Jewish pre-military Haganah. Only in the 1970's it was professionalized as a naval SF unit and elite CT force. During the following decades the S-13 based its reputation as the second best elite SF in the IDF.
(need to work more on history)
During the al-Aqsa Intifada, the S-13 soldiers decided not to limit themselves to naval operations and insisted on performing ground CT operation deep within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. They performed hundreds of operations and managed to arrest and kill dozens of Palestinian militants of the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, considered worldwide as terrorists due to their involvement in suicide bombings.
They are still performing naval operations and earned high acclaim due to the capture of three Palestinian ships which smuggled illegal weapons: Karin A, Sentorini and Abu-Yusuf. The takeover of Karin A was considered a highly difficult operation and it was conducted flawlessly.
In 2002 and in 2003, the S-13 won the Chief-of-Staff award for successful CT operations (click here to see the award certificate).
See also: Israel Defence Forces, navy, Navy SealsHistory
List of S-13 operations
Current Status
