Editing 1948 Arab–Israeli War (section)

==== Sea battles ====
[[File:Northland Color 1.jpg|left|thumb|''Northland'' in [[Greenland]] ''circa'' 1944 which became the Israeli INS Eilat]]
At the outset of the war, the [[Israeli Navy]] consisted of three former [[Aliyah Bet]] ships that had been seized by the British and impounded in [[Haifa]] harbour, where they were tied up at the breakwater. Work on establishing a navy had begun shortly before Israeli independence, and the three ships were selected due to them having a military background – one, the INS ''Eilat'', was an ex-[[United States Coast Guard|US Coast Guard]] icebreaker, and the other two, the INS ''Haganah'' and INS ''Wedgwood'', had been [[Royal Canadian Navy]] corvettes.<ref name="navy"/><ref name="Gershoni, pp. 46–47">Gershoni, pp. 46–47</ref>

The ships were put into minimum running condition by contractors dressed as stevedores and port personnel, who were able to work in the engine rooms and below deck. The work had to be clandestine to avoid arousing British suspicion. On 21 May 1948, the three ships set sail for Tel Aviv, and were made to look like ships that had been purchased by foreign owners for commercial use. In Tel Aviv, the ships were fitted with small field guns dating to the late 19th century and anti-aircraft guns.<ref name="navy"/><ref name="Gershoni, pp. 46–47"/>

After the British left Haifa port on 30 June, Haifa became the main base of the Israeli Navy. In October 1948, a [[submarine chaser]] was purchased from the United States. The warships were manned by former merchant seamen, former crewmembers of Aliyah Bet ships, Israelis who had served in the [[Royal Navy]] during World War II, and foreign volunteers. The newly refurbished and crewed warships served on coastal patrol duties and bombarded Egyptian coastal installations in and around the [[Gaza City|Gaza]] area all the way to [[Port Said]].<ref name="navy">{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_%26_Culture/machalnavy.html |title=History of the Navy |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=18 January 2013 |archive-date=10 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310044400/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_%26_Culture/machalnavy.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gershoni, pp. 46–47"/>{{better source needed|date=June 2022}}