The Egyptian Navy celebrates the 44th anniversary of the sinking of the Israeli destroyer Eilat, Amirah Ibrahim reports On 21 October the Egyptian Navy marks the 1967 sinking of the Israeli destroyer Eilat some 12 miles from Port Said. Eilat was sunk by two surface-to-surface Styx missiles launched by Egyptian missile boats some four months after Egypt's defeat in the 1967 war. Eilat had repeatedly and provocatively entered and exited territorial waters to show the weakness of the Egyptian naval forces. An Egyptian Komar class missile boat located in Port Said harbour fired two missiles at the Israeli frigate. The first missile hit the ship just above the waterline at 17.32 hours. Two minutes later, the second missile struck, causing casualties. An hour later, another Egyptian Komar class missile boat fired two more Styx missiles which hit the Eilat. It sank about two minutes later. Sinking the Eilat was the beginning of a new stage of developing the country's naval weapons. "The war of attrition was a glorious war of which many stories of heroism have yet to be told, not only of the naval forces but of our great Armed Forces," Navy Commander Admiral Muhab Mameish said as he spoke to the media in commemoration of Egyptian Navy Day. Mameish explained how the navy "defended and protected" the protesters in this year's revolution. "Our units guarded the election headquarters during the constitutional poll in March. But most important was how to protect the internal front. Not many know that strategic and vital locations of the industry were threatened during the unrest. Oil wells and power sources were subject to cutoffs when foreign experts employed there quit their jobs and requested to leave the country immediately. Our men operated all those vital sites, in addition to the continued efforts to fight weapons and drug smugglers, illegal immigration and guarding the borders," Mameish added. "More than 1.5 million Egyptians gathered in early February to protest outside Navy headquarters, but not a single protester crossed into our units. They wanted only to hear from us that we were with them, and that was the truth," Mameish said. "The protesters wanted to enter Ras Al-Teen Palace, one of the presidential palaces, but I talked to them and they listened. The palace is within the boundaries of the navy's headquarters. You have to pass through naval units and their equipment, and we would not allow this under any circumstances. They then stayed for hours and held a sit-in in front of the northern military zone," Mameish recounted the events of the 25 January Revolution. According to Mameish, "Egypt has changed a lot but the military remains as it has always been, a pillar to protect the country and ensure it will never collapse. "None of our combat strategies will change. As for Sinai and the debate as to whether to amend the peace accord, I assure you that we maintain our full right to protect and defend Sinai. No one but us has ever had the upper hand on our land. We have the right to deploy all and any kind of troops and weapons necessary to secure Sinai and all our lands, be it to the south, north, east or west. "The same applies to arming policies," added Mameish. "We adopted a verifying weapons sources policy. We have naval units from Russia, China and the US. And we also launched an ambitious programme to set up naval units in Egypt with the technical help of some friendly military institutions which will soon be revealed." Mameish indicated that Egypt's naval forces have developed a training programme with the Turkish navy. "Friendship Sea" is the slogan of the annual naval exercise which takes place every year in December. "We have more joint factors linking us with Turkey than others. We have a joint history, culture, civilisation and religion. We even have similar challenges. Why don't we close ranks and exchange experience, regardless of what is going on with other powers in the region. Our cooperation is not against any party," Mameish added, apparently referring to the recent tension in Israeli-Turkish ties. As for recent naval tension between Iran and Israel and whether it would affect territorial waters, Mameish explained that "the tension is in the south of the Red Sea, and does not come close to Egyptian waters. Our naval units are guarding the long coasts of the Red Sea, Suez Canal and Mediterranean. We do not expect any of this so-called tension to affect our territorial waters. However, our units are on the alert and stand ready to prevent any undesired confrontation on our land." As for the upcoming parliamentary elections, Mameish said naval forces were readying to secure the coastal cities and strategic sites during the elections which are slated to start in late November and end in March.
