Battle of Latakia

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Latakia
partof=the Yom Kippur War


caption=Diagram outlining the Battle of Latakia
date=October 7, 1973
place=near Latakia, Syria
casus=
territory=
result=Israeli victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=
commander2="unknown"
strength1=6 ships
strength2=5 ships
casualties1=None
casualties2=Three missile boats sunk; One torpedo boat sunk; One minesweeper sunk
casualties3=
notes=¹although [http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/latakia.html source] could also be interpreted to refer to 12 shipsThe Battle of Latakia ( _ar. معركة اللاذقية) was a small but revolutionary naval battle of the Yom Kippur War, fought on 7 October, 1973, between Israel and Syria. It was the first naval battle in history to see combat between surface-to-surface missile-equipped missile boats and the use of electronic deception.

At the outset of hostilities, the Israeli Navy set out to destroy the naval capabilities of the Syrians, who were equipped with modern Soviet-manufactured equipment. The Israeli Navy employed electronic countermeasures and chaff rockets to avoid being hit by Syrian missiles. The Israelis then fired Gabriel missiles and sunk their enemies. The Syrian Navy remained bottled up in its home ports for the rest of the war.

While the Battle of Latakia was the first naval battle in history between missile boats, it was not the first battle in which a missile boat sank another ship using missiles. That had happened when one Egyptian Soviet-built "Komar" class fast attack craft sank the Israeli destroyer "Eilat" on 20 October 1967, shortly after the Six Day War, using four P-15 Termit (NATO reporting name: SS-N-2 "Styx") surface-to-surface missiles.

External links

* [http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/latakia.html Jewish Virtual Library battle of Latakia page]