An Account of Altalena’s Last Voyage

Authors

  • Louis Arthur Norton

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/2561-5467.1240

Keywords:

Altalena, oral history, Israel, Israel Defense Force, Irgun

Abstract

This commentary introduces and reproduces a first-hand account of the 1948 sinking of Altalena off a Tel Aviv beach.

Ce commentaire présente et reproduit un récit de première main du naufrage de l’Altalena en 1948 au large d’une plage de Tel Aviv.

Author Biography

Louis Arthur Norton

Louis Arthur Norton, a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, has published extensively in both the scientific and maritime history literature. His books having to do with maritime history include Joshua Barney: Hero of the Revolutionary War, Captains Contentious: The Dysfunctional Sons of the Brine (finalist, 2011 Eric Hoffer book award) Sailing Under John Paul Jones and a children’s book, New England’s Stormalong. Dr. Norton received Mystic Seaport Museum’s LOG’s 2002 and 2006 Gerald E. Morris Prize for maritime historiography and three Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association’s awards for fiction and non-fiction writing. Perhaps apropos to this article, he served as a Fulbright Research Fellow at the Hebrew University’s Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem in 1972.

References

Auerback, Jerold. Brothers at War: Israel and the Tragedy of the Altalena. New Orleans, Quid Pro Books, 2011.

Begin, Menachem. The Revolt: Memoirs of the Leader of the Irgun. New York: Dell Books, 1978.

Bell, J. Bowyer. Terror Out of Zion: Irgun Zvai Leumi, Lehi, and the Palestine Underground, 1929–1949. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1977.

Brener, U. Altalena. Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuhad, 1978.

Blum, Howard. The Brigade: An Epic Story of Vengeance, Salvation, and WWII. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.

Castlewitz, David M. “The Altalena affair brought the newborn state of Israel to the brink of a minor civil war.” Military History (December 2006), https://www.historynet.com/the-altalena-affair/.

Gordis, Daniel. Menachem Begin: The Battle for Israel’s Soul. New York: Schocken, 2014.

Kovalsky, O. Gruweis. “The ghost of the Altalena seventy-five years on.” Israel Affairs 29, no. 3 (2023): 587–601. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2206228. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2023.2206228

Lankin, E. The Story of the Altalena Commander. Tel Aviv: Hadar, 1974.

Lapidot, Yehuda. “The Irgun: The Altalena Affair.” Jewish Virtual Library, n.d., https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-altalena-affair.

NavSource. “USS LST-138.” NavSource Online, last updated 26 January 2024, https://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/160138.htm.

Rottman, Gordon. Landing Ship, Tank (LST) 1942–2002. Oxford: Osprey, 2005.

Saidal, Joanna. “Fire in the hole: Blasting the Altalena.” Times of Israel, 13 June 2013, https://www.timesofisrael.com/fire-in-the-hole-blasting-the-altalena/.

United States Holocaust Museum. “Group portrait of Jewish DPs aboard the Altalena, an immigrant ship bound for Israel.” USHM, last modified 3 March 2021, https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1107211.

Zamir, M. “‘Bid’ for Altalena: France’s Covert Action in the 1948 War in Palestine.” Middle Eastern Studies 46, no. 1 (2010): 17–58. doi:10.1080/00263200903432258. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00263200903432258

A photo of the vessel Altalena burning off a Tel-Aviv beach with a crowd looking on.

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Published

2024-10-08

How to Cite

Norton, L. A. (2024). An Account of Altalena’s Last Voyage. The Northern Mariner Le Marin Du Nord, 35(1), 129–138. https://doi.org/10.25071/2561-5467.1240

Issue

Vol. 35 No. 1 (2024): The Northern Mariner

Section

Commentaries