The Egyptian sailors never saw the missiles coming—they only heard the thunder rolling across the harbor before their world exploded into flame.

The Night Israeli Missiles Found Egypt's Destroyer in Port Said

How a Soviet-built warship became the first victim of a new era in naval warfare

Israeli missile boats devastated Egypt's navy on the first night of the Yom Kippur War, proving small ships could kill giants.

The Mediterranean night was calm on October 6, 1973, when the Egyptian destroyer *Eilat*—no, this was her sister ship in reverse, the INS Saar boats hunting Egyptian prey. In the harbor of Port Said, the Egyptian destroyer *El-Quseir* sat at anchor, her crew unaware that five Israeli missile boats were racing toward them through the darkness at thirty-three knots.

Hours earlier, Egypt and Syria had launched their surprise offensive against Israel, crossing the Suez Canal and storming the Golan Heights. But at sea, the Israeli Navy had plans of its own. Commander Michael Barkai led his flotilla of Saar 4-class missile boats toward the Egyptian coast, each vessel armed with Gabriel missiles—Israel's homegrown answer to the Soviet Styx that had sunk the INS Eilat six years before.

At 2330 hours, radar operators aboard the lead boat detected Egyptian vessels near Port Said. What followed would rewrite the textbooks of naval warfare. The Israelis launched their Gabriels from beyond visual range—something unprecedented in combat conditions. The missiles screamed across the black water at Mach 0.7.

Aboard *El-Quseir*, the first warning came too late. The Gabriel slammed into her supers…

💡 The Israeli Gabriel missiles used that night were partly designed by engineers who had survived the sinking of the INS Eilat—they built the weapon specifically to avenge their fallen shipmates.