HMS Zodiac

On commissioning and work up Zodiac joined the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, as part of the Home Fleet. She operated in the North West approaches and escorted some Russian convoys. In 1945 she was part of the 29th Destroyer Flotilla along with Zephyr and Zest; she was briefly stationed in the port of Wilhelmshaven, the main base of the Kriegsmarine In 1946 Zodiac was part of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla. Between 1947 and 1948 she was held in reserve at Portsmouth. In 1949 she was part of the 2nd Training Flotilla based at Portland. In 1952 she was placed in reserve at Portsmouth and in 1954 was given a refit at Penarth, prior to being sold to Israel on 15 July 1955 with sister ship Zealous

Zodiac was sold to Israel in 1955 and commissioned into the Israeli Navy as INS Yaffo. She was refitted by Crighton at Liverpool and sailed for Israel in 1956. On the morning of 31 October 1956, in the midst of the Suez Crisis, Egyptian destroyer Ibrahim el Awal, (an ex-British Hunt class destroyer), shelled Haifa harbor. A counter-attack by Yaffo and another Israeli destroyer Eilat, along with the French destroyer Kersaint forced the Egyptian destroyer to steam back towards Port Said. Ibrahim al-Awal was then also attacked by a pair of IDF/AF Ouragans and a Dakota. The crew of the badly damaged vessel finally capitulated, and the ship was towed by the Israelis to Haifa, later becoming Haifa in the Israeli Navy

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