HMS LCT 147

*LCT 147*
	Af Al Pi Chen on display outside Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum in Haifa
History
United Kingdom
Name	LCT 147; LCT(2)(R) 147;
Owner	Royal Navy
Ordered	3 January 1941
Builder	Stockton Construction
Laid down	27 June 1941
Launched	23 September 1941
Commissioned	26 December 1941
Decommissioned	May 1945
Honours and; awards	North Africa, 1942
Fate	Transferred to Italy, 1946
Italy
Name	Michael Parma
Acquired	March 1946
Decommissioned	1946
Fate	Transferred to the Mossad LeAliyah Bet, 1946
Israel
Name	Af Al Pi Chen; (אף-על-פי-כן);
Namesake	Af Al Pi Chen
Owner	Mossad LeAliyah Bet; (1946–1947); Israeli Navy; (1948–1958);
Status	Museum ship at Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum in Israel
General characteristics
Type	Mark 2 Landing Craft Tank
Displacement	590 short tons (535 t)
Length	159 ft 11 in (48.74 m)
Beam	30 ft (9.1 m)
Draught	3 ft 8 in (1.12 m) (forward)
Propulsion	3 × 460 hp (343 kW) Paxman diesels or 350 hp (261 kW) Napier Lion petrol engines, 3 shafts
Speed	10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph)
Range	2,700 nmi (5,000 km)
Capacity	5 × 30-ton or 4 × 40-ton or 3 × 50-ton tanks or 9 trucks or 250 long tons (254 t) of cargo
Complement	12
Armament	2 × single 2-pounder pom-pom or 2 × single Bofors 40 mm guns
Armour	Wheelhouse : 2.5 in (64 mm); Gun shield : 2 in (51 mm);

LCT 147 is an amphibious assault ship for landing tanks, other vehicles and troops on beachheads. Built in 1941 by Stockton Construction, Thornaby-on-Tees, the Mark 2 LCT 147 took part in the Invasion of North Africa in June 1943. The ship was converted to a Landing Craft Rocket at Portsmouth Dockyard from March through May 1943 and renamed LCT(2)(R) 147.^[1]

LCT 147 was decommissioned in 1946, and transferred to the Italian Navy but was sold to commercial service later that year until being acquired by the Mossad LeAliyah Bet. The ship was absorbed into the Israeli navy and became a museum ship in Haifa.

Design

The LCT Mark 2 was longer and wider than the Mark 1, with three Paxman diesel or Napier Lion petrol engines replacing the Hall-Scotts. At 2,700 nautical miles (5,000 km; 3,100 mi), it had three times the range of its predecessor. Seventy-three Mk.2s were built.^[2]

Construction and career

The ship was built by Stockton Construction in Thornaby-on-Tees, England and was designed to carry and land tanks. She was launched on 23 September 1941 and commissioned on 26 December 1941.^[3] In May 1943, she was converted to a Landing Craft Rocket at Portsmouth Dockyard from March through May 1943 and renamed LCT(2)(R) 147.

In June 1942, she was transferred to the Mediterranean where she took part in the Invasion of North Africa.

She was decommissioned from British service in May 1945. After the war offered For sale as war surplus and bought by an Italian shipping company in 1946. The ship was renamed Michael Parma by the Italian shipping company to carry agriculture products.

Af Al Pi Chen

In 1946, the ship was acquired by the Mossad LeAliyah Bet, one of the primary forces resisting the strict British immigration quotas from 1934 to 1948. During this era of clandestine immigration, 122,419 people were brought to Israel by 116 ships (the vast majority between 1945 and 1948). Af Al Pi Chen sailed just weeks after the famous Exodus 1947 episode. She was named after this event, Af Al Pi Chen means nonetheless or in spite of it all.^[1]

On 17 September 1947, Af Al Pi Chen departed Formia, Italy with 434 holocaust survivors crowded on board. She was heading toward the southern part of Palestine when she was detected by a British aircraft and 4 Royal Navy destroyers were dispatched. Af Al Pi Chen rammed one of the destroyers and eventually the British boarding teams took over Af Al Pi Chen and was towed to Haifa Bay. The immigrants were taken to internment camps in Cyprus but most eventually made their way to Israel in 1948.^[1]

In June 1948, the British mandate expired and the Israeli Navy was formed. The navy scrounged for any available ship in junkyards and Af Al Pi Chen was one of the ships they found and commissioned into the navy.

She participated in the 1948 Israeli independence war as a training ship.

During the 1956 Operation Musketeer, she took on her final role as a tank landing craft despite having her engines inoperable, it was planned to push her with a tugboat to land tanks near Gaza strip. The Israeli Defense Forces took over the area before Af Al Pi Chen arrived so the landing was canceled.

Af Al Pi Chen was decommissioned in 1958 and in 1968, she was moved ashore and became the centerpiece of the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum in Haifa.^[1]^[4]