ABSTRACT
In 1934 the Admiralty laid down that ships of the Mediterranean Fleet were not to be detached from other duties to intercept craft carrying illegal immigrants. 7 They were to do no more than keep a lookout for suspects and report them to the Palestine authorities, only short detours for this purpose being permitted. A year later the Abyssinian crisis necessitated the main body of the Mediterranean Fleet being stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean and three cruisers and seven destroyers arrived at Haifa in September. Lying at the southern end of the bay of Acre, inside Cape Carmel and on the lower slopes of Mount Carmel, where Elijah spent much of his life, Haifa had, following the arrival of the British in 1918, developed into the only significant port on the Palestine coast. Although in winter continual gales meant no alongside berth was safe or secure, the approaches provided an excellent anchorage.
