The Missile Ship Fleet, officially called Shayetet 3, is the main surface combat force of the Israeli Navy.

In times of war, the Navy's duties are naval warfare against the enemy's fleets, assistance to the ground forces, shelling of installations and traffic routes on the enemy's coast, securing the shipping lanes to Israel and protecting the country's beaches.

They were brought into the navy and armed with Gabriel missiles and ECM and EW systems produced by MABAT and RAFAEL.

The flotilla's working up was overseen by Captain Hadar Kimhi, who was later promoted to commodore commanding the Naval base of Haifa.

A "Hatz" Saar 3 model captured a boat with three militants on their way to the Gaza Strip, west of Rosh Carmel.

[10] The Battle of Latakia was a small but revolutionary naval action of the Yom Kippur War, fought on 7 October 1973 between Israel and Syria.

It was the first naval battle in history to see combat between surface-to-surface missile-equipped missile boats and the use of electronic deception.

[14] INS Yaffo (Saar 4), under the command of Lt. Col. Hanina Amishev, took an active part during the 1978 South Lebanon conflict.

[15] Operation Derech Netz was carried out by four assault ships of the Flotilla under the command of Col. Shimon Meir, carrying a force of submarine fighters from the 13th flotilla under the command of Yedidia Yaari to attack militant ships in the port of Annaba in Algeria.

[16] On April 20, 1985, a Panamanian-flagged ship Ateviros carrying militants and speedboats from Algeria was discovered heading for an assault on Kirya in Tel Aviv.

A small ship with an Australian flag and an American crew that tried to transport a platoon of trained militants from Cyprus to Lebanon.

[25] However, INS Hanit stayed afloat, withdrew and made the rest of the journey back to Ashdod port for repairs under its own power.

[28][29] The navy coordinated with other Israeli forces and used powerful shipboard sensors to acquire and shell targets on land.

[30][31] Records of the attacks published by the navy indicate that for the first time vessels were equipped with Spike ER electro-optically guided anti-armor missiles.

[36] On 29 December, the Free Gaza Movement relief boat Dignity carrying volunteer doctors with 3.5 tons of medical supplies, human rights activists (Among them Caoimhe Butterly and former US Representative Cynthia McKinney), and a CNN reporter was involved in an altercation with Israeli patrol boats.

[42] The vessel was found to be carrying approximately 50 tons of weapons, including C-704 anti-ship missiles, rocket launchers, radar systems, mortar shells and rifle ammunition The Flotilla participated in the 2012 Gaza War, carrying out bombardments of the Gaza strip.

Operation Full Disclosure was an Israeli seizure of an Iranian vessel heading towards Port Sudan via Iraq.

The operation was led by Major General Ram Rothberg, commander-in-chief of the Israel Navy, on board Sa'ar 5-class corvette INS Hanit.

[45] As part of these attacks, they destroyed a facility for the production of weapons, an outpost and an observation post of Hamas.

The UAV, which came from the Red Sea, breached Israeli airspace and crossed into the area of the Gulf of Aqaba, setting off sirens in Eilat.