The Cherbourg Project or Boats of Cherbourg was an Israeli military operation that took place on 24 December and involved the escape of five remaining armed Sa'ar 3 class boats from the French port of Cherbourg Cherbourg-Octeville since , Cherbourg-en-Cotentin since The boats had been paid for by the Israeli government but had not been delivered due to the French arms embargo in The Israeli naval command had reached the conclusion by the early s that their old Second World War -era destroyers , frigates and corvettes were obsolete and new ships and vessels were needed.
The shipyard was asked to design a new generation of small missile boat platforms and to modify the suggested wooden Jaguar -class torpedo boats according to Israeli Navy requirements.
Due to Arab League pressure on the West German government, this plan was not continued and a new builder was sought. The project received the codename "Autumn". Crews were sent to France in early The technical team was headed by Commander Haim Schachal. The deal was entered into during the "Golden Age" of Franco-Israeli relations.
In the wake of Israel's victory, relations began to worsen. The problem of the Cherbourg boats was left aside. President de Gaulle was irritated by what he considered an Israeli lack of respect for Franco-Israeli agreements and he was eager to reinforce France's relations with the Arab world. The resignation of de Gaulle and the election of Georges Pompidou to be the president of France inspired hope among the Israelis.
The Israeli government assumed that Pompidou would lift the embargo, but were proved wrong. While the embargo was ordered, construction of the boats continued according to the original plan; and while the Israeli naval mission was in Cherbourg, controlling the project, Israeli crews were aboard the completed boats and the whole project was fully paid for by Israel. The build-up of the Egyptian Navy with Soviet assistance during the s and their procurement of new missile boats such as the Osa and Komar classes had, by the early days of the War of Attrition , changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean theatre in favour of Arab navies and away from the Israeli Navy.
