BHD 600

BHD 600 or Haifa naval training base is the sole naval training base of the Israeli Navy. It is located in the port city of Haifa and is responsible for the training of most of Israeli Navy personnel.

Roles
The base is responsible for the training of all Israeli Navy personnel except Shayetet 13 and YILTAM fighters. All Shayetet 3, Shayetet 7 and regular personnel are trained here in addition to supplementary training for commanders. UAV and UUV operators are also trained here. In addition to training, regular military exercises are also held here.

Organisation

 * Training group - trains the instructors, the course commanders in building courses and improving them.
 * Simulator Fleet - unites under it the simulator training course and the regular training in the various simulators in the fields of Shayetet 7 and Shayetet 3 and Naval intelligence
 * Tash Kashrut squadron - training for recruiters, command and controls.
 * Stil Kashrut squadron - For specialisation in secondary services.
 * Coastal Technical Training Squadron - Training in small arms and electronic equipments.
 * School for officers - a school for conscripts and military officer training.
 * Submarine training squadron - Training for Shayetet 7 personnel.
 * The Naval Command School - training for ship commanders.
 * Tzur-Yam - a high school specializing in technological expertise.

Establishment
The base was established in 1965 and training missions were initiated in 1967 after the arrival of new ships from Cherbourg after the Cherbourg Project. These vessels were initially used for training purpose.

Yom Kippur War
In the 1960s, limited facilities at the training base prompted Israeli Navy to hold drills in Malta as Naval Combat exercises couldn't be held at the training base. With the passage of time, the facilities were gradually improved and helped to strengthen up the Israeli Navy before the Yom Kippur War.

Evacuation attempts
At the end of the 1990s, the Haifa Administration wanted to promote a plan for the construction of a marina in Bat Galim. Environmental activists opposed the plan, which included drying up an extensive sea area, for the purpose of construction that would finance the construction of the marina. The Society for the Protection of Nature proposed an alternative plan that included the evacuation of the base and the construction of a marina in the area opposite to it, which was not accessible to the public. In January 2003, the Israel Land Administration also presented a plan for the development of Bat Galim that included the evacuation of the base. In May 2008, local authorities approved the construction of a neighborhood of 1,000 housing units in the base area. However, the plan did not go into effect, as the Ministry of Defense refused to sign an agreement to evacuate the base. In 2015, the plan was transferred to the National Committee for the Planning and Construction of Preferred Housing Complexes, with the hope that its rapid advancement would serve as leverage to renew negotiations with the Ministry of Defense, but it did not advance the plan.

Hulda Gurvitz Strip
At the end of 2017, it was agreed that the base would vacate only a strip of beach along the seashore, so that for the first time so that a sequence of promenades would be created, in front of the sea from the Mediterranean coast, through the beach of the base, Bat Galim beach to the southern beaches of the Haifa. The construction of the boardwalk began in 2018, most of it was completed, and in August 2020 it was decided to name it after Hulda Gurvitz. however the Navy withdrew from the agreement and refused to allow the construction to be completed.

Sources & References

 * Moshe Oron, מתקן תרגול טאקטי, 'Marine Systems' 104, July 1971, p. 16.
 * Yosef Yerblum and Aryeh Doblin, הפנימיה לאלקטרוניקה, 'Marine Systems' 105, October 1971, p. 28
 * Major Eli, בסיס הדרכה של חיל הים, 'Marine Systems' 107–108, March 1972, p. 56.
 * Rafiki, בה"ד - קמפוס במדי צבא, 'Between Waves' June 1974, p. 2.
 * Batia Shem-El, מדסית בפעולה, 'Between Waves' April 1975, p. 20.
 * Amnon Shafi. "'12 projects to absorb the 12 steels'", The Center for Maritime Policy and Strategy Research, Haifa University, October 2023, p. 58.
 * מחנה בת גלים, "Navy" booklet September 3, 1948, p. 31.
 * M. sailor, בסיס הדרכה של חיל הים, "Sea Systems" 29, June 1956, pp. 20–27.
 * Meir Shapir, ההדרכה''',	"Marine Systems" 95, August 1969, p. 19.
 * Lt. Col. Sh.	מאמ"נים בשירות הצי''',	'Between Waves' 162 July 1984 p. 32.
 * Aryeh Kiesel,	סוף מנערים אבק - בבה"ד משנים תוכניות לימוד''',	'Between Waves' 165 June 1985 p. 12.
 * Ruthie Rodner,	המדריך עוד שלב בפרויקט ההדרכה בבהד''',	'Between Waves' 172 October 1987, p. 20.
 * Raanan Cherbinski,	ראש התורן ואדמה סביב - המרכז החדש לתרגול טקטי בבה"ד''',	'Between Waves' 174 June 1988 p. 8.
 * Sigal Bochris and Avi Oval,	האימון הסימולטורים בבה"ד וגם סיום קורס נגדי משמעת''', 'Between Waves' 177 April 1989 pp. 22 and 27.
 * Sigal Bochris and Avi Oval,	המת"ט החדש''',	'Between Waves' 178 August 1989 p. 14.
 * Sigal Buchris,	מסוג אחר''',	'Between Waves' 179 November 1989 p. 14.
 * Sigal Bochris and Avi Oval, אש במאמ"ן וגם טל קאופמן מדריכת פי"ם במילואים''',	'Between Waves' 180 April 1990 pp. 44 and 58.
 * Aryeh Kiesel and Shani Fais,	מבראשית במעגן הסירות בבה"ד, וגם עלה ים" איך מסיימים קורסים בחיל הים וגם אולפן וידאו בבה"ד''', "Between Waves" 181 August 1990, pp. 53, 54 and 68.
 * Ilanit Fener,	הים''' בהד חיל הים מסייע לילדים חולי סרטן ברמב"ם, "Between Waves" issue October 1, 2001 p. 68.
 * Rose Barel,	הים - בית ספר "צור ים"''',	"Between Waves", December 2009, p. 8.
 * Rose Barel and Raz Sharga,	בצוללת - הסימולטור''',	"Between Waves", October 2010, p. 42.
 * Ado Neuhaus,	מסע - מלח ים והרבה פאסון קורס דבורנים''',	"Between Waves", October 2010, p. 58.
 * Annie Elroy,	השער הראשי של חיל הים''',	'Between Waves' May 2014, p. 59.
 * Annie Elroy,	לסימולטור -מערך הסימולטורים בבה"ד חיל הים''',	"Between Waves", October 2014, p. 52.
 * Annie Elroy,	נועם - סמי צמח מפקד בה"ד''',	"Between Waves", September 2015, p. 44.
 * Oral Elhadad and Brit Almog,	הסימולטורים של זרוע הים וגם צור ים - כשחזון הופך למציאות''',	"Between Waves", May 2017, p. 14 and 47.