The Yellow Fleet was the name given to a group of fifteen ships trapped in the Suez Canal (in the Great Bitter Lake section) from 1967 to 1975 as a result of the Six-Day War. Both sides of the canal had been blocked by ships scuttled by the Egyptians. The name Yellow Fleet derived from their yellow appearance as they were increasingly covered in a desert sand swept on board. After eight years the only ships able to leave under their own power were the German ships, Münsterland and Nordwind.
Read more about Yellow Fleet: History, Stranded Ships
Famous quotes containing the words yellow and/or fleet:
“Have you not a moist eye, a dry hand, a yellow cheek, a white
beard, a decreasing leg, an increasing belly? Is not your
voice broken, your wind short, your chin double, your wit
single, and every part about you blasted with antiquity? and
will you yet call yourself young?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“On the middle of that quiet floor
sits a fleet of small black ships,
square-rigged, sails furled, motionless,
their spars like burned matchsticks.”
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979)