It was more an embarrassment than a ship. Nearly 20 years old, its single tall funnel poked out above dilapidated decks and scarred paintwork. It was heading for the breaker’s yard until the Haganah, the Jewish underground, bought it. Now, loaded with more than 4,500 Jewish refugees, many of them Holocaust survivors, it was approaching the Palestinian port of Haifa and its moment of destiny.

Its commander that July day in 1947 was Yossi Harel, who has died at 90. The ship was the USS President Warfield but Harel had renamed it Exodus 1947. Nearing Haifa it was pursued by British warships mounting a blockade to stop Jewish refugees landing. The 28-year-old Harel raised the blue and white star of David, soon to be Israel’s flag, while loudspeakers played Hatikvah, to be its national anthem. When the British shot across the ship’s bows and sent troops to board, it was Harel who led fierce resistance by the unarmed passengers and crew.