My big fat Greek trip

[Kapitan]

So I have been on yet another trip this time to Greece the land of the gods, i spent my time going around the normal sites such as the Acropolis and the usual sights, but my main reason for going was for three ships which were annoyingly placed in two separate parts of Athens and believe me its a long walk yes i managed to walk 9 miles in one day!

The major goal was a WW1 era Pisa class armoured cruiser she is the only one in existence left in the world of her type, built by Italy and commissioned in 1911 the Georgios Averof is vintage and it shows, the three funnel twin tripod mast flush deck and ram type bow seems a throw back now but it does seem to be coming back into fashion (look at the USS Zumwalt), also notable is her four twin turrets not aligned above and below but offset in the corners as it were.

IMG_3253 by Blair shaw, on Flickr


She is a Hodge podge having Italian engines, French Boilers and British armament which would consist of eight 9.2inch guns in her main batter in four twin turrets

Georgios Averof by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Georgios Averof by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Georgios Averof by Blair shaw, on Flickr

After her commission she would ultimately sail to Great Britain to participate in the Coronation of King George V and be present at the Spithead review to which she ran aground and required dry docking and had the unfortunate issue of a near mutiny due to the crew not being familiar with blue cheese !

She would go on to take part in the Balkans war of 1912 but didn't see much service in world war I due to Greece being neutral until 1917 she again saw action against the Turks in the 1920's and in the late 20's early 30's had a major reconstruction in France.

IMG_3245 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

During the outbreak of WWII the Greeks were being forced by the germans to surrender, during the allied evacuation of Greece where many ships were sunk by German aircraft and in difnace and against orders from the Greek Parliment to scuttle the ship her captain and crew took her to crete where she later saild to Alexandria, she spent most of the war on convoy escort in the indian ocean.

After the war she was returned to greece a legend and was made fleet HQ Ship untill her final decommission 40 years after entering service, however she is still considered an active warship, as a mark of respect any passing Hellenic naval vessel must honour her and formally salute the ship by manning the rail.

Today she lies just outside Athens in the port of Faliro in good company with the next ship.

Georgios Averof by Blair shaw, on Flickr



Formally USS Charrette this Fletcher class destroyer carried the war in the pacific for the USN during WWII, an extremely good simple design these vessel were built in huge numbers and even saw service beyond the war in many other navies for many years.

DSCN2281 by Blair shaw, on Flickr


During her time in the USN this vessel would earn 13 Battle stars and sink the Japanese submarine I-175 with hedgehog (the first time) she also would screen occupation forces leaving Shanghai bound for Japan at wars end.

In 1959 the Hellenic navy purchased the vessel and renamed her Velos (Arrow) she would take part at nearly all NATO exercises during her career, however one episode in 1973 her crew mutinied during one exercise, announcing the the NATO fleet her intention she left the fleet unchallenged the Captain anchored in Fumicinio Italy and refused to return to Greece in protest of the Junta then in power in Greece.
Most of the crew supported the move but later had to be ordered by the officers back onboard the ship because they feared reprisals against their families back home, after the toppling of the Greek Junta in 1974 the Captain and officers returned to Greece and the Captain would later become Vice admiral.

The Velos served for a total of 48 years being decommissioned only in 1991, in 1994 the Hellenic navy ordered her preserved to mark the remembrance of the Greek struggle against the junta.

Fletcher's had a unique armament outlay having 5 inch guns mounted in five single turrets (two forward three aft with one aft gun reversed)


Velos by Blair shaw, on Flickr


But as you can see she has been re worked over the years deleting the reversed turret and placing heavier anti aircraft guns in place.
The Velos also had five 21 inch torpedo tubes and stern rack depth charges and many the hedgehog anti submarine mortar.

Velos by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Velos by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The velos is moored near the Georgios Averof (part of the same museum) in the port of Faliro, unfortunately only the upper deck is open to the public your unable to go below, the Velos is one of 175 Fletcher's built however she is just one of four that remain complete.



"Give me liberty or give me death"




They carried the war in Europe, they saved Great Britain, They were called everything from the Ugly Duckling's to the floating warehouse, this is the one ship does all Liberty ship.

Hellas Liberty by Blair shaw, on Flickr



Hellas Liberty by Blair shaw, on Flickr


The "Dreadful looking object" (President Roosevelt) Hellas Liberty formally SS Arthur M. Huddel launched in 1943 was one of 2,710 Liberty type ships built during the war based off of a 1935 plan for a 10,000 ton steamer based upon a simple dry cargo ship that could carry a mixed dry cargo be mass produced have a speed of just 11 knots be simply crewed and designed and also be cheap.

Ultimately that came true with 2,710 vessels built to the same simple design during the war this is a world record unlikely to be beaten, the ships were pre-fabricated and welded thus saving time.

In fact the Liberty ship SS Robert E Peary claims the world record for fastest ship completion built in 4 days, 15 hours, 29 minutes, upon hearing the news Admiral Karl Doenitz is reported to have said "Gentlemen we have just lost the war" the record ship was broken up as scrap in 1963.

Another record would see a liberty ship be the first U.S. Navy vessel to engage a German ship in battle sinking the German vessel, the SS Stephen Hopkins, sank the German commerce raider Stier

One notable and very close to home (i live 15 miles away) is the Liberty ship SS Richard Montgomery, which was carrying explosives when she went hard aground off the Kent coast not far from Sheerness in a storm in 1944 on her way to Normandy, her masts are still visible during low tide she also still holds much of her unexplored cargo, she lies at a 45 degree angle broken in two on the mudflats, its not advised to approach the wreck and any attempt at diving it is a criminal offence.

Hellas Liberty by Blair shaw, on Flickr

After the war many were bought up by devastated shipping lines and entrepreneurs they would go on to give good service for many more years before being sold on.

The Hellas Liberty would become a cable ship for AT&T and later also install cables for the SOSUS network.
After her long work life she was laid up and became parts hulk for the SS John W. Brown and SS Jeremiah O'Brien, she was purchased by the Greeks and restored she now resides at the Port of Piraeus Greece open to the public
She remains one of only 4 liberty ships in the world.

One liberty ship the SS Albert M Boe Remains in active service although not quite as you expect, she is in the Port of Kodiak Alaska in a land locked state she is a fish processing facility for trident foods and has been since her release from US Naval service in 1964.


All the pictures can be found on the link in my sig.

Enjoy and thanks for reading.

[Schroeder]

Thanks for sharing.

[em2nought]

I'm impressed that they all seem to be kept in such good shape. Thanks for sharing.

[Catfish]

Thanks for the pictures, Kapitan

[Eichhörnchen]

Very interesting stuff... thanks

[Jimbuna]

Always good to see the old reliables in receipt of some well deserved tlc.

Great pictures

[Kapitan]

it is indeed they are would have liked to have seen the georgios engne room but couldnt get down there closed off