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Ten years after the Greek – Turkish War of 1897, the Hellenic Navy had only antiquated torpedo – ships and three battleships, manufactured in 1889.
The need to create an effective fleet resulted at the end of 1908 in its reinforcement. Four brand new English and four German destroyers (torpedo – ships) were aquired. In adittion, the Battleship “G. Averoff”, the pride of the Hellenic Navy, joined the fleet.
For the resuscitation of the fleet, the re-elected government of Mavromichalis approached the Orlando Shipyards, at Livorno, Italy, where at the time, a battleship was under construction. It had been ordered and then cancelled by the Italian Navy. The Greeks offered to advance one third of its total cost and thus ,secured the acquisition of the battleship. The amount given in advance came from George Averoff' s will and the rest of the cost was covered by a loan from abroad. George Averoff had been a wealthy Greek patriot and benefactor.He had willed funds for the Greek Navy to acquire a training ship for the Greek Naval Academy.
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The 10.200 tn, steel plated warship had Italian engines of 19.000 hp, 22 French boilers, German generators and English Armstrong type cannons of 190 and 234 millimeters. Its top speed was 23 knots. “G. Averoff” was launched on the 27 th February 1910. It arrived at Faliro Bay on the 1 st of September 1911, where the Greeks welcomed it with enthusiasm.
The battleship, with the beginning of the First Balkan War in October of 1912, was at the head of the Aegean Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Paylos Kontouriotis and set sail to Dardanelles. It took over Limnos where the anchorage of the fleet was established in Moudros bay. After that, the liberation of Aghio Oros and the East and North Aegean islands (Thasos, Samothraki, Tenedos, Aghios Eustratios, Mitilini, Chios) took place .
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| An engagement with the Turkish fleet was inevitable. Rear Admiral Kountouriotis' plan favoured a battle offensive. On December 3th 1912 , he ordered the fleet to sail towards the Ottoman fleet that had made its appearance at the exit of the Dardanelles. Kountouriotis dispatched his famous signal to the Greek ships which were led by “G. Averoff”. “By the power of God and the wishes of our King and in the name of justice, I sail towards the victory against the enemy of the Nation.”
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The successful result of the battles of Elli and Limnos that followed, discouraged the Sultan and the Sublime Porte's expectations of controlling the Aegean Sea. The Ottoman Fleet would never attempt another exit to the Aegean.
Greece remained neutral during most of World War I. The Eleutherios Venizelos government in 1917 decided to participate on the Allies' side. At the end of the first World War in November 1918 – Turkey capitulated (Moudros truce) and Greece was on the winners' side. “G.Averoff” sailed to Constantinople and raised the Greek flag as one of the winning powers of the Great War. After, the signing of the peace treaties, “G.Averoff” with the rest of the fleet moved the Greek troops to Asia Minor..
In 1941 after the start of World War II, the Greek fleet had moved to Alexandria with “G.Averoff” at the lead. From Alexandria, the battleship was dispatched to Bombay to patrol the Indian Ocean. At the end of the war 'G.Averoff” anchored with the rest of the fleet at Faliro (17 Oct.1944) having brought back the Greek government from its exile in Cairo.
In 1952'G. Averoff' was decommissioned. From 1956 until 1983, the battleship was moved to Poros. In 1984, the Navy decided to restore it as a museum. Thirty years after being set aside, the battleship was on a new course. The ship was moved from Poros to its present location at P.Faliro, where the restoration took place.
The cost for the stabilization and the restoration from 1985 until today is vety large. A large percentage of it comes from donations, the most important of which are those of the Cyprus Democracy, the Latsis family and the Onasis foundation.
Today the “G. Averoff “ battleship museum honors those who served and died during its time of active service. It also keeps alive a sense of the Greek Navy's heritage. The battleship serves its educational purposes by hosting day visits from schools, institutions, organizations and private individuals. Those visits fulfil the second part of the donors' , George Averoff's, vision who wished the ship to fulfill an educational purpose. |
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