History of The Hellenic Navy - World War II

World War II

In 1938, Greece ordered four modern Greyhound class destroyers in English shipyards, making a serious step towards modernization. The outbreak of war in Europe, however, allowed only two to be delivered. Greece entered World War II with a weak navy consisting of 10 destroyers, two outdated battleships, two light cruisers and six submarines. On the eve of the Italian invasion in 1940, the RHN consisted of 34 ships and 6,500 men.

The Hellenic Navy suffered its first loss of the war on 15 August 1940 (two months before the formal outbreak of hostilities) when the cruiser Helli was sunk, apparently by an Italian submarine. During the Greco-Italian War, the Navy took over convoy escort missions in the Aegean and the Ionian Sea and undertook three raids against the Italian supply convoys in the Strait of Otranto. The most important role was given to the submarines, which although obsolete, managed to sink several Italian cargo ships in the Adriatic. When Nazi Germany attacked Greece, the RHN was decimated by the Luftwaffe, suffered the loss of 25 ships within a few days during April 1941. It was then decided to shift the remaining fleet (one cruiser -the famous Averof-, six destroyers, five submarines, 3 torpedo boats and a number of auxiliary vessels) to Alexandria in Egypt. Here the ships were repaired and equipped with modern anti-aircraft weapons.

For the remainder of the war, the RHN fought alongside the Allies from bases in the Middle East. As the war progressed, the number of Hellenic Royal Navy vessels increased after the concession of several destroyers and submarines by the British Royal Navy, reaching a peak of 44 ships and 8,500 men in early 1944.

The most notable aspects of the Hellenic Royal Navy's participation in World War II include the operations of the destroyer Vassilissa Olga which, until sunk in Leros on September 23, 1943, was the most successful Allied destroyer in the Mediterranean Sea; the participation of two destroyers in Operation Overlord; and the story of the destroyer Adrias, which while operating close to the coast of Kalymnos in October 1943 hit a mine, resulting in the loss of the vessel's prow, while blowing the two-gun forward turret over the bridge. After some minor repairs at Gümüşlük Bay in Turkey the Adrias managed to return to Alexandria in a 400-mile trip, even though all the forepart of the ship, up to the bridge, was missing. Six Greek warships participated in the Sicilian landings and in the subsequent Italian campaign.

In April, 1944, a mutiny arising from political causes broke out on 5 Greek warships berthed in Alexandria and spread to a number of other Greek naval and merchant vessels. It was put down by Greek Marines, who suffered 50 casualties.