Collection of Greek ships

[Sella22]

Hello everyone this is my first post in the forums.I have been researching Greek ships of the 19th century and i would like to share what i have gathered so far since there isnt much out there.

 

 

Notes:

1)The caliber of the guns on most ships is uknown.Although it is speculated that most of them carried 12pdr guns.

2)Gun number and gun ports don't always match.Some pictures are more artistic than realistic.

3)Some names of the ships are the same.Howewer they were either owned from a different family or from a different island.In most cases either from the island of Hydra or the island of Spetses or Psara.

http://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(island)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spetses

4)The models and the drawings shown below were not made by me.

 

 

 

Corvette Loudovikos(Louis) 1836

 

The model above is exhibited in the Hellenic Maritime Museum.

 

Info:

 

 

Loudovikos was a corvette of the Hellenic Navy built in 1838 at the Poros Naval Shipyard, designed by naval architect Georgios Tombazis. It was a relatively large ship (length 44.1 m, 1000-ton displacement), was armed with two 22-lb plus four 20-lb long guns, and twenty-four 32-lb carronades, and had a crew of 182. The ship was not operationally utilized, and since 1846 it was used as a training ship (renamed Messolongion in 1862). It officially remained in service with the Hellenic Navy until 1873.

 

Lenght:44.1 meters
Width:11.7 meters
Draft:4.5 meters
Tonnage:1016 tons
Crew: 182  

 

Armamament: 2 x 22 pounder guns

                       4 x 20 pounder long guns
                    24  x 32 pounder carronades

 

 

Another model:http://www.greekshipmodels.com/default.aspx?pageid=170

 

Her plans:https://www.dropbox.com/s/74c6u3xxa3j9up7/LOYDOVIKOS%20225.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o8we1m1pp4zcg52/LOYDOVIKOS%20226.JPG?dl=0&preview=LOYDOVIKOS+226.JPG

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4oumqj3zc1hced7/LOYDOVIKOS%20227.JPG?dl=0&preview=LOYDOVIKOS+227.JPG

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sella22]

 

Frigate Hellas 1826

 

 

Info:

 

 

Length:54 m
Width: 14m
Tonnage:1728 t
Guns:48(16 livres) + 16 carronades(42 livres)
Draft:4.2 m

 

Her sistership: http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/hudson-i.html

 

 

 

 

Another model:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More pictures:http://www.greekshipmodels.com/default.aspx?pageid=157

 

 

 

Her plans:

 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/34n9y6ozvjg9gh2/Hellas-Hudson%201.JPG?dl=0&preview=Hellas-Hudson+1.JPG

https://www.dropbox.com/s/63964kab8hl9ebt/Hellas-Hudson%202.JPG?dl=0&preview=Hellas-Hudson+2.JPG

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7x3qg2greo89pqv/Hellas-Hudson%203.JPG?dl=0&preview=Hellas-Hudson+3.JPG

 

 

Edited January 5, 2016 by Sella22

[Sella22]

Brig Ares(Aris) 1807

 

Info and history:

 

 

Aris, along with 5 other brigs, were anchored at Sphacteria when, on the morning of April 26, the combined Ottoman-Egyptian fleet arrived and started its attack on the island, bombarding the Greek positions and disembarking numerous troops. Most captains of the ships were on land, along with part of their crews, who were manning the island's cannons. The other ships sailed before the Ottoman fleet could seal off the bay, and after fighting off the Ottomans, were able to escape. The crew of Aris however still awaited their captain, who had been killed.

 

Aris sailed through the midst of the Turco-Egyptian fleet, being attacked on all sides for several hours and facing in total 32 ships one after another, before reaching the open sea. Casualties among the crew were just two dead and six wounded.

 

 

One of the most famous Greek brigs that took part in the Greek War of Independence.

 

General characteristics:

 

Displacement:350 tons

Lenght:30,5 meters

Width:8,8 meters

Draft:4,9 meters

Crew:82

 

 

Guns(as built):

16x12pdr cannons

(1829):

2x12pdr cannons

10x24pdr carronades

 

 

 

The plans today do not exist.Although according to some testimonies they existed until WW2.The model pictured above is housed in the building of the Old Greek Parliament and was built at the begining of the 20th century when the plans and the ship itself stil existed.So consider the model as accurate as it can get.She was sank with honours in 1921.

About the model show in the second link:

For its building another model in the posession of a Greek Admiral was used which according to him it was built by a naval cadet who served on the ship itself.

 

The figurehead:

 

 

 

 

 

The brig Ares at Poros in 1905:

 

 

Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_brig_Aris

http://greek-war-equipment.blogspot.gr/2011/01/1819-1921-brig-aris_19.html

 

Another model:http://www.naftotopos.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=239:briki-aris&catid=166&Itemid=530〈=el

A model of Ares before his conversion to a fighting vessel: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19192/lot/2047/

 

 

[Sella22]

Steamer Karteria 1826

 

 

Info and history:

 Built in London for the Greeks, Karteria was possibly the most modern warship in the world when it entered service in 1826. She was ordered, part financed and captained by retired Royal Navy officer, Captain Frank Abney Hastings.

 

At the age of 11, Hastings had taken part at the Battle of Trafalgar on HMS Neptune. He rose to commander until 1820 when due to an incident with a senior officer he was Hastingscompelled to leave the service. A great philhellene, in 1822 he went to Greece to serve on Tombazis’s ship "Themistoklis". In 1824, he managed to secure £10,000 of the £2,000,000 of the second Greek loan from England, to finance Karteria; he paid for her guns himself. A year later, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Greek revolutionary navy.

 

Karteria was classified as a four-masted sloop-of-war that operated under sail while travelling, but could be propelled by steam-powered paddles in battle. Captained by Hastings, armed with 68-pounder guns and equipped with on-board furnaces to provide red-hot incendiary shots, Karteria was deadly against the older wood and sail ships of the Ottoman navy. In 1827 alone, she fired 18,000 rounds and sank several enemy ships.

 

Karteria is most notable for being the first steam warship in the world to be used in battle (the first steam warship built was the American USS Demologos from 1814). Apart from Karteria, five more steam warships were ordered. Two of them, "Epiheirisis" and "Ermis" entered Greek service before the war was over, one blew up during trials and two were never completed and were left to rot on the Thames.

 

Materials used for construction are described by Hastings, in his Memoir of 1828:

 

" The ‘Karteria’ was built with her timbers close and caulked together, and would therefore, have floated without planking. I had several opportunities of remarking the advantage of building thus, to resist shot; nothing less than a eighteen pounder ever came through us; this, ’tis true, might be partly attributed to Turkish bad powder, but those shot that did come through, always made a nice clean round hole without a splinter. However, against shells it would have a disadvantage, as they would be more likely to stick in it. Perhaps if shells became generally used, it will be proper to make the upper works of a ship as slight as is consistent with strength, and iron ribs might perhaps be good. The ‘Karteria’ had another peculiarity in her build – two solid bulkheads enclosing the engine room, and caulked and lined, so as to be water tight, the intention of this was, in the event of one part of the ship being leaky from any cause whatever, the water could not flow into another part of the ship. This arrangement, which is due to the ingenuity of Mr Brent, the builder, once saved this ship from fire, which broke out with great force in the after-part of the engine room, and would have communicated to the shell room very quickly. But for this bulkhead, which kept the fire forward, and gave us time to subdue it. I see no reason why all men of war should not be furnished with similar partitions. The same builder saved another ship (the Rising Star) from sinking, by this contrivance."

 

Specifications:

 

Displacement: 233 tons

Propulsion: two steam enginers of 85hp and four masts with schooner rigging

Consumption: 7 tons of coal per day

Speed: 7 knots

Length: 38.4m

Width: 7.6m

 

Armament:

4 x 68-pounder carronades and 4 x 68-pounder guns of a new design based on a model by Frank Hastings

 

Crew:

185 (17 officers, 22 petty officers, 32 gunners, 110 sailors and 4 cooks-cabin boys)

 

Pictures and a plan:

 

 

 

The ship's most celebrated success was a raid on the port of Itea, near Salona (Amfissa) in the Gulf of Corinth, on 29/30 September 1827, where it sank 9 Ottoman ships.

Painting showing the Karteria (centre-right, with sails down and smoke issuing from funnel) in action at the Battle of Itea (1827). Note that the Karteria is advancing under steam against the wind, in contrast with the two flanking Greek warships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The figurehead:

 

Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karteria_(Greek_warship)

http://greek-war-equipment.blogspot.gr/2011/02/1826-1840-paddle-steamer-karteria.html

http://www.captainfrank.co.uk/article/karteria-the-first-steam-warship-in-war-1826

[Sella22]

 

Holy Trinity(Agia Trias)

12 gun polacre

High res:http://www.botsisauctions.com/gr/AuctionsDetails/347/%CE%9A%CE%A1%CE%99%CE%95%CE%96%CE%97%CE%A3,-%CE%91.%CE%95.-%5B%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9%5D-%CE%91%CE%9B%CE%95%CE%9E%CE%91%CE%9D%CE%94%CE%A1%CE%97%CE%A3,-%CE%9A.%CE%91.-

 

The ship AGIA TRIAS from the port of Hydra in Greece owned by George. A. Kriézis under her royal flag with 8 guns. That ship was captured by Algerian pirates after a bloody fight, South of Sardinia in June 1809. Her captain Antonios Kriezis aged of 18 years ( and his crew were held prisoners. 

 

Weight:380 tons

Crew:68

 

 

 

http://www.mastrantonis-istiofora.gr/?page_id=223

 

[Sella22]

 

Themistocles

14 gun brig

A 260 ton brig from Hydra owned by George Kriezis.

 

Themistocles

Owned by the Spetsiot, Mexis family

4th of June 1820

 

Lenght:22,4 meters

 

 

 

 

Themistocles

12 gun brig

1816

Owned by the Hydriot, Voulgaris family

Crew: 70

[Sella22]

Agamemnon

18 gun brig

1820

 

The flag of the ship.It is based on the byzantine eagle.

 

The figurehead:

 

 

 

The 30,72 meter long Agamemnon.Armed with 18 (possibly 12pdr) long guns.Property and flagship of Laskarina Bouboulina the only woman in world naval history,until recently,to hold the rank of Admiral.

 

The Agamemnon was burned by Andreas Miaoulis along with the frigate Hellas and the corvette Hydra in the naval base of Poros, during the Greek civil war in 1831.

 

 

 

 

[Sella22]

 

 

 

 

 

Pericles

8-gun brig

30 June 1820

Owned by the Spetsiot,Hatzianargirou family

 

Lenght:21,76 meters

Weight: 420 tons

 

 

 

Timoleon

16(?) gun frigate(?)

1813

Owned by the Hydriots,Ioannes Orlandos and Lazaros Pinotsis

 

Lenght: 21,952 meters

 

It was also called as a "war-brig" even though it is three masted.

[Sella22]

 

 

 

Leonidas

16(?) gun brig

1810

Owned by the Hydriot Emannuil Tombazis

 

 

 

http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/140474.html

 

Lenght: 22,72 meters

 

 

[Sella22]

 

Leonidas

14 gun corvette (?)

1820

Island of Psara https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psara

Owned by Nikolaos Apostolis

 

Lenght:19,20 meters

Weight:420 tons

[Sella22]

 

Iraklis(Hercules)

16 gun (classed as polacre from the source)

Owned by the Hydriot,Tsamados family

 

 

 

 

Panagia

12 gun (galliot according to the source)

Owned by the Hydriot,Kriezis family

 

 

 

 

1809. Attack by Algerian Pirates of the greek Panagia under Moroccan flag

 

 

Here before the rigging was changed:

 

 

 

 

Rozalia

4-gun Polacre

1790

Owned by the Hydriots, Kriezis-Papantonis-Papamanolis

 

 

[Sella22]

 

Terpsichore

7-gun topsail schooner

(nicknamed by the Turks as "Devilship")

1818

 

 

 

Lenght:27,45 meters

Guns:6x12 pdr cannons and 1x48pdr gun on the bow

 

Another model: http://www.greekshipmodels.com/default.aspx?pageid=27

 

 

 

 

Matilda

10-gun schooner

1842(?)

 

[Sella22]

Agios Nikolaos(Saint Nicolas)

14-gun polacre

450 tons

1809

Owned by the famous Andreas Vokos or Miaoulis

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Vokos_Miaoulis

 

 

Note on the first painting by Antoine Roux:

 

"Greek ships visitng French ports are notable for their tall masts and the dignity of their captains."

 

 

 

Nautilus

Cutter(?)

Probably owned by the regent of Greece:https://en.wikipedia..._von_Armansperg

 

 

 

Themistocles

16 gun frigate(?)

1813

Owned by the Hydriot Tombazis family.

 

 

 

 

[Sella22]

Αmalia II

26 gun-Steam frigate

1861

 

Info and history:

 

The steam frigate Amalia was built at the Pitcher English shipyards between 1859-1861 and on the 23rd of October 1861 she sailed to Greece.She was made completely out of wood, and had a displacement of 1680 tonnes and was armed with Paxhain guns which were bought in 1852 for Maximilian.(a Greek sail corvette acquired in 1831)

During the reign of Otto she took part in the blockade of Nafplio,for the repression of the Nafplian revolution and later for the revolution of the island of Kythnos.

 

In October 1862,a coup started which resulted in the overthrow of Otto and Amalia(the queen).The royal family was on board the Amalia during these events.The captain of the Amalia at that time was Leonidas Palaskas who escorted King Otto to his exile.

 

(King Otto and his wife leaving the frigate Amalia in order to board the engilsh steam frigate Scylla in the background.)

 

he ship after the overthrow of the king was renamed Hellas.

 

On the 10th of October 1863, the new King George I,arrived to Greece on board the Amalia and on the same ship,at the port of Katakolo,the Great Flag of the Septinsular Republic(or the United States of the Ionian Islands) was handed to Greece by the last High Commisioner Sir Henry Knight Storks.

 

On the 25th of March 1863 she anchored at the port of Kerkyra to celebrate the integration of the Septinsular Republic.

She also carried the future Queen Olga to Brindisi of Italy on November 1867.

 

During the year of 1869 it was decided that she was to sail for Trieste for general repairs which didn't happen because of the high costs and she was towed back to Poros.During 1878,extensive reconstruction projects happened and during the periods of 1884-1885 and 1892-1905 she was used as the headquarters of the Hellinic Naval Cadets Academy.She was disarmed in 1906 and scrapped in 1914.

 

Specifications:

 

Lenght:58 meters

Width:11,6 meters

Draft:5,2 meters

Displacement:1680 tonnes

Propulsion: 300 horsepower steam engine

Speed:9 knots

Armament: 2x 22 cm Paixhans guns and 22x 24 cm Paixhans guns

 

Amalia I

22 gun corvette

1836

 

 

The corvette Amalia I was built at the Poros Naval Shipyard in 1836.Her building started on the 29th of July 1836 which was supervised by the Lieutenants Koskorozis and Theocharis. She was launched on the 13 of November 1836.Her launching coincided with the wedding of King Otto and Amalia (10-22 of November 1836).This event as result named the ship after the Queen.She was considered as one of the best ships of the era.

She was mainly used for anti-piracy and VIP transport.On the 14 of October 1852 she sunk near the island of Salamina during a storm. 

 

 

Characteristics:

Displacement:800 tonnes

Crew:7 officers,15 ΝCO's,103 sailors

 

Guns: 2x12pdr long guns and 20x32pdr carronades.

 

 

 

 

[Sella22]

Achilles

18 gun corvette(?)

1812

Owned by the Spetsiot,Botatsis family.

 

 

Lenght:24,32 meters

 

 

Another model:

 

Edited January 5, 2016 by Sella22

[Sella22]

 

Kimon

18(?) gun brig

Owned by the Hyriot,Kriemadis

 

 

 

Any additions or info are welcome!

 

 

Edited January 5, 2016 by Sella22

[Altduck]

Very nice collection. 

 

If I had to pick a favorite, it'd be Agios Nikolaos(Saint Nicolas)   in post # 13 because of the laundry hung out to dry.

 

 

Richard

[Louie da fly]

Those are some ship names to conjure with - many referring back to the great heroes of ancient Greek history and mythology. And of course St Nicholas is a patron saint of seamen.

 

You've done a nice job collecting all these wonderful pictures.

 

Steven

[Sella22]

Thank you all for the support!If you ever come across anything related to this thread don't hesitate to post it!

[Apostolos Gkouzis]

Great job!!!

You are a great person too!!!

 

Apostolos

[Jaager]

I have almost zero knowledge about this part of Greek history, but how well does this guess fit?

These ships were "surplus" warships supplied by western powers who were keen on causing as much mischief as possible to the Ottoman Empire?  If this is the case, exact or a close approximation  of the actual plans or similar ones can be had from West European and maybe North American archives?

 

The mismatch of guns would be predictable if my guess is correct.

 

At least the above vessels are the practical workhorses of their era,  They could actually do a job.  The liners of that time were a total waste of resources, over sized, and ugly.  These vessels were sleek and lean and most were probably fast sailing.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Jaager

[mikegr]

12 hours ago, Jaager said:

I have almost zero knowledge about this part of Greek history, but how well does this guess fit?

These ships were "surplus" warships supplied by western powers who were keen on causing as much mischief as possible to the Ottoman Empire?  If this is the case, exact or a close approximation  of the actual plans or similar ones can be had from West European and maybe North American archives?

 

The mismatch of guns would be predictable if my guess is correct.

 

At least the above vessels are the practical workhorses of their era,  They could actually do a job.  The liners of that time were a total waste of resources, over sized, and ugly.  These vessels were sleek and lean and most were probably fast sailing.

most of these brigs were built domestically in Hydra, Psara and other areas. They were funded by Greek ship owners from their maritime profits. In other words it was their private contribution to the War of Independence.

From the ancient ages of battle of Salamis to later ages, the built of light but fast and maneuverable ships along with good seamanship was the key factor of the Greek Navy.

After the reform of the Greek State the government decided to form a Navy by ordering vessels from abroad like the American frigate Hellas and more.

[DNDdino]

Thank you so much for this page. I needed this information for a group I’m making and I couldn’t find it but this article has it all in a perfect organization. Also if your interested at all Iv herd of a ship called the emmanouil. All I can find about it is it was a Russian 3rd rate that was sold to Greece in 1830