Hellenic Navy - History - 19th Century
The capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 marked the end of the gradual decline of Byzantium, ended a successful period for the Hellenism and sank the Greeks in the dark of slavery. However, the supremacy of the Greek slaves in the naval strategy continued to give them precedence, raised their standard of living, and after the treaty of Kiutsuk Kainardji they were able to sail freely on the Greek seas.In 1821, after four centuries of Ottoman rule, Greeks rose up in arms, fought valiantly and finally achieved a dream centuries old, freedom fromTurkish oppression. During the 1821 revolution the navy played the most important role. The Greeks lost the battle many times on land, but never at sea while as fearless raiders with their fleet caused heavy losses to the Turkish Navy that tried to cease the Revolution.
The exploits and victories of the Greek navy under Miaoulis, Kanaris,and Sachtouris, inspired the people of Europe, who finally brought pressure upon their governments to intervene in the fighting and compel the Sultan to recognize Greek independence. It is not accidental that the Greeks won their independence on the sea at a famous naval battle, the battle of Navarino in 1827 AD. On October 20, 1827, at the battle of Navarino, the Turkish fleet was finally defeated by the British, French andRussian navies which had joined in theeffort, and by September 14, after many centuries of foreign rule, freedom for the Greeks was regained by the Treaty of Adrianople of 1829 and, later, by the London Protocol of 1830.
The history of the fleet of the free Greek state begins in 1828. When Ioannis Kapodistrias became governor of the liberated Greece, the Greek fleet comprised of few "veteran" ships, which had participated in the struggle for independence. The first minister of "Naval affairs" was Admiral Konstantinos Kanaris. The most powerful ship of the fleet at that time, frigate HELLAS, had been constructed in the USA during the last years of the revolution. However it was set on fire by Admiral A. Miaoulis and sank together with some other ships in the Poros island Naval Base on 1st August 1831, at the time of the Hydra islanders rebellion against Governor I. Kapodistrias.
During the invasion of Greece by the Ottomans in 1832, the fleet consisted of 1 corvette, 3 Brigs, 6 gollettes, 2 gunboats, 2 steamboats and a few more small vessels. The naval base was located since the era of Kapodistrias in Poros and head of the naval command structure was Andreas Miaoulis. Despite the limited means of that time, the shipbuilding of a new series of ships began at the same naval base while at the same time old ships were gradually decommissioned. Furthermore, continuous efforts took place for the education of officers. Young people were initially trained at the military Academy of Evelpides and afterwards they were transferred to the navy, as there was not any " Naval School " at that time. The first Naval School was founded in 1846 on the Corvette Loudovikos and Leonidas Palaskas was assigned as a director. However, the inefficient training of the officers, the conflict of those who carried modernizing ideas concerning naval art with the old-fashioned experienced Sea-fighters of the struggle for independence, as well as the national problems of the times, resulted into the restricted, inefficient, and poorly organized utilisation of the navy, which was limited to national transports, guarding of the sea borders, and battling piracy.
Later on the fleet was reinforced with more ships and in 1855 the first iron propeller-driven ships were ordered from England. These were the steamships Panopi, Plixavra, Afroessa, and Sfendoni.
During the Cretan revolution of 1866, the ships of the fleet were not in a state of achieving something remarkable. Such a failure led to the awakening of those responsible and proved the right of the dogma stating that: "The navy, as it represents a necessary weapon for Greece, should only be created for war and aim to fight". Because of this, the fleet was supplied with new and bigger ships, while from 1885 with the use of iron in shipbuilding industry, the use of steam, the use of gun-power and the invention of the torpedo, the effectiveness and the appearance of the navy increased significantly.
Meanwhile, since 1878, because of the Russian-Turkish war and for reasons of security, the naval base was transferred to Faneromeni, Salamis and few years later it was transferred in the area of Arapis which remains till today. At the same time the naval school for officers was founded and its first director was Ilias Kanelopoulos. A committee from France headed by admiral Lezen, introduced the first scientific base for the organization of the navy and the methodological training of the personnel of lower ranks. Furthermore, the training of draftees was established in the old building of the naval base in Poros island, and the center was named "Central Progymnasium". Under the presidency of Charilaos Trikoupis in 1889 the fleet was further reinforced with the order of the ships HYDRA, SPETSAI, and PSARA from France. Therefore, Greece faced the weak Turkish fleet in the Greek-Turkish war of 1897, securing its dominance in the Aegean sea, being weak however to react effectively in the outcome of the war which led to national humiliation. After the war of 1897, the Turkish fleet was reinforced and as a response to that in 1909 the battleship G. AVEROF was bought from Italy.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
