Hellenic Navy - History - Late 20th Century
By the end of World War II, the fleets ships were spread to the islands and the ports of the Aegean sea aiming to hunt down the last remaining kernels of the enemy, escort ships with supplies for civilians and the refreshing of old naval services that would in turn contribute to the establishment of the Hellenic governance. It also participated to the overthrowing of EAM-HELLAS from the coastal areas and especially from the area of Athens. Following the reconstruction of the Hellenic state, the need for renewing the ships of the fleet was more than necessary. Most of the ships were given in order to assist the American military aid. Other ships were returned to the countries they belonged and very few were bought. Although the brunt of the fight against the guerrillas in the Greek Civil War was borne by the ground forces, the Greek Navy has contributed considerable support. Operations of the Greek Navy included minesweeping, movement of troops and materiel, bombardment and fire support, patrols to prevent guerrilla movement of men and materiel by sea, and the gathering of intelligence through local authorities in coastal villages. With vessels constantly on patrol and the bases of Salonika, Volos, Piraeus, and Patras alert to requests for support, any coastal area in Greece could be reached by sea in a few hours. In 1948 a minimum of 12 shore bombardments a month had been delivered against guerrilla positions.
Most of the ships given to Greece were in bad shape and needed repairing and new armor. Few of them were really new. In 1947 a total of 6 gun ships were given to Greece from the US (Arsamogloy, Blessas, Pezopoylos, Meletopoylos, Xatziconstantis, Laskos). As an act for compensation in 1950 the ship Elli was given while in 1951 the torpedo-boats Doksa-Niki, the mine-boats Aktion-Ambrakia, the tanker Naykratousa and the submarine Posidon and Amfitriti were given by the US. Greece was admitted to NATO in 1952. At that time the Greek Navy is organized in accordance with the approved American JCS force goals. The training vessels and equipment received in the past year had increased the effectiveness of the Greek Navy by approximately 30%.
During the period 1958-1960, a total of 6 carriers, 4 torpedo boats (fletcher-type) the Aspis, Velos, Lonchi, Sfendoni, 2 landing support ships Blachabas-Maridakis and 3 other type carriers Ikaria, Lesbos, Rodos were also given by the US. In 1964 the submarine Triena was delivered as well as 6 minesweepers Aidon, Egly, Dafny, Doris, Chicly, Kissa.
During the dictatorship in 1967, the navy under its chief of General Staff admiral K. Egkolfopoulos who resigned expressed its opposition to the fall of democracy. In the following months 61 officers were forced to retire. The major representative of the navy's resistant democratic action was the so-called "movement of the navy" which was not executed and managed to severely damage the military regime and to force it to reverse its plans. In 25-05-73 the torpedo boat Velos entered the port of Fiumoutsino of Italy and through this escape the opposition of the majority of the armed forces to the military regime was expressed.
The late May 1973 abortive challenge to the regime from within the navy was seized on by the regime to buttress its position. The government accused the mutineers of being in collaboration with the exiled King Constantine; since the Greek Navy has been generally royalist in its loyalty, this provided a pretext to abolish the monarchy. A plebiscite was scheduled for 29 July 1973 to approve changes in the Constitution to make Greece a republic for the second time in 50 years. Greeks voted on 34 changes in the 1968 Constitution which eliminate all vestiges of the monarchy and give wide powers to the presidency. A yes vote would also put Papadopoulos in office as President for a term which expires on 1 June 1981. The regime has also linked the naval movement with former political leaders who had also become more actively outspoken about affairs in Greece recently. The government arrested about 60 naval officers, including a substantial number of those qualified to command ships. This purge also served as a warning to officers in other services who might entertain similar ideas. The armed forces and the Greek people wanted to inform the global public opinion that there was an illegal violent military regime in Greece.
During the invasion in Cyprus emphasis must be given to the 2 torpedo boats T1 and T3, which at dawn of 20 th of July 1974 confronted the Turkish naval force of Atilas outside Cerinia but they were defeated by the severe Turkish Air-attack. The captain of T3 E. Tsomakis was killed together with its crew. The same day the carrier Lesbos, whose captain was E. Chandrinos, bombed in Pafos the Turkish military force under the enetic fortress of the city until it surrendered. The fact that the specific boat unloaded the whole unit of the special forces (ELDYK) which had just arrived from Greece, was interpreted from the Turkish side as an attack of the Greek fleet. Therefore the Turkish aircraft bombed and sank accidentally a Turkish torpedo boat while another suffered serious damages.
The Greek navy had the missions of preserving the territorial integrity of Greece, including all her Aegean Islands, and supporting NATO operations in the critical Southern Flank area.
Since the early 1950s, Greece consistently had an average of 16 destroyers and large frigates; her inventory in 1980 consisted entirely of World War II units which, despite being modernized, need replacement. Greece had purchased one Kortenaer-class frigate in Holland (the sixth in the Dutch series) with options on a second and on a license to build more with Dutch help in Greece.
Greece formerly had as many as 15 large patrol craft of various types, but these had disappeared by 1980 and, since 1967, she has concentrated on building instead a large force of fast attack craft for operation~s against surface ships. She had 21 such craft with five more very near completion.
Her submarine force declined to two boats in the 1950s, but beginning in 1971 she built it up to its level of 10 in 1980 by building eight Type-209 class submarines in Germany. Her mine warfare force remained constant at 13 to 15 minesweepers and two minelayers. Finally, Greece constantly maintained a force of eight to ten large landing ships (EAST and LSD) which was one of the largest NATO amphibious forces in Europe.
By 1983 a "Kortenaer" class guided misile frigate, the third of five planned for construction, was being built (under license) in a Greek shipyard. The two previous frigates were built in the Netherlands and commissioned in the Greek Navy in 1981 and 1982.
By 1988 the issue of building four guided missile frigates was still being studied. It was expected that one would be built abroad, while the others would be built at national docks. The following ship designs were considered to be possibilities:
- the West German MEK0200
- the Italian "Lupo",
- the American "Superior"
- the English modernized "Amazon" or "Under."
The prototype of a series of five tank landing ships was laid down in April 1987. Its full load displacement is 4,400 tons, its length was 114 m, its width was 15.3 m, its draft was 3.3 m; the 10,400 horsepower diesel propulsion unit can generate a speed of up to 17 knots. The ship has a helicopter pad, and it may take four type LCVP landing craft aboard.
After the change of regime and especially from the end of the 1980s, the navy worked on new strategies concerning the defense of the country within the framework of the EU and the new structure of NATO. The new role of the navy was not only concentrated on the control of the Hellenic frontiers and borders. It was also involved into peacekeeping actions under the umbrella of the UN. Since 1982, the defense expenditures were programmed on a 5-year business plan.
The role of the Navy as well as the importance of the geopolitical position of the country were emphasized in the 1991 gulf crisis during which in the Naval base of Souda some 97 ships were conserved and 13000 tones of material where loaded and unloaded. 31000 flight sorties were served and aircrafts were supplied with 4.500 million tones of fuel. The base worked on a 24 hour basis following exhausting rhythms and being very efficient carrying out its duty. Greece participated in the NATO embargo to Iraq with its frigates ELLI and LIMNOS. Furthermore, it participated with 2 ships to the international force formed off the Albanian crisis of 1997, assisting in the transportation of foreign citizens from Avlona and Dirachion to Greece.
On 31-01-96 the navy suffered the loss of 3 officers (X. Carathanasis, P. Blaxakos, E. Gialopsos) during the Imia crisis, North East of the island of Kalymnos.
Under the change of the dogma concerning the integrated defense of the areas of Greece and Cyprus in 1997, the navy aims to develop its power and domination into this strategically important area of the South-east Mediterranean. Its goals are to protect the Hellenic rights and border integrity, protect commercial sea-lines, and protect as well as cultivate a spirit of security to the Hellenic population of the Greek islands. Furthermore, it has the role of the transporter of supplies for the rest of the units of the armed forces and contributes mainly through Air transport to servicing the health needs of the population of the islands. Finally, the presence of the navy in the islands and especially in those of the eastern Aegean sea and the area of Corfu is constant. Hellenic Navy ships carry out patrolling missions in order to deal with any possible external threats and provide support to the Hellenic Coast Guard in central issues such as preventing illegal immigration, drug smuggling etc.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
