The flagship of the Hellenic Navy armored cruiser Georgios Averof

How many ships from the First World War and other wars of the early 20th century remain? Very few.

Only one veteran of Jutland remains, albeit converted into a training base. The Swedes did not preserve the Gustav V, which was built with funds raised by public subscription. The British scrapped the Warspite, which had survived two wars, along with all the other battleships. The Turks did the same (albeit much later) with the Goeben Jawuz. French, Italian, and Austro-Hungarian ships from the Great War can only be seen in pictures and old newsreels. But the Americans managed to preserve the battleships Texas and Olympia. The Russians preserved the cruiser Aurora. The Japanese restored the veteran of Tsushima, the battleship Mikasa. And the Greeks completely preserved their flagship cruiser Georgios Averof, which survived five wars and two mutinies.

The armoured cruiser Georgios Averof was laid down at the Orlando shipyard in Livorno in 1909 and was intended for the Italian fleet. It was the third ship of the Pisa class. The Italian government, experiencing yet another budget crisis, refused to purchase it. It did not take long to find a new buyer — the Greeks, who had decided to urgently upgrade their fleet, were looking for a large armoured ship. The shipyard asked for a million pounds sterling. A third of the amount had to be paid in advance. The Athenian treasury did not have that kind of money, so the government was helped by the heirs of the famous entrepreneur and philanthropist Averof, who had also financed the first Olympic Games of the modern era (1896). The armoured cruiser was named after the head of this generous family.

The new ship was very similar to the Italian Pisa and Amalfi, but had different main calibre guns — 234 mm instead of 254 mm — and reinforced armour.

Technical specifications of the cruiser Georgios Averof:

Length — 140 m
Width — 21 m
Draught — 7.18 m
Displacement — 9,956 tonnes
Ship's power plant — 22 Belleville steam boilers with a capacity of 19,000 hp
Speed — 23.5 knots
Cruising range — 2,480 miles
Crew — 670 people

Armament of the cruiser Georgios Averof:

234 mm guns — 4
190 mm guns — 8
76 mm guns — 16
47 mm guns — 4
430 mm torpedo tubes — 3
234 mm guns — 4
190 mm guns — 8
76 mm guns — 16
47 mm guns — 4
430 mm torpedo tubes — 3.

Armour of the cruiser Georgios Averof:

Belt — 80-200 mm
Deck — up to 40 mm
Turrets — 200 mm.

The cruiser's combat path

The cruiser's service did not begin in the best way. From Italy, it did not go to Greece, but to Great Britain, to a parade in honour of the coronation of George V. The ship was commanded by Ioannis Damianos, who had neither the experience nor the character for such a position. In addition, on 19 June 1911, while approaching Spithead, the Averof ran aground and was sent to the dock for repairs. And here the cruiser almost repeated the fate of the battleship Potemkin — under completely anecdotal circumstances. The British tried to welcome the Greek sailors as best they could and sent the most exquisite dishes on board. The sailors looked at these dishes and mutinied. «They drank our blood, budya! — they probably shouted in their beautiful language. ‘How dare these bastards feed us mouldy cheese?!’ The cause of the unrest was the English delicacy Stilton cheese, a relative of Roquefort. Damianos showed indecision in suppressing the mutiny, which was reported to Athens. A new commander arrived from Greece — the experienced and authoritative Captain 1st Rank Pavlos Kountouriotis. He restored order and led the Averof to Greece. On 1 September, the cruiser moored in the bay of Faliro, Greece — the same place where it stands today. It was less than a year before its first battle.

At the end of 1912, the First Balkan War began. Kountouriotis was promoted to rear admiral and appointed commander of the fleet. The Averof became the flagship. Under the command of Kountouriotis and the new commander Sophocles Douzmanis, the armoured cruiser defeated the Ottoman fleet twice, on 3 December 1912 at Elli and on 5 January 1913 at Lemnos, and virtually single-handedly blocked the exit from the Dardanelles Strait.

The cruiser Georgios Averof in the harbour

During the Second Balkan War, when the Greeks and Turks unexpectedly became allies, the Averof's tasks were limited to patrolling. Greece did not enter the Great War until 1917. In November 1916, the French captured the Averof, fearing that it would fall into the hands of the Central Powers. The cruiser was returned to the Greeks seven months later, immediately after they joined the Entente. Its participation in the war, already the third in a row, was not marked by any victories. However, it was the first Greek ship to anchor in Constantinople, where it was enthusiastically welcomed by the local Greeks.

In 1919, the Greco-Turkish War began. The Averof shelled the Black Sea coast of Turkey. Then, after the defeat of the Greek troops in Asia Minor, it transported troops and refugees to the Aegean islands. After the end of hostilities, it remained the flagship and underwent modernisation in France in 1925-1927. Its second commander, Navarch (Admiral) Kountouriotis, became President of the Hellenic Republic in 1924. The republic proved to be short-lived and extremely unstable — during its 11 years of existence, there were 13 changes of government and several attempts at a coup d'état. The Averof took an active part in the last of these, the so-called ‘Plastiras Movement,’ also known as the ‘Venizelist Revolt’ and the ‘Anti-Monarchist Uprising.’

The cruiser Georgios Averof in the roadstead

The cruiser's fifth war was World War II. In April 1941, when the Germans broke through the front, the crew refused to carry out the command's order to sink the ship. The Averof sailed to the island of Crete, and from there to Alexandria. In August of the same year, the British transferred it to Bombay, and until the end of 1942, the cruiser carried out convoy duty in the Indian Ocean. It then returned to Egypt and remained in Port Said until October 1944. After the liberation of Athens, it transported the government back to its homeland. It was commanded by Theodoros Kundouriotis, the admiral's son.

The Averof is one of the few Greek ships immortalised on a postage stamp. The man to whom the cruiser owes both its name and its existence was also honoured with a stamp.

Until 1952, the cruiser was used as a headquarters ship, then it was taken out of service and towed to a berth in Poros Bay, 32 miles from Piraeus. In 1984, the Greek Navy command decided to turn the historic ship into a museum. Since 1985, it has been moored in the Bay of Faliro, next to the yacht club. It underwent a major restoration, funded by both the state and private donations.

The Georgios Averof Museum Ship