Greek Navy

Greek Navy Πολεμικό Ναυτικό
Lineup	1828
Country	Greece
Armed forces	Greek armed forces
Type	Armed forces ( navy )
Strength	21,000
Location	Cholargos near Athens
Patron saint	Nicholas of Myra
motto	Μέγα το της θαλάσσης κράτος ("For indeed great is the power of the sea")
commander
Current commander	George Giakoumakis, Vice Admiral
insignia
Naval war flag
Gösch

The Greek Navy ( Greek Πολεμικό Ναυτικό Polemikó Naftikó , literally "navy"), in monarchical times the Royal Navy ( Greek Βασιλικόν Ναυτικόν Vasilikón Naftikón ), is a part of the Greek armed forces and 30,000 active reservists . The Navy has two main and several auxiliary bases.

history

The Greek Navy has existed since the Wars of Independence against the Turks in 1821, and at the time of construction consisted primarily of ships from the merchant fleet of the Aegean islands.

assignment

The Greek Navy has a special responsibility in protecting Greece and its citizens, which results from Greece's maritime dependence. International conflict prevention and crisis management are also at the forefront of the Navy's range of tasks.

The Navy today

The Greek Navy today consists of around 100 maritime units, divided into combat units and support units, as well as helicopters for submarine combat and electronic warfare . A number of anti-ship missiles are stationed on the mainland and also under the navy. The main bases of the navy are on the island of Salamis and in Souda on the island of Crete . The Navy maintains its own special unit (OYK combat swimmers), which is based on the principle of American SEALS .

For the further modernization of the Navy, the procurement of several AAW ships, further aircraft for maritime surveillance as well as a rescue ship for submarines and an LPD ship are planned.

organization structure

Cruiser Georgios Averoff , flagship of the Greek Navy in the Balkan Wars , now a museum

Frigate Psara (F 454)

Command structure of the Greek Navy

The official management of the Navy is incumbent on the Chief of Staff (gr. Αρχηγός του Γενικού Επιτελείου Ναυτικού, ύ / ΓΕΝ for short) of the Navy in Athens.

• General Staff of National Defense, in Athens
• General Staff of the Navy, in Athens
  • Headquarters of the fleet, in Salamis
    • Naval Staff Aegean Sea, in Piraeus
    • Naval Staff Ionia, in Patras
    • Naval Staff North Greece, in Thessaloniki
  • Training staff , in Skaramagas
  • Main Logistics Command, in Athens
    • Naval Base Souda
    • Salamis naval base

Fleet headquarters

• Frigate Command, in Salamis
• Corvette Command, in Salamis
• Speedboat command in Salamis
• Submarine Command, in Salamis
• Landing Craft Command, in Salamis
• Combat Swimmer Command, in Skaramagas
• Naval Aviation Command, in Eleusis
  • 353rd Naval Reconnaissance Squadron of the Greek Air Force with P-3B (subordinate to the Naval Operations Command) in Eleusis
  • 1st naval helicopter squadron equipped with AB-212 in Marathon-Kotroni
  • 2nd Marine Helicopter Squadron, equipped with S-70B-6 in Marathon-Kotroni
  • Naval Aviation School equipped with various types of aircraft in Marathon-Kotroni

Coast guard

The Greek Coast Guard ( Greek Λιμενικό Σώμα Limenikó Sṓma ) is subordinate to the civilian control of the Ministry of Merchant Shipping in times of peace. In the event of war, it is under the command of the Ministry of Defense. The Coast Guard was founded in 1919 by the then Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos .

fleet

Class (type)	image	Surname	#	Greek name
Frigates (13)
MEKO 200 ( Meko-200HN )	HS Spetsai	HS Hydra HS Spetsai HS Psara HS Salamis	F452 F453 F454 F455	Ύδρα Σπέτσαι Ψαρά Σαλαμίς
Elli class	HS Limnos	HS Elli HS Limnos HS Adrias HS Aigaion HS Navarinon HS Kountouriotis HS Kanaris HS Themistoklis HS Nikiforos Fokas	F450 F451 F459 F460 F461 F462 F464 F465 F466	'Ελλη Λήμνος Αδρίας Αιγαίον Ναυαρίνον Κουντουριώτης Κανάρης Θεμιστοκλής Νικηφόρος Φωκάς
Submarines (11)
Glavko's class		HS Nirefs HS Triton HS Protefs	S111 S112 S113	Νηρεύς Τρίτων Πρωτεύς
Poseidon class		HS Poseidon HS Amfitriti HS Pontos	S116 S117 S119	Ποσειδών Αμφιτρίτη Πόντος
Okeano's class		HS Okeanos	S118	Ωκεανός
Papanikolis class	HS Papanikolis	HS Papanikolis HS Pipinos HS Matrozos HS Katsonis	S120 S121 S122 S123	Παπανικολής Πιπίνος Ματρώζος Κατσώνης
Gunboats (10)
Osprey 55 class	HS Navmachos	HS Armatolos HS Navmachos	P18 P19	Αρματωλός Ναυμάχος
HSY-55 class	HS Polemistis	HS Kasos HS Polemistis	P57 P61	Κάσος Πολεμιστής
Machitis class	HS Aittitos	HS Machitis HS Nikiphoros HS Aittitos HS Krataios	P266 P267 P268 P269	Μαχητής Νικηφόρος Αήττητος Κραταιός
Asheville class	HS Tolmi	HS Tolmi HS Ormi	P229 P230	Τόλμη Ορμή
Guided missile speedboats (17)
Roussen class	HS Roussen	HS Roussen HS Daniolos HS Krystallidis HS Grigoropoulos HS Ritsos	P67 P68 P69 P70 P71	Ρουσσέν Δανίολος Κρυσταλλίδης Γρηγορόπουλος Ρίτσος
Lasko's class	HS Blessas	HS Laskos HS Blessas HS Mykonios HS Troupakis	P20 P21 P22 P23	Λάσκος Μπλέσσας Μυκόνιος Τρουπάκης
Kavaloudi's class	HS Xenos	HS Kavaloudis HS Degiannis HS Xenos HS Simitzopoulos HS Starakis	P24 P26 P27 P28 P29	Καβαλούδης Ντεγιάννης Ξένος Σιμιτζόπουλος Σταράκης
Votsis class	HS Pezopoulos	HS Votsis HS Pezopoulos HS Maridakis	P72 P73 P75	Βότσης Πεζόπουλος Μαριδάκης
Patrol Boats (6)
Tjeld class	HS Andromeda	HS Andromeda HS Kyknos HS Pegasus HS Toxotis	P196 P198 P199 P228	Ανδρομέδα Κύκνος Πήγασος Τοξότης
Esterel grade	HS Diopos Antoniou	HS Diopos Antoniou HS Kelevstis Stamou	Ρ286 Ρ287	Δίοπος Αντωνίου Κελευστής Στάμου

Other mine layers / search boats, tankers, sailing schools, transport, supply and landing ships.

See also

• List of maritime weapons systems of the Greek Navy

literature

• HDW stops submarine contracts with Greece . In: Die Welt , September 22, 2009

Web links

Commons : Hellenic Navy  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official site of the Hellenic Navy (English)
• Greek Navy at GlobalSecurity.org (English)

References and comments

1. ↑ Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War , translated by Dr. Adolf Wahrmund. First volume. Krais & Hoffmann, Stuttgart 1864, p. 98 ( books.google.de ). A literal translation of the quote ("[...] how then the rulership [sic] at sea is a very important advantage") was given by Johan David Heilmann in his translation: Des Thucydides eight books of history translated from Greek with many critical comments . Meyer, Lemgo 1760, p. 167 ( books.google.de ). See Thucydides: The Peloponnesian War . Dent, London; Dutton, New York 1910, cap. 143.5 ( tufts.edu ).