Niki class
|
|
|---|---|
 The bicycles (1907–1926) |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Destroyer / torpedo boat |
| units | 4th |
| Shipyard | |
| Order | Construction no. 268/269, 272/273 |
| Keel laying | 1905 |
| Launch | May 30, 1906 - May 8, 1907 |
| delivery | 1906-1907 |
| period of service |
1906-1944 |
| Removed from ship register | 1931 bicycles , 1945 Niki , Aspis |
| Whereabouts | Doxa sunk June 17, 1917 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
350 t , |
| length |
67.0 m |
| width |
6.1 m |
| Draft |
2.7 m |
| crew |
58 men |
| drive |
4 marine boilers |
| speed |
30 kn |
| Range |
1200 nm / 15 kn |
| Armament |
• 2 × 76 mm (12pdr) Hotchkiss guns |
| Bunker quantity |
90 tons of coal |
| Sister ships |
Niki , Doxa , Aspis , Velos , |
The Niki was the lead ship of the four Niki- class destroyers built in Stettin for the Royal Navy of Greece before the First World War . The class included the destroyers Niki , Doxa , Aspis and Velos .
Building history and operational overview
The Niki- class destroyers were part of a maritime upgrade program of the Royal Greek Navy after the defeat in the Turkish-Greek War of 1897. The four ships were ordered in Germany in 1905 from the Vulcan shipyard in Stettin and completed by 1907. The armament consisted of French guns.
The ships were used for the first time during the First Balkan War in 1912/13. Velos and Doxa were present in the first battle between the Greek and Turkish naval forces on December 14, 1912 in front of the Dardanelles (battle near Elli), and Niki and Aspis in the second battle on January 18, 1913 near Lemnos .
During the First World War , the ships were confiscated by the French Navy in October 1916 and used from November when Greece did not join the war on the side of the Entente . The Doxa was lost in French service. After Greece entered the war in 1917, the Greek Navy received the three remaining destroyers back in 1918, which then again under the Greek flag mainly performed escort duties in the Aegean.
From 1919 to 1922 they were used in the Greco-Turkish War . Niki and Aspis were totally overhauled from 1925 to 1927. They were re-armed and received two 88 mm / L30 guns and one 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. The achievable speed was only 24 knots. They also took part in World War II . Initially, they transported supplies in the Ionian Sea . Both survived the German attack on Greece in April 1941 and eventually served from Alexandria , Egypt, along with the Royal Navy until 1944.
The destroyer names were given to two Gleaves-class ships - Niki (1951 to 1972, ex USS Eberle ) and Doxa (1951 to 1972, ex USS Ludlow ) - and two Fletcher-class ships - Aspis (1959 to 1997, ex USS Conner ) and Velos (1959 to 1991, ex USS Charrette ) - again related.
Mission history of the Niki
The Niki (Νίκη, "victory"), launched on May 30, 1906 , was delivered that same year. She was in the service of the Greek Navy from 1907 to 1916 and 1918 to 1945, and of the French Navy in 1916/17. The French used them for anti-submarine defense, especially between southern France and Corsica.
In 1919, the Niki secured the repatriation of Greek refugees in the Black Sea from the Pontos region , the coastal area of the Black Sea coast between Sinope and Trebizond . She later supported the often poorly organized retreat of the Greek army. When Smyrna was lost on September 4, 1922, the Niki in command , Lt. Commander (gr. Πλωτάρχης, Plōtárchēs ) D. Chatziskos, killed by a sniper.
In March 1935, the Niki was one of a number of naval ships that supported an anti-government revolt and fired at government-loyal ships. Led by the light cruiser Elli (Έλλη, named after the mythological figure Helle ; 2,115 ts), they then ran to Crete, where they had joined the uprising. The insurgents gave up in mid-March. After her service in the Second World War, the Niki was canceled in 1945.
Operation history of the Doxa
The Doxa (Δόξα, "fame") was in use from 1906 to 1917. She was launched in Stettin on June 17, 1906 and was the second ship in the class. On July 18, 1906, it was taken over by the Royal Navy. Like the sister ships seized and taken over by the French Navy at the end of 1916, she was sunk under the French flag and with a completely French crew on June 17, 1917 by the German submarine UB 47 near the Greek island of Milos .
Mission history of the Aspis
The destroyer Aspis (Ασπίς, "shield") was launched on April 3, 1907 and was only canceled in 1945. He had the same missions as the type ship Niki . The Aspis was used in the Marmara Sea and the Aegean Sea during the Greco-Turkish War from 1919 to 1922 . The Aspis was also completely overhauled in 1925–1927 and so survived the Second World War. It was then canceled in 1945.
History of the use of bicycles
The Velos (Βέλος, "arrow") was launched as the fourth and last ship of the class on May 8, 1907 at the Szczecin Vulcan shipyard and had the same missions as the sister ships until 1918. In 1918, after the armistice of Mudros , the Velos entered the Dardanelles with the Allied fleet and was the first Greek warship to run under the command of Lt. Commander Petros Voulgaris enters Constantinople . She also took part in the Allied intervention in the Crimea in 1919 , where 24,000 Greek soldiers were deployed. In 1919, like the Niki in the Black Sea , the Velos secured the transport of repatriates from the Pontos . In 1926, in contrast to the sister ships Niki and Aspis , Velos was decommissioned and kept in reserve until 1931, before it was demolished.
Web links
- Greek naval history (English)
- Greek naval history