Vasilissa Olga (D15)

**Vasilissa Olga** p1
Ship data
flag	Greece
Ship type	destroyer
class	Vasilefs Georgios class
Shipyard	Yarrow Shipbuilders , Glasgow
Build number	1703
Keel laying	February 1, 1937
Launch	June 2, 1938
Commissioning	February 4, 1939
Whereabouts	sunk by German aircraft on September 26, 1943 (72 dead)
Ship dimensions and crew
length	101.20 m ( Lüa ) 98.05 m ( KWL ) 95.10 m ( Lpp )
width	10.20 m
Draft	Max. 3.43 m
displacement	Construction: 1,414 ts; maximum: 2,088 ts
crew	162 men
Machine system
machine	3 Yarrow boilers; 2 Parsons turbines; 2 shafts
Machine ; performance	33,683 hp (24,774 kW)
Top ; speed	36.1 kn (67 km / h)
propeller	2
Armament
	from 1939 4 × Sk 12.7 cm C / 34 L / 45; 4 × Sk 3.7 cm C / 30 L / 83; 8 × MG 12.7 mm; 8 × torpedo tube ⌀ 53.3 cm (2 × 4); 1 × depth charge launcher (with 17 depth charges); from 1942 4 × Sk 12.7 cm C / 34 L / 45; 1 × Sk 7.62 cm Mark 1 L / 45; 6 × flak 2 cm ; 4 × torpedo tube ⌀ 53.3 cm (1 × 4); 6 × depth charges (with 54 depth charges);

The Vasilissa Olga (D15 / H86) ( Βασίλισσα Όλγα ) was a destroyer of the Greek Navy , which was used in the Second World War and which was sunk off Leros in the South Aegean in 1943 . The destroyer, named after the Greek Queen Olga , belonged to the Vasilefs Georgios class , which consisted of two units . The construction contract for both ships was to the British shipyard Yarrow Shipbuilders in Scotland Glasgow forgiven; the ships were a slightly modified and enlarged type of the British G-Class . The keel-laying of the Vasilissa Olga took place on February 1, 1937. After being launched on June 2, 1938, it was put into service on February 4, 1939. The first in command of the destroyer was Captain Michalis Zarokostas.

Special features and modifications

Although built at a British shipyard , the Greek Navy insisted that the new destroyer should not be equipped with British 12 cm guns , but with the new German 12.7 cm gun C / 34 (L / 45), which also the destroyers of the German class in 1934 should be equipped. In addition, the Vasilissa Olga received four 3.7 cm Flak C / 30 (L / 83), which also came from German production.

After the German invasion of Greece in 1941, the destroyer escaped to Alexandria and joined the Royal Navy . There the Vasilissa Olga was temporarily given the new identifier H86 . As part of extensive conversions and modifications in the winter of 1941/42, including all 3.7 cm anti-aircraft guns, a torpedo tube set and the machine guns , the destroyer was designed according to the needs of the British Navy with regard to submarine hunting and of the escort service converted. The destroyer received a 7.62 cm (British) gun and six light 20 mm Oerlikon cannons . In order to improve the anti-submarine hunting capacities, the number of depth charges was increased to six and the number of depth charges carried from 17 to 54. The Vasilissa Olga reached a top speed of 36.1 knots in test drives carried out after her stay in the shipyard .

Operations in World War II

1940/41: Attack by Italy and the Balkan campaign

After a relatively uneventful period of service between 1939 and 1940, the Second World War began for the Greek Navy at the end of October 1940 with Italy's attack on Greece . The Vasilissa Olga mostly performed security services in the area of the Cyclades in order to prevent attacks by Italian submarines . In January 1941 the destroyer carried out a night advance into the Strait of Otranto to attack any Italian supplies there; However, no successes were achieved. Given the well-founded fears of a German intervention in the Balkans , Vasilissa Olga transported the gold reserves of the Greek state bank from Athens to Crete for security reasons .

From April and especially in May 1941, in the context of the attack by the German Wehrmacht on Greece , the Greek fleet suffered heavy losses from German air raids, which is why the remaining ships, the armored cruiser Georgios Averoff , three destroyers (including the Vasilissa Olga ) and five U- Boats transferred to Alexandria in May 1941 ; there in the same month a new commander came on board with Lieutenant Commander Georgios Blessas. The ships of the Greek Navy were integrated into the Royal Navy in the following months . From Alexandria the Vasilissa Olga went through the Suez Canal in October 1941 and moved to Calcutta for a planned conversion , where she arrived in November 1941.

1942: Supply trips and submarine hunting in the Eastern Mediterranean

After a long stay in the shipyard in Calcutta and extensive renovations, the Vasilissa Olga returned to the Mediterranean in February 1942 and took part in the following months, together with British destroyers, in supplying the Tobruk fortress, which was besieged by the German Africa Corps . On March 26, 1942 , the Vasilissa Olga rescued 20 survivors of the British naval tanker Slavol (2,623 GRT), which had previously been sunk by a German submarine , from Sidi Barrani . On June 10, 1942, the destroyer also salvaged 53 survivors from the Brambleleaf (5,917 GRT) naval tanker, which was also torpedoed by a submarine and badly damaged .

In the second half of 1942, the Vasilissa Olga , together with the British destroyer Petard , took part in submarine hunting operations in the eastern Mediterranean. The two destroyers succeeded in sinking the Italian submarine Uarsciek on December 15, 1942 south of Malta . The submarine was forced to surface by depth charges and eventually sunk by artillery fire , killing 18 Italian sailors.

1943: Operations against German and Italian convoys

From January 8, 1943, the Vasilissa Olga , together with the British destroyers Pakenham and Nubian , was used against Italian and German supply escorts running from Italy to Tripoli . On January 19, 1943, the destroyer group succeeded in sinking the small German tanker Stromboli (475 GRT) off the Libyan coast.

After the surrender of the Axis forces in North Africa in May 1943, the approach of Vasilissa Olga took place against the coastal convoys of the Axis powers taking place immediately off the coast of Sicily . Used together with the British destroyer Jervis , and also involved in the occupation of the island of Pantelleria by the Allies, the two destroyers were able to operate on the night of 2/3. June 1943 in front of Cape Spartivento an Italian small convoy, consisting of the small torpedo boat Castore (808 ts) and the two freighters Vragnizza (1,513 GRT) and Postumia (595 GRT), surprise and attack. In the following battle, the torpedo boat, which was cleverly used to defend the two steamers, was finally sunk by artillery fire after almost 90 minutes of fighting, around 3:15 a.m. However, the self-sacrificing effort of the Castore enabled both freighters to escape. Although both transporters were still able to reach Messina on June 3 , they were not used until the end of the war due to damage by fire.

September 1943: Operations in the Dodecanese

In September 1943 the Vasilissa Olga was included in the British offensive against the islands in the Dodecanese . Together with and in overlapping operations with British light cruisers and destroyers, the ship operated mainly against German supply convoys in this area in mid-September. The Vasilissa Olga succeeded on September 17, together with the British destroyers Faulknor and Eclipse north of the island of Astypalea, in the destruction of a small German convoy running from Piraeus to Rhodes and consisting of two freighters and a security ship; the transporters Pluto (1,156 GRT) and Paula (3,754 GRT) were sunk, the security vehicle , the small submarine hunter UJ 2104 (400 ts), was so badly damaged that it had to land on the coast of Astypalaia . The ship was later abandoned.

In the third week of September, the Vasilissa Olga was used for troop transports, the ship transferred on 24/25. September including parts of the Long Range Desert Group and supplies from Alexandria to Leros .

German Ju-88 bombers over Astypalea in the Dodecanese ( PK photo from 1943)

Downfall of Vasilissa Olga

On September 26, 1943, while the Vasilissa Olga was anchored in the roadstead of Lakki, the port of Leros , the destroyer was caught in an attack by 25 German Ju-88 bombers of Lehrgeschwader 1 on Lakki. Two 250-kilogram bombs hit the ship within a few minutes.

The first bomb hit the bridge and killed inter alia Lieutenant Commander Blessas. The second bomb hit the torpedo tube set amidships and caused a violent subsequent explosion that caused the ship to break through in the middle. Within 15 minutes the broken up Vasilissa Olga sank to the bottom, with the bow sticking out of the water for almost three hours. Of the 162 crew members, 72, including the commander, died. In the same attack on Lakki, the British destroyer Intrepid was so badly damaged that it had to be abandoned a day later.

Whereabouts

The wreck of the Vasilissa Olga is still in front of Lakki, about eight meters below the surface of the water. In memory of those killed in the sinking, a memorial was erected in the small port community.