Livorno Daily Photo: Cruiser “Georgios Averof”

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Cruiser “Georgios Averof”

A 1910 postcard celebrating the launch of the Greek cruiser “Georgios Averof” at the Orlando Shipyards. There was a time when in Livorno we built a class of battleships called “Pisa”, fitted with an extraordinary combination of Italian engines, French boilers, British artillery and German generators.

Right elevation and deck plan, Greek cruiser Georgios Averof, Livorno

Already at that time Italy had budget problems, so the third and last ship of the lot was sold to the Hellenic Navy. Not that Greece was much better off than us, but those were times when philantropists paid also for battleships, so the cruiser was named after George Averoff, who had footed part of the bill.

After a troubled first cruise to Britain to load ammunitions, the “Georgios Averof” finally sailed into Phaleron Bay, near Athens, in September 1911. At the time she was the flagship of her Navy and the most modern and powerful battleship in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Greek cruiser Georgios Averof as a floating museum in Faliron Bay, Athens

The cruiser was decommissioned in 1952, but in 1984 the Navy decided to restore the historical vessel. She is now anchored in Faliron Bay as a floating museum of the maritime history and traditions of the Greek Navy.

(Photo credits: postcard from the collection of Antonio Cantelli, Wikipedia, Historic Naval Ships Association)

External links: Greek cruiser Georgios Averof - Georgios Averof (Wikipedia)
B/S Georgios Averof (Historic Naval Ships Association)

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