Sunday, September 2, 2012

Cruiser “Georgios Averof”

Vintage postcard of the launch of the Greek cruiser Georgios Averof, LivornoA 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, LivornoAlready 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.Greek cruiser Georgios AverofAfter 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, AthensThe 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)

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

May peaceful waters continue to rule the Med.

I shall try to find her. Please have a good new month ahead.

Luis Gomez said...

Love this post VP.

Randy said...

I agree this is an excellent post.

Dina said...

I was happy that your post has a happy end.

Traveling Hawk said...

A very well documented post!

Cezar and Léia said...

The vessel seems to sum up pretty much the spirit of Europe today, being produced with parts from so many European powers... And that was in 1910! Quite interesting!
And the restoration was glorious!
God bless you!
Cezar

Birdman said...

She still looks like she could hold her own in battle.

Lois Evensen said...

Wonderful naval history! I love this post!

Unknown said...

Well done, VP. Great post!

cieldequimper said...

A very European post!

Lois said...

How wonderful that the ship was restored! Those are some scary looking clouds coming up in that last picture.

Halcyon said...

I love these old and new posts. Very interesting stuff.