Konstantinos Kanaris, also anglicised as Constantine Kanaris or Canaris, was a Greek statesman, admiral, and a hero of the Greek War of Independence.
The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "turquoise and white one" or the "azure and white", is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has 5 equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. There is a blue canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolises Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The blazon of the flag is Azure, four bars Argent; on a canton of the field a Greek cross throughout of the second. The official flag ratio is 2:3. The shade of blue used in the flag has varied throughout its history, from light blue to dark blue, the latter being increasingly used since the late 1960s. It was officially adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822.
The Hellenic Navy is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence. During the periods of monarchy it was known as the Royal Hellenic Navy.
Andreas Vokos, better known by his nickname Miaoulis, was a Greek revolutionary, admiral, and politician who commanded Greek naval forces during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829).
Antonios Kriezis was a captain of the Hellenic navy during the Greek War of Independence and a Prime Minister of Greece from 1849 to 1854.
The history of the Hellenic Navy begins with the birth of modern Greece, and due to the maritime nature of the country, this force has been the premier service of the Greek Armed Forces.
Pavlos Kountouriotis was a Greek admiral who served during the Balkan Wars, was regent of Greece, and the first president of the Second Hellenic Republic. In total he served four times as head of the Greek state, the most times in the history of the seat.
Georgios Averof is a modified Pisa-class armored cruiser built in Italy for the Royal Hellenic Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ship served as the Greek flagship during most of the first half of the century. Although popularly known as a battleship (θωρηκτό) in Greek, she is in fact an armored cruiser, the only ship of this type still in existence.
HNLMS Jan van Brakel (F825) was a frigate of the Kortenaer class in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy from 1983 to 2001. She was renamed HS Kanaris (F464) on transfer to the Hellenic Navy in 2002.
The Kortenaer class was a class of anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Like other frigate types of the 1970s and 1980s, they featured a COGOG propulsion system with separate cruise and sprint gas turbines. Ten were built by De Schelde in Vlissingen and two by Wilton-Fijenoord in Schiedam between 1978 and 1982. Only ten served with the Royal Netherlands Navy: two were sold to Greece's Navy while still under construction and replaced by two Jacob van Heemskerck-class frigates which were an air defence variant of the Kortenaer class. The Greek frigates were renamed the Elli class. After service with the Dutch ended, eight of the frigates were sold to Greece in 1992 and the remaining two to the United Arab Emirates. Three of the ships have since been retired from active military service with one converted into the superyacht Yas.
The La Combattante III type missile boats are two classes of fast attack craft built for the Hellenic Navy. The first group of four were ordered by Greece in September 1974 from France. The vessels had no class name but are referred to by type. They are similar to the La Combattante IIa-class fast attack craft already in service, but are larger and armed with torpedoes. A second group of six were ordered in 1978, to be built under license in Greece and use the Norwegian Penguin Mk 2 Mod 3 missiles. Since 2019, all the ships of the class use Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
The Hellenic Naval Cadets Academy is a military university and has the responsibility to educate and suitably train competent Naval Officers for the Hellenic Navy. Founded in 1845, the academy is one of the oldest educational institutions in Greece.
The Aetos class were four destroyers were originally constructed for the Argentine Navy as the San Luis class. In Greek they are known as the Thiria class, after the ships' names. They were purchased by the Royal Hellenic Navy in October 1912 when the Greek government expanded its navy after losing the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and in anticipation of the Balkan Wars. In December 1916, during World War I, three of the destroyers were seized by France and served in the French Navy until 1918, all except Panthir. They were returned to Greece in 1918. In 1924–1925, they were extensively rebuilt and continued in service into World War II, where they fought with the Allies. Leon was sunk by German aircraft at Suda Bay, Crete. The other three destroyers survived the war and were used as station ships during the Greek Civil War. They were discarded in 1946.
Andreas Miaoulis was a Greek naval officer, hailing from the distinguished Hydriot Miaoulis family. He was the son of Dimitrios Miaoulis and grandson of Andreas Miaoulis, the celebrated admiral of the Greek War of Independence.
The Roussen class is a seven-strong class of British-designed fast attack missile boats improved and customized for the Hellenic Navy, also known as Super Vita. The class is named after its lead ship, which in turn is named after Lt Nikolaos Roussen, a World War II submarines officer who was killed in the suppression of the Navy mutiny in April 1944.
The Pisa class consisted of three armored cruisers built in Italy in the first decade of the 20th century. Two of these were for the Royal Italian Navy and the third was sold to the Royal Hellenic Navy and named Georgios Averof. This ship served as the Greek flagship for the bulk of her active career and participated in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, fighting in two battles against the Ottoman Navy. She played a minor role in World War II after escaping from Greece during the German invasion in early 1941. Influenced by communist agitators, her crew mutinied in 1944, but it was suppressed without any bloodshed. Georgios Averof returned to Greece after the German evacuation in late 1944 and became a museum ship in 1952. She is the only surviving armored cruiser in the world.
The Othon was a military 430-ton paddle steamer of the Hellenic Navy, named after the first king of independent Greece, Otto. It was designed by naval architect Georgios Tombazis and built in 1838 at the Poros Naval Shipyard. It was powered by 2 Maudslay Sons & Field 120 hp steam engines, and was armed with two 18 pounder long guns and four 32 pounder carronades; total crew was 59. The ship was renamed Athinai ("Athens") after Otto's ousting in 1862 and decommissioned in 1864.
Leonidas Palaskas was a distinguished Greek naval officer who served in the French and in the Greek navies, as well as publishing a number of scientific studies.
Pyrros Lappas was a Greek Navy officer. He served in the Asia Minor Campaign, commanded warships in World War II, and assumed senior leadership positions in the post-war navy, culminating as Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff in 1952–1958. He then served for two years as head of the Military Household of King Paul of Greece, as General Secretary of the Hellenic Olympic Committee in 1961–1968, and as a member of the International Olympic Committee (1965–1980).
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