Greek Battleship Kilkis
Encyclopedia
Kilkis (Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Θ/Κ Κιλκίς) was a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class
Mississippi class battleship
The Mississippi class of battleships comprised two ships which were authorized in the 1903 naval budget: and . They were the last pre-dreadnought battleships to be designed for the United States Navy; however, they were not the last to be built as one more ship of a prior design was completed...
battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
originally built by the US Navy in 1904–1908. The Greek Navy purchased the ship in 1914, along with her sister , renamed Limnos
Greek Battleship Limnos
Limnos, sometimes spelled Lemnos , was a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class Greek battleship named for a crucial naval battle of the First Balkan War.-History of the ship:...
. Kilkis was named for the Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas
Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas
The Battle of Kilkis–Lahanas took place during the Second Balkan War between Greece and Bulgaria for the town of Kilkis in Macedonia. The battle lasted three days from 19 to 21 June 1913 and ended with a Greek victory.-Background:...
, a crucial engagement of the Second Balkan War
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...
. Armed with a main battery of four 12 in (30 cm) guns, Kilkis and her sister were the most powerful vessels in the Greek fleet.
The ship saw limited action during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Greece's pro-German monarch, Constantine I
Constantine I of Greece
Constantine I was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece won Thessaloniki and doubled in...
opted to remain neutral until October 1916, when pressure from the Triple Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
forced him to abdicate in favor of a pro-Entente government. For the remainder of the war, Kilkis operated solely as a harbor defense ship. In the immediately ensuing Greco-Turkish War
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...
of 1919–1922, Kilkis supported Greek landings in Turkey and participated in the final Greek sea-borne withdrawal in 1922. She remained in service into the early 1930s, when she was used for a training ship. During the German invasion of Greece in 1941, she and her sister were sunk in Salamis
Salamis
Salamis may refer to* Salamis Island in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, near Athens, Greece* Battle of Salamis, fought at Salamis Island in 480 B.C.* Salamis , a genus of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae...
by German Ju-87 Stuka dive-bombers. The two ships were ultimately raised in the 1950s and broken up for scrap.
Construction
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
on 1 January 1908 as . She served in the US Navy until 1914, when she and her sister were sold on 30 June 1914, for the sum of $12,535,276.58. The two ships were transferred to the Greek Navy in Newport News, Virginia the following month. The ship was 382 feet (116.4 m) long overall and had a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 77 ft (23.5 m) and a draft of 24 inch. She displaced 13000 metric tons (12,794.6 LT) as designed and up to 14465 MT (14,236.5 LT) at full combat load. The ship was powered by two-shaft vertical triple expansion engines and eight coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s rated at 10000 ihp and a top speed of 17 knots (9.3 m/s). Lattice mast
Lattice mast
Lattice masts, or cage masts, are a type of observation mast common on major warships in the early 20th century. They were used most prominently on American dreadnought battleships and armored cruisers of the World War I era. Observation posts were mounted on the masts and used to direct the fire...
s were installed in 1909. She had a crew of 744 officers and enlisted men.
The ship was armed with a main battery of four 12 in (30 cm) L/45 guns in two twin turrets, one on either end of the superstructure
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...
. Eight 8 in (20 cm) L/45 guns were mounted in four twin turrets, two on other side of the vessel amidships. The secondary battery was rounded out with eight 7 in (18 cm) L/45 guns mounted individually in casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s along the length of the hull. Close-range defense against torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s was protected by a battery of twelve 3 in (7.6 cm) L/50 guns, six 3-pounder guns and two 1-pounder guns. The ship's armament system was completed by two 21 in (53 cm) torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s submerged in her hull. Kilkis and Limnos were the most powerful vessels in the Greek Navy.
Service history
Kilkis and Limnos quickly left the United States after their transfer in July, due to the rising tensions in Europe following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of AustriaAssassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were shot dead in Sarajevo, by Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of six Bosnian Serb assassins coordinated by Danilo Ilić...
the previous month. After arriving in Greece, Kilkis became the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the Greek fleet. At the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, Greece's pro-German monarch, Constantine I
Constantine I of Greece
Constantine I was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece won Thessaloniki and doubled in...
, decided to remain neutral. The Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
powers landed troops in Salonika in 1915, which was a source of tension between France and Greece. Ultimately, the French seized the Greek Navy on 19 October 1916. Kilkis was reduced to a skeleton crew and had the breech blocks for her guns removed to render them inoperable. All ammunition and torpedoes were also removed. Ultimately, a pro-Entente government replaced Constantine and declared war on the Central Powers. Kilkis, however, did not see active service with Greece's new allies, and instead was used solely for harbor defense until the end of the war.
After the end of World War I Kilkis saw service during the Greco-Turkish War
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...
, where she supported landings to seize Ottoman territory. On 5 May 1919, Kilkis and a pair of destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s escorted a convoy of six troop transports to Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
, where the soldiers were disembarked. The Ottoman Navy had been interned by the Allies after the end of World War I, and so provided no opposition to the Greek Navy's activities. Operations came to a close in September 1922 when the Greek Army was forced to evacuate by sea, along with a sizable number of civilians, from Asia Minor. The fleet transported a total of 250,000 soldiers and civilians during the evacuation.
During the operations in Turkey, Kilkis left the theater to represent Greece during the Fleet Review in Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
to honor King George V on his birthday, 3 June 1920. Kilkis underwent repairs and upgrades in 1926–1928 but was already obsolete due to low speed and low freeboard. The ship had her boilers re-tubed during this refit. On 29 November 1929, the Greek navy announced that Kilkis would be withdrawn from service and broken up for scrap. Consequently, in 1930, the armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
Georgios Averof replaced her as the fleet flagship. Nevertheless, Kilkis remained in service with the fleet until 1932. The ship was then withdrawn from the active fleet and used as a training ship.
A minor insurrection in the Greek fleet in March 1935 led to a reduction in the number of personnel in the Navy. As a result, Kilkis and Georgios Averof were removed from active service. After the revolt, Kilkis was used as a training ship for anti-aircraft gunners. She was used as a floating battery in 1940–1941, based in Salamis
Salamis
Salamis may refer to* Salamis Island in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, near Athens, Greece* Battle of Salamis, fought at Salamis Island in 480 B.C.* Salamis , a genus of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae...
. Spare guns from Kilkis and Limnos were employed as coastal batteries throughout Greece. The ship was attacked in Salamis Naval Base
Salamis Naval Base
The Salamis Naval Base or Naval Dock Salamis is the largest naval base in Greece. It is located in the northeastern part of Salamis Island and in Amphiali and Skaramanga. It is close to the major population centres of Athens and Piraeus....
by Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
s on April 23, 1941, during the German invasion of Greece
Battle of Greece
The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...
. Kilkis attempted to get underway to evade the attacks, but she was hit by several bombs and sank in the harbor. Her wreck was refloated and broken up for scrap in the 1950s.