Greece

"The Royal Hellenic Navy"

Greece had two pre-dreadnought battleships in service during WWII, Kilkis and Lemnos. The Kilkis was built as the USS Mississippi, and the Lemnos as the USS Idaho. The Royal Hellenic Navy did not use a prefix for their ship names.

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Just prior to WWI, a program of naval expansion by Turkey prompted the rapid expansion of the Royal Hellenic Navy. Two dreadnought battleships were ordered in 1912 and 1914, the first from Germany and the second from France. Ultimately, the war prevented the completion of either of them. In addition, two 'slightly used' pre-dreadnoughts were purchased from the United States in 1914, and delivered right before the start of the war. Along with the armored cruiser Averof (1911), they formed the heart of the Greek Navy until the late 1930's.

The Mississippi Class pre-dreadnoughts were the last class of pre-dreadnoughts built by the USA. Three ships of the excellent Connecticut Class ships had preceded them, and in 1903 Congress funded three more, along with two armored cruisers. The US Navy preferred to build more battleships rather than the two armored cruisers, and Congress agreed: as long as the tonnage and cost of the two battleships was the same as the two cruisers.

The resulting two vessels, Mississippi and Idaho, were basically Connecticut Class ships reduced in size by 3000 tons. This cutting eliminated all splinter armor in the superstructure, thinned the main belt considerably, reduced the amount of coal carried, and reduced speed to only 17 knots. The ships were laid down in 1904, and completed in 1909. Upon reaching the fleet, they were found to be totally unsatisfactory. Carrying too many guns for their size, they were overloaded, rolled badly, and were poor sea boats. The secondary guns were useless in even mild seas, the short cruising range of the ships made them incompatible with the rest of the fleet, and they were relegated to coastal duties only, serving briefly as seaplane tenders. After just three years, during a time when the USA was attempting to build up a large battle fleet, these two ships were retired into reserve.

When Turkey purchased two old pre-dreadnoughts from Germany in 1914, and ordered a dreadnought from Great Britain, Greece found itself in desperate need of a battlefleet. The US offered to sell the two vessels, each with fewer than three years service on them. The poor sea-going qualities of the ships would be irrelevant in coastal waters, they were of a newer and more powerful design than the two vessels bough by Turkey, the price was reasonable, and most importantly, the vessels could be delivered immediately. The deal was quickly struck, and the vessels transferred. Mississippi was handed over to a Greek crew at Newport News on July 21, while Idaho was sailed to Villefrache, Greece, on a midshipman's training cruise, and handed over there on July 30. The proceeds from the sale were used by the US Navy to build a new dreadnought.

The transfer was made in July of 1914, just before the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. Newly acquired by Greece, they were immediately used to threaten Turkey: Turkey had purchased a brand-new dreadnought from a British yard after Brazil had defaulted on the loan payments, and Greece threatened to attack it as it entered the Mediterranean. As it turned out, Britain seized the vessel for her own use, and the Greece pre-dreadnoughts entered rather uneventful service with their new owners.

As World War One raged in Europe, both sides wooed Greece as an ally, to no avail. The King favored neutrality, while others favored war on the side of Britain and France. Those two nations attempted to topple the monarchy, leading to much distrust between the nations. Even after Greece declared war on the Central Powers in 1917, Allied ships kept a very close watch on the Greek fleet, while the Greek Navy avoided any operations at all. Because of this, Kilkis and Lemnos sat idle at Piraeus as guardships

After the war, the two served as coast defense ships until 1932, when Kilkis became a cadet training ship. In 1937, Kilkis was partially disarmed and used as an accommodation ship. Lemnos became an anti-aircraft training ship and accommodation ship that same year, both at Salamis.

WWII found these two ships still serving in their non-combatant roles, little changed from their original form. On April 10, 1941, the invading Germans dive-bombed Kilkis and Lemnos, sinking the former at her moorings and damaging the latter. Thirteen days later German and Italian aircraft finished Lemnos. Some material, such as guns, was reportedly removed from the ships by the Germans for scrap, but no attempt at salvage was made. The wrecks were broken up after the war.

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