Greek destroyer Vasilissa Olga
Vasilissa Olga in the pre-war disruptive camouflage pattern
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History | |
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Greece | |
Name | Vasilissa Olga (ΒΠ Βασίλισσα Όλγα) |
Namesake | Queen Olga |
Ordered | 29 January 1937 |
Builder | Yarrow & Company |
Laid down | 1 February 1937 |
Launched | 2 June 1938 |
Commissioned | 4 February 1939 |
Fate | Sunk 26 September 1943 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | G and H-class destroyer |
Displacement |
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Length | 97.5 m (319 ft 11 in) ( o/a ) |
Beam | 9.7 m (31 ft 10 in) |
Draft | 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines |
Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
Range | 3,760 nmi (6,960 km; 4,330 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Complement | 162 |
Armament |
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Vasilissa Olga (
until she evacuated part of the government to Crete later that month and then to Egypt in May. After the Greek surrender on 1 June, Vasilissa Olga served with British forces for the rest of her career.She escorted convoys in the Eastern
The ship was transferred back to the Eastern Mediterranean in September to participate in the
Design and description
The Vasilefs Georgios-class ships were derived from the British
The ships carried four
Wartime modifications
During her late 1941 refit in
Construction and service
The Vasilefs Georgios-class ships were ordered on 29 January 1937
After the Delfino sank the elderly protected cruiser Elli in a sneak attack on 15 August 1940 off the island of Tinos, Vasilissa Olga and her sister were sent to Tinos to escort the merchant ships there home. During the Greco-Italian War she escorted convoys and participated in raids against Italian lines of communication in the Strait of Otranto on the nights of 14/15 November 1940 and 4/5 January 1941 that failed to locate any ships. The sisters ferried the Greek gold reserves to Crete on 1 March.[2][3]
After the German invasion of Greece on 6 April, the sisters began to escort convoys between Greece and Egypt via Crete. On 22 April, Vasilissa Olga was ordered to evacuate elements of the Greek government to Crete, including
The refit was completed on 5 January 1942 and the ship escorted convoys in the Arabian and Red Seas before arriving back in Alexandria on 22 February. Together with the British destroyer HMS Jaguar, Vasilissa Olga was escorting the oil tanker RFA Slavol off Mersa Matruh, Egypt, when they detected and unsuccessfully attacked the German submarine U-652 on 26 March. Later that day, the submarine sank both Jaguar and Slavol. Vasilissa Olga ran aground in early May while escorting a convoy between Alexandria and Tobruk and damaged her propellers. After repairs the ship was transferred to the Indian Ocean where she escorted convoys there and in the Red Sea until December when she returned to the Mediterranean.[4][7]
On 14 December, Vasilissa Olga and the destroyer HMS Petard forced the Italian submarine Uarsciek to the surface off Malta. The submarine's crew was unable to scuttle their boat and it was taken in tow, although it later sank.[8] The following month, on the night of 18/19 January 1943, Vasilissa Olga, along with the destroyers HMS Pakenham and HMS Nubian, intercepted and sank the 475-gross register ton (GRT) Italian freighter SS Stromboli off the Libyan coast. The following month, the ship was assigned to escort the ocean liners transporting the Australian Army's 9th Division home from Egypt (Operation Pamphlet) as they passed through the Red Sea between 7 and 24 February.[9]
On 2 June, during the preparatory stages of
The ship was transferred to the Eastern Mediterranean to support British forces involved in the Dodecanese Campaign in the
Notes
- ^ Friedman, p. 223
- ^ a b c d e f Whitley 1988, p. 155
- ^ a b Freivogel, p. 355
- ^ a b Freivogel, p. 361
- ^ Freivogel, p. 351
- ^ Freivogel, pp. 355–356, 360–361
- ^ Whitley, p. 156
- ^ Rohwer, p. 219
- ^ Freivogel, pp. 361–362
- ^ Rohwer, pp. 253, 262
- ^ a b Freivogel, p. 362
- ^ Freivogel, p. 363; Smith, pp. 192–199
Bibliography
- Freivogel, Zvonimir (2003). "Vasilefs Georgios and Vasilissa Olga: From Sister-Ships to Adversaries". Warship International. XL (4): 351–64. ISSN 0043-0374.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- Whitley, M. J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell. ISBN 1-86019-874-0.
- ISBN 1-84415-121-2.
- ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
External links