Greek submarine Papanikolis (Y-2)
Y-2 Papanikolis – Y-2 Παπανικολής
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History | |
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Greece | |
Name | Papanikolis (Greek: Y-2 Παπανικολής) |
Namesake | Dimitrios Papanikolis |
Builder | Chantiers de la Loire, Nantes |
Laid down | 1925 |
Launched | 19 November 1926 |
Commissioned | 21 December 1927 |
Decommissioned | 1945 |
Fate | Hull sold for scrap, conning tower preserved in the Maritime Museum, Piraeus |
Notes | Historical summary from the Hellenic Navy website |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Katsonis-class submarine |
Displacement |
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Length | 62.5 m (205 ft 1 in) |
Beam | 5.3 m (17 ft 5 in) |
Draft | 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Complement | 30 |
Armament |
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Papanikolis (
History
Papanikolis, together with her
Despite her age and mechanical problems, she participated in the 1940–41
Under the command of Commander Athanasios Spanidis, the former captain of Katsonis, she participated in two patrols in the Aegean Sea in 1942. During the first, in June 1942, she sank six small sailing vessels between 11 and 14 June, and proceeded to disembark SOE agents in Crete and receive a team of 15 New Zealand commandos.[2] During the next patrol, from 31 August to 15 September, she unsuccessfully attacked an 8,000-ton oil carrier, and disembarked two mixed British-Greek commando teams at Rhodes, which succeeded in attacking the island's two airfields and destroying a large number of Axis aircraft[2] in "Operation Anglo".
Coming under the command of Lieutenant
Papanikolis survived the war and returned to Greece after liberation in October 1944. However, she was severely outdated, and was decommissioned in 1945. The ship's conning tower was preserved and is on display in the Hellenic Maritime Museum at Piraeus.[3]
Captains
- Lieutenant Commander Miltiadis Iatridis (1940–1941)
- Lieutenant Nikolaos Roussen (1941)
- Lieutenant A. Panagiotou (1 January 1942 – 13 March 1942)
- Lieutenant Commander P. Libas (14 March 1942 – 20 April 1942)
- Commander Athanasios Spanidis (20 April 1942 – 10 October 1942)
- Lieutenant Nikolaos Roussen (10 October 1942 – 1943)
- Lieutenant Ch. Botsaris (1944)
Tradition
Two other vessels of the Hellenic Navy have received the name Papanikolis: the Balao-class GUPPY IIA submarine Papanikolis (S-114) (in service 1972–1992) and the lead ship of the new Type 214 submarine class, Papanikolis (S-120).
References
- ^ (in Greek) Greek submarines: 110 years of history from the ΠΤΗΣΗ magazine, issue 135, May 1996
- ^ a b c d (in Greek) The Greek submarines in World War II, by Cdre (ret.) N. Damvergis
- ^ a b Historical summary from the Hellenic Navy website Archived 2011-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Submarine "Papanikolis"[Greek National Radio-Television Company
- RHS Papanikolis (Y-2) at uboat.net
- A history of Greek military equipment (1821-today): Y-2 Papanikolis
- Submarine 'Papanikolis' From the Greek's Navy website (in Greek)
- Submarine 'Papanikolis' – The Legend A documentary from ET1(in Greek)