Greek destroyer Velos (1907)

For other ships with the same name, see Greek ship Velos.

Velos (Greek: Τ/Β Βέλος, "Arrow") was a Niki-class destroyer that served in the Royal Hellenic Navy from 1907 to 1926.

Velos - Βέλος
History
Greece
Ordered	1905
Builder	Stettiner Vulcan AG, Stettin
Laid down	1905
Launched	8 May 1907
Commissioned	1907
Decommissioned	1926
Fate	Sold for scrap
General characteristics
Class and type	Niki-class destroyer
Displacement	350 tons standard
Length	67 m (220 ft)
Beam	6.1 m (20 ft)
Draft	2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)
Installed power	6,800 hp (5,100 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts
Speed	Maximum 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Armament	2 × 3-inch (76 mm) 12-pounder Hotchkiss 2 × 57 mm 6-pounder/40cal Hotchkiss QF 2 × 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes

The ship, along with her three sister ships, was ordered from Germany in 1905 and was built in the Vulcan shipyard at Stettin.

During World War I, Greece did not enter the war on the side of the Triple Entente until 1917 and, due to Greece's neutrality the four Niki-class ships had been seized by the Allies in October 1916, taken over by the French in November and served in the French Navy from 1917-18. By 1918, they were back on escort duty under Greek colors, mainly in the Aegean Sea.

Velos saw action in the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). In 1918, after the Armistice of Moudros, Velos entered the Dardanelles with the Allied fleet and was, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Petros Voulgaris, the first Greek warship to enter Constantinople. In 1919, she conducted escort missions in the Black Sea carrying Greek refugees from Pontus.

Velos was stricken in 1926, while the two remaining Niki-class ships were refurbished.

See also

• History of the Hellenic Navy

Bibliography

• Mach, Andrzej V. (1985). "Greece". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 382–387. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.

Sources

• Official Website of Velos (in Greek)