Greek cruiser Georgios Averof
Averof as a floating museum in Palaio Faliro, Athens
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| History | |
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| Name: |
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| Namesake: | George Averoff |
| Ordered: | 1909 |
| Builder: | Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando, Livorno |
| Laid down: | 27 February 1910 |
| Launched: | 12 March 1910 |
| Commissioned: | 16 May 1911 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 August 1952 |
| Nickname(s): | "Lucky Uncle George" by Greeks, "Seitan papor" by Turks |
| Fate: | Used as museum ship |
| Status: | Museum ship at Palaio Faliro |
| Notes: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Pisa-class armored cruiser |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 140.13 m (459.7 ft) |
| Beam: | 21 m (69 ft) |
| Draft: | 7.18 m (23.6 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Boilers: 22× Belleville water tube type, Engines: 2× four-cylinder compound reciprocating steam engines, Shafts: twin screw ship, Power: 19,000 shp (14.2 MW) |
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| Range: | 2,480 nautical miles (4,590 km) at 17.5 knots (32 km/h) |
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Coordinates: 37°56′02″N 23°41′01″E / 37.93389°N 23.68361°E
Georgios Averof (Greek: Θ/Κ Γεώργιος Αβέρωφ) is a modified Pisa-class armored cruiser built in Italy for the Royal Hellenic Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ship served as the Greek flagship during most of the first half of the century. Although popularly known as a battleship (θωρηκτό) in Greek, she is in fact an armored cruiser (θωρακισμένο καταδρομικό), the only ship of this type still in existence.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Greece decided to reinforce its fleet, whose ships were fast becoming obsolete due to the rapidly advancing naval technology of the era. The navy procured eight destroyers (then a relatively new type of ship) between 1905-1907, but the most important addition was Averof. The ship, a Pisa-class cruiser like her Italian sisters Amalfi and Pisa, was being built at Orlando Shipyards at Livorno in Italy. When the Italian government cancelled the third ship of the class due to budgetary concerns, the Greek government immediately stepped in and bought her with a one-third downpayment (ca. 300,000 gold pound sterling), paid with the help of a wealthy Greek benefactor, George Averoff, whose name she consequently received.
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Wikipedia