''Hydra'' ( el, ΒΠ Ύδρα) (sometimes spelled ''Ydra'') was a Greek destroyer of the , which served with the Hellenic Navy during the early stages of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It was named after the

Saronic Gulf The Saronic Gulf (Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος, ''Saronikós kólpos'') or Gulf of Aegina in Greece is formed between the peninsulas of Attica and Argolis and forms part of the Aegean Sea. It defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Co ...

island of Hydra, which played an important role in the Greek War of Independence, and was the fourth ship to bear this name.

Design and construction

The Greek Navy ordered four destroyers from the Italian shipyard Cantieri Odero in October 1929, with the design similar to contemporary Italian destroyers such as the . The ships were long between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was standard and full load. Three Yarrow Express boilers fed steam to two sets of Parsons geared steam turbines, with the machinery rated at , giving a speed of . of oil was carried, giving a range of at . Armament consisted of four 120 mm (4.7 in) Ansaldo Model 1926 guns in single mounts, with anti aircraft protection provided by three 40 mm guns. Two triple 533 mm (21 inch) torpedo tubes were fitted, while ''Hydra'' was fitted for minelaying, and had rails for 40 mines. The ship had a crew of 156. ''Hydra'' was launched at Odero's

Sestri Ponente Sestri Ponente is an industrial suburb of Genoa in northwest Italy. It is part of the Medio Ponente ''municipio'' of Genoa. Geography It is situated on the Ligurian Sea four miles to the west of the city, between Pegli and Cornigliano. Its ...

shipyard on October 21, 1931 and was commissioned by the Hellenic Navy in November 1932.

Service

On July 12, 1940, ''Hydra'' went to the aid of the lighthouse tender ''Orion'' which had been attacked by Italian aircraft, and was itself attacked by the Italian aircraft, but was unharmed. After the outbreak of the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdoms of Italy and G ...

, she participated in the first naval raid against Italian shipping in the Strait of Otranto (November 14–15, 1940). During the

German invasion of Greece The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...

, she was attacked by German bomber aircraft on April 22, 1941 and sunk near the island of Lagousa in the

, together with her commander, Cmdr. Th. Pezopoulos and 41 members of her crew.

References

Citations

* * * *

External links

Account of the sinking of ''Hydra'' by Vice Adm. G. Mezeviris, RHN
Kountouriotis-class destroyers Ships built in Italy 1931 ships World War II destroyers of Greece World War II shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea Maritime incidents in April 1941 Destroyers sunk by aircraft Ships sunk by German aircraft Shipwrecks of Greece {{Greece-mil-stub