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

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of var ...

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 ...

island of Hydra, which played an important role in the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

, 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 of . Displacement was standard and full load. Three Yarrow Express boilers fed steam to two sets of Parsons geared

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam tu ...

s, 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 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 language, 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 kingdom ...

, she participated in the first naval raid against Italian shipping in the

Strait of Otranto The Strait of Otranto ( sq, Ngushtica e Otrantos; it, Canale d'Otranto; hr, Otrantska Vrata) connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. Its width at Punta Palascìa, east of Salento is less than . The s ...

(November 14–15, 1940). During the German invasion of Greece, 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

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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