Miltiadis Iatridis

Miltiadis Iatridis ( el, Μιλτιάδης Ιατρίδης; 1906–1960) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

officer active during

World War II 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 opposin ...

. He was born in the village Sofiko in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

. He entered the

Hellenic Naval Academy The Hellenic Naval Cadets Academy ( el, Σχολή Ναυτικών Δοκίμων, abbr. ΣΝΔ, lit. "School of Naval Cadets") is a military university and has the responsibility to educate and suitably train competent Naval Officers for the He ...

in 1921 and graduated in 1926. By 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 ...

in 1940 he was captain of the submarine ''Papanikolis'' with the rank of lieutenant commander. Carrying out six wartime patrols in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

, the ''Papanikolis'' sunk two Italian cargo vessels, earning Iatridis a promotion to Commander and the Gold Cross of Valour, Greece's highest award for gallantry. Following the

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) * G ...

, Iatridis led the ''Papanikolis'' to Allied-controlled

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. For the remainder of the war, he was assigned mostly shore duties, largely because of his often strained relationship with superiors. Following the liberation of Greece in October 1944, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Aegean fleet (1944–1945), subsequently commander of the North Aegean squadron (1947) and of the Naval Academy (1948). In 1950–1951, he headed the mission that was sent to Italy to receive the former Italian cruiser ''Eugenio di Savoia'', that was to be handed over to Greece as

war reparations War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. History Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history. R ...

and was commissioned into the Greek Navy as ''Elli II''. He resigned from the service on 29 December 1952 with the rank of captain. Iatridis was killed at

Agioi Theodoroi Agioi Theodoroi ( el, Άγιοι Θεόδωροι) is a town and a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Loutraki-Perachora-Agioi Theodoroi, of which it is a ...

in a car accident in 1960. The city of Pyrgos, the birthplace of his father, named a square after Cpt. Iatridis, where his bust was later erected. {{DEFAULTSORT:Iatridis, Miltiadis 1906 births 1960 deaths Hellenic Navy officers Greek military personnel of World War II Road incident deaths in Greece Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Greece) Submarine commanders People from Corinthia