Pyrros Lappas ( el, Πύρρος Λάππας, 1899–1981) was a Greek Navy officer. He served in the Asia Minor Campaign, commanded warships in

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and assumed senior leadership positions in the post-war navy, culminating as Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff in 1952–1958. He then served for two years as head of the Military Household of King Paul of Greece, as General Secretary of the Hellenic Olympic Committee in 1961–1968, and as a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

(1965–1980).

Life

Early career

Born in Athens in 1899, Pyrros Lappas entered the Hellenic Navy Academy on 10 October 1915 and graduated on 10 January 1920 as a Line Cadet Ensign, being promoted to full Ensign on 4 May 1920. He took part in the naval operations of the Asia Minor Campaign as a crew member of the battleship '' Limnos'', the destroyer '' Thyella'', and the cruiser '' Averof'', being promoted to Sub-Lieutenant on 20 May 1921. In 1922, he completed studies at the Navy's Artillery School. During the so-called "Navy Strike" of June 1924 he resigned, but was readmitted on 28 August 1924 with full restoration of his seniority. He commanded the torpedo boat '' Aigli'', and was promoted to Lieutenant on 22 April 1925. He completed the Torpedo School in 1927–1928, was promoted to Lt. Commander on 22 October 1932. In 1934–1935 he commanded the torpedo boats ''

Kios Cius (; grc-gre, Kίος or Κῖος ''Kios''), later renamed Prusias on the Sea (; la, Prusias ad Mare) after king Prusias I of Bithynia, was an ancient Greek city bordering the Propontis (now known as the Sea of Marmara), in Bithynia and in ...

'' and ''

Proussa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

'', served as commander of the Torpedo Boat Squadron (1935–1936), and of the destroyer '' Spetsai'' (1935). After completing staff officer studies at the Naval War School in 1937–1938, and being promoted to commander on 22 October 1938, he was captain of the ''Spetsai'' again, before being placed as captain of the brand-new destroyer '' Vasilefs Georgios'' in 1939. At the same time, he held the post of chief of staff to the Higher Destroyer Commander.

World War II

He held these positions during 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 ...

, participating as captain of the ''Vasilefs Georgios'' in the first and third naval raids against Italian shipping in the

Straits 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 st ...

(November 1940 and January 1941 respectively). During a ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

'' attack on the night of 13/14 April, the ''Vasilefs Georgios'' was seriously damaged, necessitating repairs in drydock. As a result, the ship was unable to join the rest of the fleet during its exodus to the Middle East, and was captured by the Germans. Lappas also remained in Greece, and was employed in the Navy General Directorate of the collaborationist government's Ministry of National Defence. In December 1941, however, he managed to flee Greece, joining the Greek Armed Forces in the Middle East on 27 February 1942. Initially he was appointed captain of the repair ship ''Ifaistos'', before being sent to Britain to oversee the delivery to the Greek navy of four ''Flower''-class corvettes. Likewise, in 1943 he was head of the acceptance mission for the ''LST-1''-class tank landing ships in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. He personally assumed command of the LST ''Samos'' (L179). On 10 January 1944 he was promoted to captain (retroactive to 9 November 1943), and took part as commander of a landing ship squadron in the Allied landing operations in

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and '' comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Isl ...

(January 1944), and

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...

(August 1944). For his service as captain of the ''Samos'', on 14 September 1944 he received the

Greek War Cross The War Cross ( el, Πολεμικός Σταυρός) is a military decoration of Greece, awarded for heroism in wartime to both Greeks and foreign allies. There have been three versions of the cross, the 1917 version covering World War I, the 194 ...

, III class. For his general war service, and especially his actions during the Anzio landings, he received the Medal for Outstanding Acts on 11 December 1945.

Post-war career

Following the liberation of Greece, he assumed command of the and of the 12th Destroyer Flotilla (1945–1946), the post of Higher Navy Personnel Director (1946–1947), Higher Technical Director (1947), Higher Light Craft Commander and Higher Submarine Commander in tandem (1947–1949). He then became Higher Naval Operations Commander, leading naval operations during the closing phases of the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...

, being promoted to rear admiral on 13 September 1949. He was then posted as Deputy Chief of the Navy General Staff in 1949, Navy Inspector-General in 1949–1950, and Chief of the Fleet Command in 1950–52. At the same time, he held in tandem the posts of Chief of the Salamis Naval Base (1951–1952) and Navy Inspector-General (1952). From 6 September 1952 he was Chief of the Navy General Staff and head of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

's COMEDEAST, being promoted to vice admiral on 6 October 1952. He held the position until his retirement on 13 September 1958. On 13 October 1958, he was recalled to active service as head of King Paul's Military Household, holding the position until 1 November 1960. He was appointed Honorary Chief of the Navy General Staff on 15 February 1963. In addition, Lappas served as chairman of the Greek Sea Union (1958–1980), member (1953–1954 and 1969–1980) as well as general secretary (1961–1968) of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, and member of the

(1965–1980).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lappas, Pyrros 1899 births 1981 deaths Chiefs of the Hellenic Navy General Staff Hellenic Navy admirals Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Greek military personnel of the Greek Civil War Greek military personnel of World War II Military personnel from Athens International Olympic Committee members Recipients of the War Cross (Greece)