The Salamis Naval Base ( el, Ναύσταθμος Σαλαμίνας) is the largest

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

of 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 vari ...

. It is located in the northeastern part of

Salamis Island Salamis ( ; el, Σαλαμίνα, Salamína; grc, label=Ancient and Katharevousa, Σαλαμίς, Salamís) is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about off-coast from Piraeus and about west of central Athens. The chief city, Sala ...

(Cape Arapis),

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and in Amphiali and

Skaramangas Skaramagas (also spelled Skaramangas; el, Σκαραμαγκάς) is a port town in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It is part of the municipality of Haidari. It is known for its large shipyard. It took its name by the Chio ...

. It is close to the major population centre of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Most Hellenic Navy ships are based at Salamis, as well as many of its administrative, training and support services. The base employs approximately 10,000 naval and civilian personnel.

History

The first organized Greek Naval Base during 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 ...

(1821 Revolution) was founded on

Poros Poros ( el, Πόρος) is a small Greece, Greek island-pair in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf, about south from the port of Piraeus and separated from the Peloponnese by a wide sea channel, with the town of Galatas, Troizina, Galatas on ...

. The facility remained in use as the main naval base of the Royal Hellenic Navy until 1881 and is still used today for naval personnel training. Between January 1878 and April 1881, certain activities were transferred from Poros to the Faneromeni Monastery () and its surrounding area, on Salamis Island. On April 16, 1881, a Royal Decree directed that a new naval base would be built in Salamis, at a location then called ''Arapi'', near ''Akra (Cape) Arapis''. The Navy acquired an area of approximately 300

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s. Most of the land was donated by the Municipality of Salamis, which saw the construction of the naval base as an opportunity for employment, real estate development and business profit. Construction of the new base began in 1881 and gradually naval activities were transferred to the new buildings from Poros and Faneromeni Monastery. One of the first buildings was the church of Saint Nikolaos (1882). The new naval base was used intensively during the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

, the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and 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 opposin ...

. A suburban standard gauge light railway line (

Piraeus-Perama light railway The Piraeus-Perama light railway ( el, Τραμ Περάματος) was a standard gauge suburban light railway line in Greece which connected Piraeus with Perama and Salamis Naval Base. The line was owned by the ISAP, Hellenic Electric Railways a ...

) opened in 1936, connecting Piraeus with Perama and terminating inside the naval base at Amphiali. The line remained in use until 1977. During the Second World War the naval base was occupied by the Germans and used for naval activities, including submarine operations. The Germans retreated in 1944, after causing extensive damage to the installations. In addition the sea channel was blocked by a number of naval ships sunk by the Luftwaffe in 1941, including the decommissioned battleships ''Lemnos'' and ''Kilkis''. Cleanup, salvage and reconstruction work began in November 1944 and the facilities were gradually restored to operational condition. Salamis Naval Base has been in continuous use by the Hellenic Navy ever since, while a second major base was constructed at

Souda Bay Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greece, Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akr ...

Structure and activities

Salamis Naval Base with Fletcher class destroyers 1979

Salamis Naval Base with former USN destroyers 1979

Salamis Naval Base belongs to the ''Hellenic Navy Logistics Command''. It consists of the Headquarters and the following services: * Ship movements, docks, jetties and base security * Salamis Naval Hospital (ΝΝΣ) * General procurement and supplies service (ΝΣ/ΔΕ) * Fuel supply service (ΝΣ/ΔΚ) * Naval infrastructure section (ΝΣ/ΔΝΕΡ) * Naval weapons service (ΝΣ/ΔΝΟ) * Chemical Laboratory (ΝΣ/ΔΝΧ) * Financial section (ΝΣ/ΔΟΥ) * Technical section (ΝΣ/ΔΤ) The following commands of the Fleet Headquarters are also based within Salamis Naval Base: * Hellenic Command Frigates * Hellenic Command Fast Boats * Hellenic Command Gun Boats * Hellenic Command Mine Sweepers * Hellenic Command Amphibious Forces * Hellenic Command Submarines * Underwater Demolition Command Other naval units in the base area include: * ''Palaskas'' Training Camp * Amphiali Heliport, LGAM In addition, the Forward Operating Naval Base of

Syros Syros ( el, Σύρος ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and it has 21,507 inhabitants (2011 census). The largest towns are Ermoupoli, A ...

is controlled by Salamis Naval Base.

Relations with local communities

Salamis Naval Base has established close ties with the local community. The base is a major employer for the islanders and regularly subcontracts ship maintenance to local business establishments in Salamis, Perama, Keratsini and Drapetsona. In addition it provides the local community with health services (the islanders were served by the naval hospital), vocational training for the young, and reinforcement to the national and municipal emergency services (fire and ambulance).

History

Structure and activities

Relations with local communities

See also

References

Further reading