''Adrias'' ( el, ΒΠ Αδρίας) was a Type III

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

that was originally built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

as HMS ''Border'' but never commissioned. Before her completion, she was loaned to the

Royal 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 ...

on 20 July 1942 and commissioned as ''Adrias'' on 5 August 1942 in order to relieve heavy losses of ships sustained by the Royal Hellenic Navy during the German invasion of 1941 and throughout the war.Griechische Schiffsverluste, Das Historische Marinearchiv
/ref> ''Adrias'' took her name from the ancient

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 ...

town of

Adria Adria is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Rovigo in the Veneto region of northern Italy, situated between the mouths of the rivers Adige and Po. The remains of the Etruscan city of Atria or Hatria are to be found below the modern cit ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, at the mouth of the Po river, after which 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 th ...

is named (Herodotus vi. 127, vii. 20, ix. 92; Euripides, Hippolytus, 736). Command of ''Adrias'' was accepted by Cmdr.

Ioannis Toumbas Ioannis Toumbas ( el, Ιωάννης Τούμπας, 24 February 1901 – 7 May 1995) was a Greek naval officer and politician, best known for his command of the destroyer ''Adrias'' during World War II. He also served in several ministerial pos ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, England, on 20 July 1942. Upon completion of the training period on 26 August, while sailing under foggy conditions with only the left engine functioning, she ran aground near

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009 Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay a ...

. The damage took four months to repair. No responsibility was attributed to the captain for the accident. In the beginning of January, 1943, after the completion of repairs, ''Adrias'' sailed to the Mediterranean where she participated in missions escorting convoys.

Service

On 27 January 1943, while positioned NW off

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; gl, Cabo Fisterra, italic=no ; es, Cabo Finisterre, italic=no ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like ...

''Adrias'' was believed to have sunk the (British Admiralty's signal presumed her possibly sunk). When the war ended the loss of the German submarine was officially confirmed to have occurred on 27 January. However, the name of the ship that caused the sinking was not mentioned. During that same operation on 13 February 1943, ''Adrias'' sunk or seriously damaged (the last report from that submarine was dated 9 February 1943). ''Adrias'' took part in numerous convoy escorts in the Mediterranean as well as in the Sicily landing operations, where on the night of 20 July 1943, in cooperation with British escort destroyer she successfully confronted 3 German torpedo boats during a night engagement and sunk two of them. On 20 September 1943 ''Adrias'' represented Greece when a force of four Allied ships accepted the surrender of a contingent of the Italian Royal Navy (out of

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label=Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important comme ...

) that was sailing towards Malta following the

armistice with Italy The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Briga ...

On 22 October 1943, during operations in the Dodecanese, while near the island of

Kalymnos Kalymnos ( el, Κάλυμνος) is a Greek island and municipality in the southeastern Aegean Sea. It belongs to the Dodecanese island chain, between the islands of Kos (south, at a distance of ) and Leros (north, at a distance of less than ...

with the British destroyer , ''Adrias'' struck a mine. The explosion tore her bow off. The English Flotilla Commander onboard ''Hurworth'' ordered Cmdr. Toumbas to abandon ship. ''Hurworth'', while trying to come to ''Adrias''s rescue, also hit a mine and sunk taking 133 men with her. In spite of the damage suffered, ''Adrias'' took on the survivors of ''Hurworth'' (among them her CO) and managed to reach the nearby coast of

Gümüşlük Gümüşlük is a seaside village and fishing port in Bodrum, Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey. Location In the Aegean Region, it is situated on the remains of the ancient city of Myndos. The remains of the foundations of buildings can be ...

in neutral Turkey with 21 men of her crew dead and 30 wounded. After some minor repairs, the ship sailed on 1 December for

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

, despite her missing bow. After a trip of , of which 300 were within the range of Luftwaffe's

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called '' Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

bombers based in occupied Greece, (the threat of them forced her to sail only at night despite her limited maneuverability), she managed to reach Alexandria on 6 December (day of the Feast of

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

, patron saint of seamen) where she was enthusiastically greeted by the British Fleet and other Allied ships. This achievement was considered a brilliant example of seamanship, and provided a morale boost to the Royal Hellenic Navy and other allied ships in the Mediterranean. After the liberation of Greece from the Germans, ''Adrias'', with her bow temporarily repaired, arrived in

Faliro Phalerum or Phaleron ( ''()'', ; ''()'', ) was a port of Ancient Athens, 5 km southwest of the Acropolis of Athens, on a bay of the Saronic Gulf. The bay is also referred to as "Bay of Phalerum" ( el, Όρμος Φαλήρου '').'' The ...

with the rest of the ships of the Hellenic Fleet. The ship was never fully repaired due to the termination of war operations in the Mediterranean and sailed to England where she was returned to the Royal Navy. Of the same class of ships serving in the Hellenic Navy were: ''Adrias'' (D06) formerly (loaned to Hellenic Navy as a replacement of this ship), ''Hastings'' formerly loaned to Hellenic Navy in 1946, ''Kanaris'' built as , ''Miaoulis'' built as , ''Pindos'' built as . The Hellenic Navy gave the same name to commemorate this ship to Standard type

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed an ...

''Adrias'' (F-459) in 1994.

References

Publications

* *

External links

Relevant Hellenic Navy page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adrias (L67) Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built by Swan Hunter 1942 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Hunt-class destroyers of the Hellenic Navy World War II destroyers of Greece Maritime incidents in October 1943