Other Forces

The stokers of Averof

Aggelos Photo Collection

The stokers of the famous greek warship Averof.Georgios Averof is a Greek warship which served as the flagship of the Royal Hellenic Navy during most of the first half of the 20th Century. Although popularly known as a battleship , it is in fact an armored cruiser, and the only such ship still in existence.After Germany's attack against Greece in 1941 and the collapse of the front, the ship's crew disobeyed the orders to scuttle the ship to avoid capture by the Germans, and sailed to Souda Bay, Crete, under the constant threat of German air strikes.In 1984, the Navy decided to restore her as a museum, and in the same year she was towed to Faliron Bay, where she is anchored to this day and functioning as a floating museum, seeking to promote the historical consolidation and upkeep of the Greek naval tradition.