Greek battleship Salamis
Encyclopedia
Salamis was a dreadnought battleship ordered for the Greek Navy from the AG Vulcan shipyard in Hamburg, Germany in 1912. She was ordered in response to Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
naval expansion begun in 1911. The ship was to have been 569 feet 11 inches (173.7 meters) long, armed with eight 14 inches (356 mm) guns, and have had a top speed of 23 knots (12.5 m/s). Salamis was named after the Greek naval victory over a Persian fleet at the battle of Salamis
Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis was fought between an Alliance of Greek city-states and the Persian Empire in September 480 BCE, in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens...
in 480 BC.
Work began on the keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
on 23 July 1913, and the hull was launched on 11 November 1914. Construction stopped in December 1914, following the outbreak of World War I in August of that year. The German navy employed the unfinished ship as a floating barracks in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
. The armament for this ship was ordered from Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
in the United States and could not be delivered due to the British blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
of Germany. Bethlehem sold the guns to Britain instead and they were used to arm the four s. The hull of the ship remained intact after the war and became the subject of a protracted legal dispute. She was finally awarded to the builders and the hull was scrapped in 1932.
General characteristics
Salamis was 569 in 11 in (173.71 m) long at the waterline, and had a beam of 81 ft (24.7 m) and a draft of 25 ft (7.6 m). The ship was designed to displace 19500 MT (19,192 LT). Had the battleship been completed, she was to have been powered by three AEGAEG
Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in 1883 by Emil Rathenau....
turbines, each of which drove a propeller shaft. The turbines were supplied with steam by 18 Yarrow boilers. This would have provided Salamis with 40,000 shaft horsepower and a top speed of 23 knots (12.5 m/s).
Armament
The primary armament of the ship was eight 14 in (35.6 cm) /45 caliber guns14"/45 caliber gun
The 14"/45 caliber gun, known initially as the Mark 1, 2, 3, and 5, and later as the Mark 8, 9, 10, and 12, were the first 14-inch guns to be employed with the United States Navy. They were installed aboard the United States Navy's New York, Nevada, and Pennsylvania-class battleships as the primary...
mounted in four twin-gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s. Two turrets were to be mounted in a superfiring arrangement
Superfire
The idea of superfire is to locate two turrets in a row, one behind the other, but with the second turret located above the one in front so that the second turret could fire over the first...
forward of the main superstructure
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...
, with the other two mounted similarly aft of the funnels. These guns had a rate of fire
Rate of fire
Rate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. It is usually measured in rounds per minute , or per second .-Overview:...
of between 1.25 and 1.75 rounds per minute; they were capable of firing 1400 lb (635 kg) armor-piercing or high-explosive shells. The guns were estimated to be able to fire 500 rounds before wear on the barrels would necessitate repair. The shells were fired at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of around 2,500 feet per second (762 m/s); at elevation of 15°, the guns could hit targets out to 19,900 yards (18,200 m). At a range of 12000 yd (10,972.8 m), the shells were expected to penetrate up to 13 in (33 cm) of armor plate.
The ship's secondary battery was to consist of twelve 6 in (15.2 cm) /50 guns mounted in casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s amidships, six on either side. These guns fired 105 lb (47.7 kg) projectiles at a rate of about 6 per minute. The shells were fired at a muzzle velocity of 2,800 f/s (853 m/s), and had a range of 15,000 yards (13,720 m) at 15°. Salamiss armament was rounded out by twelve 75 mm (3 in) quick-firing guns, also mounted in casemates, and five 50 cm (19.7 in) submerged torpedo tubes.
Armor
Salamis had an armored belt that was 9.875 in (250.8 mm) thick in the central section of the ship, where it protected critical areas, such as the ammunition magazines and machinery spaces. On either end of the ship, past the main battery gun turrets, the belt was decreased to 3.875 in (98.4 mm) thick; the height of the belt was also decreased in these areas. The main armored deck was 2.875 in (73 mm) in the central portion of the ship, and as with the belt armor, in less important areas the thickness was decreased to 1.5 in (38.1 mm). The main battery gun turrets were protected by 9.875 in-thick armor plate on the sides and face, and the barbetteBarbette
A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...
s in which they were placed were protected by the same thickness of armor. The conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
was lightly armored, with only 1.25 in (31.8 mm) worth of protection.
Construction and cancellation
In the run-up to the Balkan warsBalkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
of 1912–1913, the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
—Greece's traditional naval rival—set about modernizing its fleet. The first component was the order of the dreadnought Reshadieh in 1911. The expansion of Ottoman naval power threatened Greek control of the Aegean; to counter the Ottoman dreadnought, Greece decided to order a ship as well: the Salamis. The new battleship was ordered from the German shipbuilder AG Vulcan, based in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, in 1912. This made Greece the fourteenth and final country to order a dreadnought battleship. The initial design called for a ship 458 ft (139.6 m) long with a beam of 72 ft (21.9 m), a draft of 24 ft (7.3 m), and a displacement of 13500 MT (13,286.7 LT). The ship was designed with 2-shaft turbines rated at 26,000 shp for a top speed of 21 kn (11.4 m/s). The armament was to be six 14 inch guns in twin turrets, eight 6 inch, eight 3 in (7.6 cm), and four 37 mm (1.5 in) guns, and two 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. The design was revised several times; by 23 January 1912, it was finalized with the details specified above. The ship was to be delivered to the Greek Navy by March 1915, at a cost of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
1,693,000.
The keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
was laid down on 23 July 1913; the hull was complete and ready for launching by 11 November 1914, the day the ship entered the water. The main battery and secondary guns were sub-contracted to Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
in the United States. However, the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in August 1914 had drastically altered the situation; the naval blockade of Germany emplaced by Great Britain meant that the guns could not be delivered. Work was halted on 31 December 1914. By this time Greece had only paid AG Vulcan £450,000. Bethlehem refused to send the main battery guns to Greece. The 14 inch guns were instead sold to the British, who used them to arm the four s. The incomplete vessel was towed to Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, where she was used as a barracks ship.
After the end of the war, the Greek navy refused to accept the incomplete hull. AG Vulcan sued the Greek government in 1923. A lengthy arbitration ensued; on 23 April 1932 the arbitrators determined that the Greek government owed AG Vulcan £30,000, and that AG Vulcan would be awarded the hull. The ship was broken up for scrap in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
that year. A second Greek dreadnought, the Vasilefs Konstantinos, a slightly modified version of the French , met a similar fate. Like Salamis, work on Vasilefs Konstantinos was halted by the outbreak of the war in August 1914, and in the aftermath the Greek government refused to pay for the unfinished ship as well.