The Salaminia was the messenger trireme

Trireme

A trireme was a type of galley, a Hellenistic-era warship that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans.The trireme derives its name from its three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar...

 of the Athenian

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 navy during the late 5th century BC. It played a notable role in several episodes of the Peloponnesian War

Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...

. Today it is considered to be an Athenian sacred ship

Athenian sacred ships

Athenian sacred ships were ancient Athenian ships, often triremes, which had special religious functions such as serving in sacred processions or embassies or racing in boat races during religious festivals...

.

The Salaminia were ceremonial warships used by the Athenians for special occasions such as envoys to the oracle at Delphi

Delphi

Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...

and the conveyance of high ranking Athenian statesmen and as such only Athenian citizens were allowed to serve on these ships.