Aetos-class Destroyer

The ''Aetos'' class were four destroyers were originally constructed for the Argentine Navy as the ''San Luis'' class. In Greek they are known as the ''Thiria'' (, "Wild Beasts") class, after the ships' names. They were purchased by the Royal Hellenic Navy in October 1912 when the Greek government expanded its navy after losing the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and in anticipation of the Balkan Wars. In December 1916, during World War I, three of the destroyers were seized by France and served in the French Navy until 1918, all except ''Panthir''. They were returned to Greece in 1918. In 1924–1925, they were extensively rebuilt and continued in service into World War II, where they fought with the Allies. ''Leon'' was sunk by German aircraft at Suda Bay, Crete. The other three destroyers survived the war and were used as station ships during the Greek Civil War. They were discarded in 1946.

Design

The ''Aetos'' class were long overall and at the waterline with a beam of as built. The destroyers had a draught of , a standard displacement of and a fully loaded displacement of . The ''Aetos'' class was powered by two Parsons geared turbines turning two shafts and fed steam by five coal-fired White-Forster boilers. The engines were rated at and had a designed speed of . They carried of coal. The destroyers were initially armed with four single-mounted guns and four single-mounted torpedo tubes. They had an initial complement of 90.

Modifications

Significant changes were made between 1924 and 1935, when the ships were reconstructed by J. Samuel White. Four Yarrow oil-fired boilers replaced the coal-fired ones, allowing the number of funnels to be reduced from five to two. One 4-inch gun was moved to a new shelter deck forward of the bridge, allowing four single torpedo tube mountings to be replaced by two triple mountings which were turnable; two 2-pounder anti-aircraft (AA) guns were also added. Two ships were further modified in to carry 40 naval mines.The sources are in disagreement over the AA armament. Gardiner & Gray claim it was two 40 mm Bofors mounts that were installed in 1925, while Chesneau states it was two 2-pounder guns. Chesneau and Whitley states that it was ''Aetos'' and ''Panthir'' which were modified for minelaying capabilities, while Gardiner & Gray state it was ''Ierax'' and ''Panthir''. The displacement of the destroyers increased to standard and fully loaded, while their maximum speed increased to .

The three surviving members of the class, ''Ierax'', ''Panthir'' and ''Aetos'' underwent further modifications. The aft bank of torpedo tubes was replaced by a high-angle gun. Their 4-inch guns were reduced to three, with the 'X' and 'Y' mounts landed for increased depth charge storage. The aft-most gun was replaced by four depth charge throwers. Furthermore, three cannon were added for AA defence and Type 123A asdic was installed. Two single AA guns replaced the 2-pounder guns.

Ships in class

History

The four ships in this class had originally been ordered by Argentina in 1909 from the English shipyard Cammell Laird in Birkenhead as the ''San Luis'' class. The four ships were launched in 1911 as ''San Luis'', ''Santa Fe'', ''Santiago del Estero'' and ''Tucumán''. They were purchased by Greece for 148,000 pounds each in October 1912, as the outbreak of the First Balkan War was imminent, and renamed ''Aetos'', ''Ierax'', ''Panthir'' and ''Leon'' respectively.

The ships hoisted the Greek flag and sailed independently from Britain, still manned with Argentine crews, for Algiers. ''Aetos'' suffered a breakdown during the voyage and had to be towed to Algiers. There the ships were taken over by Greek crews, carried on the steamer ''Ionia''. Although the ships were completely unknown to the Greeks before then, and all manuals and labels on the ship were in Spanish, within 24 hours all had been made ready to sail and began their voyage to Greece. Within a few days of arriving at the Salamis Naval Base, they were sent to join the main Greek battlefleet at Lemnos, apart from ''Aetos'', which underwent five weeks of repairs. Due to the haste with which the purchase had been made, only limited ammunition for operations was purchased: some 3,000 shells for the ships' guns, and no torpedoes. As a result, during the First Balkan War, the ships served and were designated as "scout ships" (ανιχνευτικά) rather than destroyers (αντιτορπιλικά).

In December 1916, the French Navy landed troops near Athens to put pressure on the royal government of King Constantine I of Greece during the Greek "National Schism". After French troops were ambushed by Greeks, French naval ships fired upon the city. In retaliation for the series of events, France seized several Greek vessels, including three destroyers of the ''Aetos'' class. ''Aetos'', ''Ierax'' and ''Leon'' were seized by France in December 1916 and placed in service with the French Navy. In French service, the ships had a complement of 102. They served with the French Navy in 1917–1918, primarily in an anti-submarine capacity. Following some objections by senior French naval officers, the ''Aetos'' class were officially returned to the Greek Navy in 1917. However, due to a shortage of trained Greek personnel and that they were refitting in French naval yards, there was a delay in the actual handover. In 1918, the four destroyers, alongside the cruiser , joined the British Royal Navy's Aegean Squadron at Mudros.

Following the end of World War I, the four destroyers were extensively refitted in 1924–1925, undergoing further modifications in 1931. In World War II, after the Axis invasion of Greece, the four ships served with the Allies. ''Leon'' was damaged by German aircraft on 22 May 1941 and sunk at Suda Bay, Crete on 15 May 1941. The remaining three were refitted in Madras, Calcutta and Port Sudan during 1941 and 1942. ''Ierax'', ''Panthir'' and ''Aetos'' remained in service until 1945, serving under British Royal Navy control. In 1944–1945 they were made station ships. The three destroyers were discarded in 1946 following the war.

In November 1928, the Greek government announced plans to acquire four new ocean-going destroyers based on the design of the Aetos-class. This initiative formed part of a broader naval programme.

Notes

Citations

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External links

Naval History
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(accessed 2017-02-04)

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Aetos''-class destroyer

Destroyer classes