Ioannis K. Dimoulitsas (), also known by his nickname as Patatoukos (Πατατούκος) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

sailor and fighter of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

. He is considered as the inventor of the first

fire ships A fire ship or fireship is a large wooden vessel set on fire to be used against enemy ships during a ramming attack or similar maneuver. Fireships were used to great effect against wooden ships throughout naval military history up until the ad ...

that were used by the revolutionaries.

Biography

DimoulitsasΧρ. Α. Στασινόπουλου, ''Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως του 1821'', εκδόσεις Δεδεμάδη, 1979, τ. Δ', σ. 143 - 144. was born in

Parga Parga (, , ) is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the Preveza (regional unit), regional unit of Preveza in Epirus (region), Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on ...

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

. When he was young he went to

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

and later he settled in

Psara Psara (, , ; known in ancient times as /, /) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. Together with the small island of Antipsara (population 4) it forms the municipality of Psara. It is part of the Chios regional unit, which is part of the North A ...

. As a sailor, he travelled to many places including

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where he worked for a while at the local dockyard. There, he was taught by a French engineer how to construct fire ships. When the

broke out, Dimoulitsas constructed a fire ship that was used by

Dimitrios Papanikolis Dimitrios Papanikolis () (c. 1790–1855) was a naval hero of the Greek Revolution, famous for being the first to successfully employ a fireship to destroy an Ottoman ship of the line. Life Papanikolis was born on the island of Psara in 1790 ...

for the destruction of an Ottoman frigate during May 1821. After that, Dimoulitsas continued the construction of fire ships. This type of ship was in use for many years to come by the Greek revolutionaries.''Ιστορία Ελληνικού Έθνους'', 1975, ΙΒ', σ. 127. Dimoulitsas died in

during March 1823 of the plague. He was buried with honour and his family received a pension for his services to the Greek cause.

References

Bibliography

*Χρ. Α. Στασινόπουλου, ''Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως του 1821'', εκδόσεις Δεδεμάδη, 1979, v. 4. *''Ιστορία Ελληνικού Έθνους'', Εκδοτική Αθηνών, Αθήνα, 1975, v. 12. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dimoulitsas, Ioannis 1823 deaths Greek people of the Greek War of Independence People from Parga