The Levant Schooner Flotilla was an Allied naval organisation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that facilitated covert and irregular military operations in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

from 1942–1945. It was primarily organised by the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and consisted of a series of commandeered caïques, or local

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

s, manned by British sailors, special forces, and Greek volunteers.

World War II in the Aegean

The Levant Schooner Flotilla (LSF) was formed by the

from requisitioned or abandoned caïques to supplement its handful of motor and high-speed launches opposing German forces in the Nazi-occupied

.P.C. Smith, "War in the Aegean," Stackpole Books 2008. The LSF was led by Lt. Cmdr. Adrian C. C. Seligman, who had circumnavigated the globe in a

windjammer A windjammer is a commercial sailing ship with multiple masts, however rigged. The informal term "windjammer" arose during the transition from the Age of Sail to the Age of Steam during the 19th century. The Oxford English Dictionary records t ...

before the war.Allen, H. S. "Classical Spies: American Archaeologists with the OSS in World War II Greece," University of Michigan Press, 2011. The Flotilla numbered about ten ships in September 1943,Holland, J., "The Aegean Mission: Allied Operations in the Dodecanese, 1943 (Contributions in Military Studies)" Greenwood Press, 1988. though at various points it was able to field only a handful.Koburger, C. "Wine-Dark, Blood Red Sea: Naval Warfare in the Aegean, 1941–1946," Praeger, 1999. Caïques typically had 5–6 man crews and were heavily armed with 20mm cannons, Browning machine guns and Vickers aircraft machine guns. The caïques often operated under cover of darkness, landing or picking up commandos, rescuing partisans, and intercepting or raiding small German forces. Many of the ships were powered by Matilda tank engines and used long-range radios taken from Kittyhawk (P-40) fighter aircraft.British Small Boat Operations in World War 2
The LSF facilitated raids by the British

Long Range Desert Group The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold, ...

against German forces on the Islands of Kithnos and Levitha during the

Dodecanese Campaign The Dodecanese campaign was the capture and occupation of the Dodecanese islands by German forces during World War II. Following the signing of the Armistice of Cassibile on 3 September 1943, Italy switched sides and joined the Allies. As a ...

in the autumn of 1943, and was heavily involved in fighting over Leros shortly thereafter. Among those who served in the LSF are Roger Durnford and British scholar

Geoffrey Kirk Geoffrey Stephen Kirk, () was a British classicist who served as the 35th Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge. He published widely on pre-Socratic philosophy and the work of the Greek poet Homer, culminating in a six-volu ...

External links

Allied Special Forces History: Levant Schooner Flotilla

Notes

{{reflist 1940s in Greece Mediterranean theatre of World War II Military history of Greece during World War II Dodecanese campaign Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II History of the Hellenic Navy

World War II in the Aegean

See also

External links

Notes