Nikolaos Roussen (, 1913–1944) 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 ...

naval officer who distinguished himself 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 ...

. He served in the two most successful Greek submarines of the war as executive officer and captain. He died during the suppression of the Navy mutiny in April 1944.

Life

Roussen was born in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

on 25 April 1913. After completing his studies in the

Hellenic Naval Academy The Hellenic Naval Cadets Academy (, abbr. ΣΝΔ, lit. "School of Naval Cadets") is a military university that is responsible for educating and training competent naval officers for the Hellenic Navy. Founded in 1845, the academy is one of the o ...

in 1929-1933, he was commissioned as

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

. His first command was the

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

''Doris'' (1936–1937). He was subsequently promoted to sub-lieutenant and entered the Submarine School. During the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian campaign in Greece, Italian invasion of Greece, and War of '40 in Greece, took place between Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This conflict began the Balk ...

, he served in the submarine ''Katsonis''. In December 1940, he was promoted to Lieutenant. Following the German invasion and capitulation of the Army, the surviving ships of the fleet fled to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. In the Middle East, he served aboard the

armoured cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a pre-dreadnought battles ...

''Averof'' before returning to the ''Katsonis'' as its XO. On 10 October 1942, Roussen was assigned as captain of ''Katsonis sister vessel, the submarine ''Papanikolis''. With this vessel, Roussen operated in the Eastern Mediterranean and 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 ...

, scoring a number of successes. On 30 November, ''Papanikolis'' successfully ambushed and sank an 8,000-ton cargo vessel at the Alimnia islet, near Rhodes, and on subsequent patrols in January, March and May, she captured two large schooners and sank further five. In early 1944, political tensions grew both in

occupied Greece The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany Battle of Greece, invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy, in their Greco-Italian War, ongoing war that w ...

and in the Greek Armed Forces in the Middle East. As liberation drew nearer, the simmering conflict between the country's dominant resistance group, the Communist-controlled National Liberation Front (EAM), with the conservative sections of Greek society, and with the royalist

Greek government in exile The Greek government-in-exile was formed in 1941, in the aftermath of the Battle of Greece and the subsequent occupation of Greece by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The government-in-exile was based first in South Africa, then London, then, fi ...

, erupted. In April 1944, pro-EAM demonstrations took place in several Greek units in Egypt, and the majority of the Navy's ships were commandeered by their crews. In order to quell this

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, ...

, the government formed special boarding detachments of reliable officers. Thus, on 22 April 1944, while leading his detachment to recover the corvette ''Apostolis'', Roussen was mortally wounded. On 27 April, he was posthumously promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Awards and honours

Roussen was awarded several decorations for his successful service as a submarine commander: the War Cross Second Class, on 5 January 1940 (as XO of the ''Katsonis'') and again on 25 February 1943, the War Cross First Class on 30 January 1942 and again posthumously on 23 April 1944, while on 1 September 1943 he was awarded the British

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

. On 27 September 1945 he was posthumously awarded the Outstanding Actions Medal for his war service. Two

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; , abbreviated ΠΝ) is the Navy, naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independ ...

ships have been named after him: the

landing ship An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault. Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most crud ...

''Ypoploiarchos Roussen'' (L-164) (1958–2001),Vehicle Carrier ''Lieutenant Roussen'' L-163 (1958-2001)
/ref> and the new fast attack craft ''Roussen'' (P67), the lead ship of the ''Roussen'' class, commissioned in December 2005.

References

Sources

Hellenic Navy - Submarine ''Papanikolis'' Y-2 (1927-1945)
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Hellenic Navy Historical Service - Biographies
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Hellenic Navy Historical Service - Ship histories
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roussen, Nikolaos 1913 births 1944 deaths Greek military personnel killed in World War II Military personnel from Athens Hellenic Navy officers Submarine commanders