The ''Protefs'' class (referred to as the

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς, ''Prōteus'') is an early prophetic sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the " Old Man of the Sea" ''(hálios gérôn)''. ...

class in some sources) was a group of submarines built for the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of var ...

in the late 1920s. The boats were built to a Loire-Simonot design in France and were larger than the preceding '' Katsonis'' class built by a different French company. Four boats were built, all were named after sea gods from

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...

. The three boats which survived the

fall of Greece The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...

in 1941 served under overall Royal Navy control in the Eastern Mediterranean.

References

Bibliography

* * {{WWII Greek ships Submarines of the Hellenic Navy French submarines in foreign service France–Greece relations World War II submarines of Greece