Service history Greek battleship Lemnos

laid down on 12 may 1904, ship launched on 9 december 1905 , commissioned united states navy on 1 april 1908 uss idaho. greece became engaged in naval arms race ottoman empire @ time; in 1910 ottomans had purchased pair of german pre-dreadnoughts (renamed barbaros hayreddin , turgut reis) , ordered dreadnought battleships britain in 1911 , 1914. greek navy ordered dreadnought salamis germany in 1913 , dreadnought basileus konstantinos france. stop-gap measure, greeks purchased mississippi , idaho navy, sum of $12,535,276.58, on 30 june 1914. 2 ships transferred greek navy in newport news, virginia following month, idaho , mississippi becoming lemnos , kilkis, respectively. lemnos , kilkis left united states after transfer in july 1914, due rising tensions in europe following assassination of archduke franz ferdinand of austria previous month.

at outbreak of world war in @ end of month, greece s pro-german monarch, constantine i, decided remain neutral. entente powers landed troops in salonika in 1915, source of tension between france , greece. ultimately, french seized greek navy on 19 october 1916 (see noemvriana , national schism). lemnos reduced skeleton crew , had breech blocks guns removed render them inoperable. ammunition , torpedoes removed. ultimately, pro-entente government under prime minister eleftherios venizelos replaced constantine , declared war on central powers. lemnos, however, did not see active service greece s new allies, , instead used solely harbor defense until end of war.

after end of world war i, lemnos joined allied intervention in russian civil war , served crimean expedition. there, aided white russians against communists. in april 1919, lemnos present in kaffa bay, provided gunfire support volunteer army. on 22 april, aerial reconnaissance reported red army massing in town of vladislovovka; lemnos , british light cruiser hms caradoc bombarded town, forcing soviet forces withdraw. saw service during greco-turkish war, supported landings seize ottoman territory. ottoman navy had been interned allies after end of world war i, , provided no opposition greek navy s activities.

kilkis , lemnos sunk after german air attack, 1941.

in february 1921, lemnos stationed in smyrna support occupation of city. operations came close in september 1922 when greek army forced evacuate smyrna sea, along sizable number of civilians asia minor. fleet transported total of 250,000 soldiers , civilians during evacuation. lemnos departed smyrna on evening of 8 september sister kilkis. while en route smyrna mainland greece, captain dimitrios fokas, commander of lemnos, formed revolutionary committee nikolaos plastiras , stylianos gonatas, 2 colonels supported venizelos, had been ousted in 1920. men launched 11 september 1922 revolution, , other vessels in fleet mutinied in support of coup. king constantine forced abdicate in favor of son, george ii.

in 1932, lemnos placed in inactive reserve; sections of armor plate removed build fortifications on island of aegina. disarmed in 1937 , thereafter used barracks ship. on 28 october 1940, italy invaded greece, initiating greco-italian war part of italian dictator benito mussolini s expansionist ambitions. greek army defeated italians , pushed them albania. less 2 weeks later, italian fleet badly damaged in british raid on taranto, reduced threat italian regia marina posed greek fleet. lemnos remained out of service, spare guns , kilkis employed coastal batteries throughout greece. on 6 april 1941, german wehrmacht invaded greece support italian ally in stalemated conflict. hulk of lemnos bombed in salamis naval base junkers ju 87 dive bombers on 23 april. ship beached prevent sinking; wreck broken after end of war.