Petrella steamship tragedy unveiled: The 1944 disaster with 2670 victims
Research and photo documentation by George Karelas The depths of the Aegean Sea in Greece hide some great tragedies that occurred during World War 2. One such disaster is the torpedoing of the German steamship Petrella, formerly named Capo Pino, a cargo steamship of 4785 grt, 114.9 meters long, with a maximum speed of 12 knots, by […]
Paddle steamer PATRIS: Sunk in 1868, a unique shipwreck in the Aegean Sea, Greece
By Pierre Kosmidis It was February 23, 1868. The paddle steamer PATRIS, one of the most modern ships of her time, started her voyage from Piraeus with 400 passengers and crew and full of goods. PATRIS is sailing towards her final destination, the island of Syros, a commercial business centre in the second half of […]
The story of the Greek battleship “Kilkis” sunk by Stuka bombers on April 23, 1941
By Pierre Kosmidis Battleship Kilkis (Greek: Θ/Κ Κιλκίς) was a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class battleship originally built by the US Navy in 1904–1908. The Stuka dive bombers hit “Lemnos” in the background, with “Kilkis” visible in the middle of the photo As Mississippi she was purchased by the Greek Navy in 1914, and renamed Kilkis, along […]
Identified! WW2 German Stuka Ju 87 aircraft S7+GM shot down in a dogfight on October 9 1943 recovered west of Rhodes
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos, documents and additional information by Lt. Col. (ret.) Hans Peter Eisenbach, used by kind permission. Click the links below for additional reading: A personal account of a Luftwaffe pilot in Greece: Friedrich “Fritz” Eisenbach in Kefalonia, Rodos, Leros – The Ju 87 “Stuka” dive bomber operations in Greece, 1943 Dogfight over […]
R-194, the German Navy minesweeper sunk by Allied aircraft in 1944, off Corfu in Greece
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos and research submitted by George Karelas and used by permission CLICK THE LINK TO WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE WRECK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le3Y_TSC-Y8 At a depth of approximately 55 metres, a WW2 wreck was located by a group of experienced Greek scuba divers, in 2015. The scuba diving expedition team consisting of Nikos Vasilatos, Eleni Tsopouropoulou, […]
Identifying the air attacks of 1941: Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica hit shipping hard in Greece
By Pierre Kosmidis Research and photos by George Karelas Updated in January 2021 with information by Giuseppe Barbetta PART ONE CLICK ON THE LINKS IN RED FOR FURTHER READING George Karelas from Patras, Greece, is a technical scuba diver and historical researcher credited with some of the most impressive WW2 Wrecks ever found, researched or identified in […]
Wreck of a 1915 “X-lighter” that served at the WW1 Gallipoli campaign
By Pierre Kosmidis Period photos: Xiradakis Family Archives Wreck photos: Helen Tsouropoulou Research: Aris Mpilalis-Kostas Thoktaridis Near Makronissos island, Greece, a team of experienced wreck divers, Kostas Thoktaridis, Nicholas Vassilatos and Helen Tsopouropoulou, explored a wreck of exceptional beauty and rich history. The motor ship “Barba Thomas” (Uncle Tom) has an interesting history as she was built in 1915 in the UK […]
Burdigala: 100 years since the sinking of the second largest shipwreck of the Greek Seas
By Pierre Kosmidis TEXT BY PIERRE KOSMIDIS PHOTOS BY DIMITRIS GALONOn November 14, 1916 the luxury liner S/S Burdigala, formerly known as “Kaiser Friedrich” struck a mine and sunk between Kea and Makronissos islands. 2016 marks the centenary of this shipwreck, the second largest in the Greek Seas, after the “Brittanic”, which was lost in 1916 too. The […]
The amazing wrecks of Truk Lagoon, by Aleksei Kondratuk
By Pierre Kosmidis Light Japanese tank Ha-Go Truk Lagoon is considered as the “Holy Grail” of wreck diving worldwide, due to the wide variety of wrecks, many of them in nearly intact condition. PHOTO CREDITS: ALEKSEI KONDRATUK Aleksei Kondratuk in Chuuk (formerly known as Truk) Aleksei Kondratuk, a scuba diver and underwater photographer from Vladivostok, Russia, […]
Galilea: The 1942 shipwreck that took the lives of over 1,000 Italians
By Pierre Kosmidis George Karelas, a respected researcher from Patras, Greece unveiled a long forgotten naval tragedy that happened on the night of March 28, 1942, in the the Ionian Sea, Greece. “Galilea” is sailing back to Italy from Greece with 1,329 men on board. Just 279 Italians survived this wreck. The “Galilea” was a passenger ship of Adriatica Societa […]