- Greek destroyer Panthir
"Panthir" ( _el. ΒΠ "Πάνθηρ", "Panther") served in the Hellenic Royal Navy from 1912–1946.
The ship, along with her three sister ships of
Wild Beast class destroyer s "Aetos", "Ierax" and "Leon", was ordered fromEngland . They were purchased ready for delivery, each for the sum of £148,000 from the English shipyardsCamell Laird inLiverpool , when theBalkan Wars seemed likely. These ships had originally been ordered by Argentina; "Panthir" was originally named "Santiago". Accepted by Captain Ath. Miaoulis, RHN inPalermo ,Sicily . where she arrived manned by foreign crew.During the Balkan Wars, the Royal Hellenic Navy purchased only the minimum amount of ammunitions, 3,000 rounds of torpedoes. Torpedoes were not available for this class of ship, and for this reason these ships were initially named 'scouts' rather than 'destroyers'.
During
World War I , Greece belatedly entered the war on the side of theTriple Entente and, due to Greece's neutrality the four Beast Class ships were seized by the Allies in October, 1916, taken over by the French in November, and served in theFrench Navy from 1917-18. By 1918, they were back on escort duty under Greek colors, mainly in theAegean Sea .In 1919-20 she participated in the operations in Southern Russia evacuating Greek refugees from the
Russian Civil War with the battleships "Kilkis" and "Limnos" and the destroyer "Leon", remaining for 263 days in theBlack Sea . During the Asia Minor war, she took part in the blockade of the Asia Minor coasts. [ [http://www.hellenicnavy.gr/ierax12_46_en.asp HELLENIC NAVY - IERAX D-36 (1912-1946) ] ]After the war, "Panthir" was refurbished from 1925–1927. She also participated in the
Second World War , after surviving the German invasion of April, 1941, "Panthir" was based in theIndian Ocean . Between May and October, 1942, her armament was updated inBombay enabling her to offer better Anti-Aircraft protection and Anti-Surface capabilities on her new missions.After the end of World War II, "Panthir" was stricken in 1946.
References
ee also
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History of the Hellenic Navy
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