Salamis Naval Base
Crest
The crest depicts an Athenian trireme on the top left section of it and a cluster of a propeller, an anchor and a missile on the lower right section.
The trireme is historically linked with the Battle of Salamis, not only because the Greek fleet consisted of ships of the specific type, but also because it took place in the sea region close to the Naval Base.
The propeller the anchor and the missile denote the contribution of the Naval Base to the seaworthiness and combat effectiveness of the Hellenic War Ships.
History
The Salamis Naval Base lies within the administrative boundaries of the eponymous Municipality. Its intensive construction commenced in 1881 at the location “Arapi”.
The slipway, the workers’ quarters as well as a 150-meter-long jetty were constructed first while the initial budget amounted to 465,302 drachmas. Subsequently, additional infrastructure was completed, such as the boatyard, the ammunition storage and maintenance facility, housing quarters as well as the living quarters and the office of the Director of the Naval Base, which is still kept in excellent condition.
Later, the first floating dock which cost 1,435,000 French francs was constructed by the French company FORGES ET CHANTIAS, and was transferred from Toulon to Salamina under the supervision of Captain Miltiadis Kanaris HN. Simultaneously, the first crane which could lift up to 50 tonnes was installed. It was designed by the Chief Naval Architect Angelos Anastasiou and significantly boosted the capabilities of the Naval Base.
Significant attention was paid to the fortification and defensive protection of the base, which were materialized during the period from 1881 to 1884, following a proposal put forward by a special committee of French Officers. The fortification included installations in Piraeus, in Psyttaleia, as well as on the island of Salamis. Furthermore, blockhouses were constructed on the islet of St. Georgios, the coast of Perama and the Megara Gulf so as to cover the whole perimeter of the Naval Base.
Prior to the Balkan Wars, the services of the Salamis Naval Base were forced to speed up the repair and conversion of ships as well as the reactivation of decommissioned ships. More specifically, the battleship “Hydra”, and the gunboats “Aktion” and “Amvrakia” were repaired, while the merchant cruisers “Macedonia”, “Esperia” and “Arcadia” were converted into warships and the cruiser “Ionia” was converted into a hospital ship.
During the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922 the Salamis Naval Base supported the combat readiness of the fleet through repairs and conversions of merchant ships into warships, while it manned and provided technical support to “forward operating sites” which aimed at covering the needs of operations, such as “the Naval Base of Constantinople”.
In 1920 the works for the extension of the Naval Base to the coast of Attica, to the present-day region of Amfiali, commenced since the needs for the storage and maintenance of new ships led to the creation of new services and facilities.
The Naval Base was kept busy not only during the interwar period but also after the breakout of the Greco-Italian War as it contributed significantly to the effective provision of ammunition and supplies to the ships of the Fleet. During the war, some of its services were transferred off the premises of the Naval Base, such as the Naval Hospital of Salamis, which was housed in a school building in Salamis as well as in other private houses. The Naval Base was often the target of attacks but never stopped being in full operation and offering its services until the day the Fleet and the Navy Command departed for Alexandria, Egypt.
From the mid-1941until the autumn of 1944, the Naval Base was used by the Occupation Forces, who, upon their withdrawal, carried out a number of explosions causing a series of damages, in addition to the ones which were caused by the Allied Forces’ invasions and bombings.
After the Liberation, the difficult task of reconstruction began. Since then a number of infrastructure projects have been successfully completed and as a result today the Naval Base of Salamis, through its Directorates, has all the necessary infrastructure, in terms of facilities and equipment, enabling it to carry out its mission.
Mission
The mission of the Salamis Naval Base is to support, starting from peacetime, the Warships and the Naval Services with regard to matters of docking, replenishment, maintenance, repairs, constructions and everything else relating to Logistics.
Furthermore, the Naval Base is responsible for the organization, command, security, training, maintenance and readiness of its Naval Services, which comprise the auxiliary ships and Logistics vessels under its command, so that the plans and orders of the Hellenic Navy General Staff and the Hellenic Navy Logistics Command can be implemented in peacetime, in a crisis and in wartime.
Organization
The Salamis Naval Base is a Naval Complex under the command of Hellenic Navy Logistics Command. For the execution of its mission, it is structured into Directorates and services as shown in the chart below:
In brief, the Commander of the Naval Base is responsible for:
- The security of the facilities, the safety of the personnel as well as the defence of the Naval Base.
- The provision of the necessary requirements and facilities when ships are in dock.
- The execution of repair, maintenance and conversion works of vessels, engines, equipment and weapon systems of warships as well as the supervision and delivery of works by private providers.
- The readiness of the warships, vessels and facilities which are under their command.
- The provision of Logistics and healthcare support to the personnel of the Naval Base and the crew of the warships which are being repaired as well as to inter-allied naval forces in accordance with the bilateral agreements which are in effect.
- The management of emergencies and natural disasters with the contribution of personnel and the available logistic means in accordance with the plans and orders which are in effect.
The Commander is aided in their above-mentioned responsibilities by the Deputy Commander of the Naval Base as well as the Office of Hygiene, Safety and Environmental Protection, the Legal Counsellor, the Commander’s Office, the General Secretariat as well as the following Directorates:
- The Administration Directorate is responsible for the coordination of administrative matters as well as matters of security and defence, the execution of drills on the premises of the Naval Base and the maintenance of vehicles and infrastructure projects.
- The Directorate of Warships and Vessels is responsible for the use, operation and maintenance of the auxiliary ships (oil tankers, water tankers, tugboats, personnel transfer vessels) of the Naval Base as well as the placement of buoys on the sea.
- The Technical Directorate is responsible for the maintenance, repair and conversion of vessels as well as the engines, the machinery and the electrical systems of warships. Furthermore, it provides warships which are in dock as well as the services which are housed in the Naval Base with electric power, steam, compressed air and distilled water.
- The Directorate of Financial Services is responsible for the management of the financial service at the Naval Base, the costing of the services provided by the Naval Base as well as the coordination of matters pertaining to the real estate of the Naval Base.
- The Directorate of Fuels is responsible for the management of fuels and lubricants within its scope (delivery, quality check, storage, replenishment of warships and naval services), the implementation of preventive measures for the protection of the environment from possible pollution due to leakage of fuels or lubricants, the collection of petroleum residues as well as the management of the barges and the petroleum residues of the Naval Base.
- The Directorate of Naval Weapons is responsible for the maintenance, repair, conversion, manufacture and installation of weapon systems and electronic and electro-optical systems of warships and services. It also manages all kinds of ammunition, guided missiles, torpedoes and the rest of underwater weapons.
- The Directorate of the Naval Hospital of Salamis provides primary healthcare to the military and civilian personnel of the warships and services in the region of Salamis as well as to the retired military personnel and their family members who reside in the abovementioned area.
- The Directorate of Civilian Personnel is responsible for administrative and financial matters concerning the civilian personnel of the Naval Base.
In addition, the Forward Operating Naval Base of Syros, which is located in the administrative boundaries of the Municipality of Poseidonia of the island of Syros, is under the command of the Naval Base of Salamis.
Fleet
