Greece: great news for wreck diving enthusiasts!

Last week, a meeting was held in Greece, organised by the Historical Department of the Greek Navy. The focus of the meeting was the wrecks that lie in the waters surrounding Greece. Various aspects concerning the sunken ships, their condition, their historical context and the state of the search for those still missing were discussed. From the diver’s perspective, however, the most interesting part was the point, the grande finale and the presentation that ended the meeting…

During the meeting, the organisers took the position that the Greek Navy intends to intensify its activities, related to the search and fight for the preservation of the historical heritage of Greece, as well as the popularisation of this knowledge.

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A great lecture was given by Kostas Thoctarides, one of the most famous Greek shipwreck explorers. He has to his credit, among others, the discovery of the British submarine N36 HMS “Perseus”. During his presentation he showed the audience the wealth of warships resting on the bottom of the seas around Greece.

Both the Ionian and Aegean Seas were the scene of conflicts in the 20th century, such as the First Balkan War, the First World War and the Second World War. As a result of warfare, more than 200 different Greek vessels found their way to the bottom, with 45 of these being World War II wrecks. All this should be added to the 1500 already registered wrecks sunk in Greek waters. As you can see, there is a lot of room for manoeuvre.

Of course, it should be remembered that a mass of ships and vessels not belonging to the Greek armed forces were also sunk in the area. The best known wreck in the area is probably the British liner and sister ship of the famous RMS ‘Titanic’, the HMNS ‘Britannic’.

The Germans also lost many Luftwaffe flying machines during the attack on Crete, and in the Battle of the Dodecanese between 8 September and 22 November 1943 both the Axis and Allied states suffered heavy losses at sea.

Currently, the Greeks are focused on searching for their submarines Y-1 “Katsonis”, Y- 3 “Proteus” and Y-5 “Triton”, as well as the British HMS “Trooper” and HMS “Triumph” and the German “U-407” and “U-133”.

As a great many of the wrecks are within the limits of what is generally available to divers, the Navy intends to make every effort to properly secure, preserve and present them to the international diving community.

At the end of the meeting, the organisers left the best for last. During a presentation led by Capt Leonidas Tsiantoulas and Cdr Panagiotis Tripontikas on the Greek Navy’s contribution to the search, exploration, preservation and dissemination of war wrecks and historical heritage, the men shared their plans for the near future…

In keeping with the lines of making more wrecks accessible and creating archaeological parks, the Greek Navy has earmarked the Class-S frigate F-463 “Bouboulina” for sinking and creating an artificial reef! Measuring 130 metres long and 14.5 metres wide, the ship was withdrawn from service in 2013, but will soon gain new life as a wonderful underwater attraction for divers visiting Greece!

As can be seen from the meeting described above, the Greeks have taken the subject of historical heritage at the bottom of their territorial waters very seriously. Unless some catastrophe happens, within the next few years, Greece may become one of the most attractive destinations for wreck divers. Let’s hope as soon as possible!

Source: scubahellas.com Photo: wikipedia CC 3.0