Greek cruiser Elli
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 Elli - Εύδρομον Έλλη |
|
| Career (Greece) |  |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Naval Battle of Elli |
| Laid down: | May 12, 1912 |
| Launched: | May 4, 1913 |
| Commissioned: | 1914 |
| Fate: | Sunk August 15, 1940 off Tinos harbour |
| Notes: | Previously CNS Fei Hung |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | light cruiser |
| Displacement: | Full load 2,600 tons Standard 2,115 tons |
| Length: | 98 m |
| Beam: | 12 m |
| Draft: | 4.3 m |
| Propulsion: | three propellers |
| Speed: | 26-knot (48 km/h) initial maximum maximum in 1940: 18-knot (33 km/h) |
| Complement: | 238 |
| Armament: | 3×6-inch (152 mm) (3×1), 2×3-inch (76 mm), 3×40 mm, 2×19-inch (483 mm) T/T, capacity for transporting 100 mines |
| Armour: | unknown |
Elli (Greek: Κ/Δ Έλλη) was a 2,600 ton Greek light cruiser (in Greek Εύδρομο (interwar period term) or Ελαφρύ Καταδρομικό (World War II terminology)) named for a naval battle of the First Balkan War in which Greece was victorious.
She was originally ordered built as the Fei Hung by the Chinese government, but due to the Nationalist revolution in 1912-13, the order was cancelled. Completed in 1914 by New York Shipbuilding in the United States, she was purchased by Greece as part of their program of naval expansion after the Balkan Wars. She saw action during World War I and in the Asia Minor Expedition.
In 1920 she underwent a reconstruction in France along with Averof. In that reconstruction she obtained modern Anti Aircraft armament and the equipment to carry and lay 100 sea mines.
She was sunk during peacetime, on August 15, 1940, 8:25 am while she rode at anchor, by the Italian submarine Delfino near the island of Tinos. The Elli was in Tinos participating in the celebrations of the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos. One of the four torpedoes fired hit the Elli under the one operating boiler and she caught fire and sunk. Nine petty officers and sailors were killed and 24 were wounded. The same submarine attempted to torpedo the passenger ships M/V Elsi and M/V Esperos anchored in the port. This attempt failed and only a section of the port's wharf was damaged by torpedoes.
Fragments of the torpedoes were recovered, and identified as Italian in origin. The Greek government however, trying to avoid a confrontation with Italy at the time, announced that the nationality of the attacking submarine was unknown, an act that did not prevent the Greco-Italian War two months later, and did not convince the Greek people who were well aware of the real perpetrator.
After war, as compensation for the sinking of Elli, Italy gave Greece the cruiser Eugenio di Savoia which was commissioned in June 1950 for the Royal Hellenic Navy with the name Elli. She served until 1973. Since 1982, a Standard Class frigate, F-450 Elli, the lead ship of the Elli class bears the same name.
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