The “Ganges” of Greece
A Hellenic History
Should any Shipmates be holidaying in Athens and fancy a bit of Naval history on nearby Poros island (only an hour on the fast boats from Piraeus), a visit to ‘K.E. Poros Training Centre’ provides an interesting link with British Naval history and something to combine with maybe a pleasant lunch and wander round picturesque Poros town.
The Centre serves as both a holiday resort for Warrant Officers and Petty Officers of the Hellenic (Greek) Navy, and as a training base for conscripts & volunteers. Providing a base for holidays is something of a tradition, since what is now the Administration building use to be the summer palace of King Otto and Queen Amalia in the mid-1800s.
It is open to the public on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (possibly only in the summer when it’s not in use for training – best to check before going) with tours at 10:00, 11:00 & 12:00 (no need to book, just turn up at the main gate). For the princely sum of 4 Euros (or free to active-duty and retired members of the Armed Forces), a Greek matelot will show you round. English is not always spoken, but there is an extensive printed guide available on the day (copy attached here for interest).
The tour includes buildings, monuments, the Eugenios Eugenides, (a 1929 yacht built in Dumbarton by George Lennox Watson as ‘Sunbeam’ and restored by Hellenic Naval personal in 2023) and the beautiful Orthodox church of St Nicholas (built in 1889) where much of the incredible interior decoration was undertaken by Navy personnel.
The most interesting of the memorials for British visitors is probably the one to Frank Abney Hastings (1794 – 1828). Hastings joined the Navy at 14, serving at Trafalgar in 1805 on HMS Neptune under Captain Thomas Freemantle and later at the battle of New Orleans in 1812. In 1819 (after an argument with his flag captain) Hastings left the British Navy for Europe, learnt French and arrived in Greece in April 1822, where he spent a couple of years involved in Greek Naval operations.
In 1824, Hastings devised a strategy which advocated the use of steamships over sailing ships, and using shells and hot shot (rather than fireships) to destroy the Turkish Navy’s larger boats. He constructed and commanded the first steam warship ‘Karteria’ in 1826, introducing his new tactics which played a decisive role in a number of engagements with Ottoman forces. He is greatly respected in the history of the Hellenic Navy.
Detailed History of Poros 
Further details available here: https://hellenicnavy.gr/en/episkepsi-sto-k-e-poros/.
The centre can be contacted directly by email (keporos@navy.mil.gr).
Things to See in Poros Dockyard
Material supplied by S/m Helena Berry