Greek Navy Ships--Kilkis (Battleship, 1914-1941)

Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 54430: Greek battleship Kilkis sunk at Salamis, Greece, in 1941

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- SHIPS of the GREEK NAVY --

Kilkis (Battleship, 1914-1941)

Kilkis, a 13,000 ton battleship originally completed in early 1908 as USS Mississippi (Battleship # 23), was purchased from the United States by Greece in 1914. Taken over at Newport News, Virginia, late in July of that year, Kilkis served actively in the Royal Hellenic Navy until 1932. In 1935, after a period in reserve, she became a training ship. She was sunk in Salamis harbor by dive bombers on 23 April 1941, during the German invasion of Greece. Her wreck was salvaged for scrap in the 1950s.

This page features views of the Greek battleship Kilkis.

For other photographs of this ship, taken prior to her transfer to the Greek Navy, see:

USS Mississippi (Battleship # 23).

If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 77442

Greek battleship (either Kilkis or Lemnos)

Photographed in a U.S. port.
Kilkis was the former USS Mississippi (Battleship # 23). Lemnos was originally USS Idaho (Battleship # 24).

Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 57KB; 740 x 525 pixels

Photo #: NH 54431

Greek battleship Kilkis

Under attack by German JU 87 dive bombers, at the Greek naval base at Salamis, 23 April 1941. In the lower left, in the floating drydock, is the destroyer Vasilefs Georgios.
Kilkis, the former USS Mississippi (Battleship # 23), was sunk in this attack. The floating dock and destroyer were also sunk (reportedly on 20 April ?), but Vasilefs Georgios was subsequently raised and placed in service by the German Navy as Hermes (ZG-3).

Photograph and some caption information were provided by Franz Selinger.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 89KB; 700 x 640 pixels

Photo #: NH 54430

Greek battleship Kilkis

Sunk at the Greek naval base at Salamis, after she was hit by German air attacks on 23 April 1941. Photographed from a German Heinkel HE 60 seaplane after the base was occupied by the German Army.
Note bomb damage to the nearby pier.
Kilkis was the former USS Mississippi (Battleship # 23).

Photograph and some caption information were provided by Franz Selinger.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 545 pixels

Photo #: NH 77440

Greek battleships Kilkis and Lemnos

Sunk in the basin of the Greek naval base at Salamis after they were hit by German air attacks on 23 April 1941. Seen from the harbor pier following the arrival of the German army.
Kilkis, the former USS Mississippi (Battleship # 23), is in the foreground. Lemnos, ex-USS Idaho (Battleship # 24), is in the distance, with her guns removed.

Photograph and some caption information were provided by Franz Selinger, via the U.S. Naval Institute.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 535 pixels