Antipliarchos Mykonios warship at Halki

[davidfromhastings]

For anyone on Halki on June 10 last year you'll probaly have been as surprised as I was to open my shutters and find this warship moored in the harbour! For anyone interested in the technical stuff P23 is a French built Combattante 111N Class patrol boat that first entered service with the Hellenic Navy in 1978 (Google is my friend ). Apart from the obvious guns, it also has torpedo launchers and exocet missile launchers (those oblong tubes midships). Military subjects tending to be sensitive I hesitated to take photographs -so was a bit surprised when not only did they have a whole load of people go onboard for a guided tour but even posed for group photos in front of the ship. I later heard someone say that in 2014 they did the same thing with a submarine -so maybe this is a more common occurence than an occasional visitor like me would realise? Did anyone here go on that tour or on the submarine one? I look forward to seeing what might turn up this Summer!

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2016 15:47:36 GMT davidfromhastings said:

For anyone on Halki on June 10 last year you'll probaly have been as surprised as I was to open my shutters and find this warship moored in the harbour! For anyone interested in the technical stuff P23 is a French built Combattante 111N Class patrol boat that first entered service with the Hellenic Navy in 1978 (Google is my friend ). Apart from the obvious guns, it also has torpedo launchers and exocet missile launchers (those oblong tubes midships). Military subjects tending to be sensitive I hesitated to take photographs -so was a bit surprised when not only did they have a whole load of people go onboard for a guided tour but even posed for group photos in front of the ship. I later heard someone say that in 2014 they did the same thing with a submarine -so maybe this is a more common occurence than an occasional visitor like me would realise? Did anyone here go on that tour or on the submarine one? I look forward to seeing what might turn up this Summer!

It certainly doesn't happen every time one of their naval vessels stops off at Halki. However, over the years there have been visits when "invited" (usually) local residents were asked on board, sometimes for cocktails and that sort of thing.

[stevec]

Only Greek naval vessel I've seen in my years staying end of June/beginning of July was the P76, somewhat smaller than the P23. It reversed right out of the harbour almost as far as Nissos island before turning and exiting back towards Rhodes. That was July 2009

[Deleted]

Feb 12, 2016 8:51:28 GMT stevec said:

Only Greek naval vessel I've seen in my years staying end of June/beginning of July was the P76, somewhat smaller than the P23. It reversed right out of the harbour almost as far as Nissos island before turning and exiting back towards Rhodes. That was July 2009

They seemed to turn up more frequently in the past when two very senior retired naval officers were alive and living on the island.

[davidfromhastings]

Thanks for the replies. I did wonder if maybe this was a regular thing that you were all used to seeing -but it seems not then. My previous military experiences on Greek islands have usually been of the low flying fighter jet kind. On Ithaca they came in barely above tree height before pulling up sharply to avoid the looming hill. Nearly dropped my shopping! Maybe I was over cautious about taking photos when it was moored up -I suspect they might have been quite happy if I'd just gone down and asked first. BTW Steve, I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure P23 used the same technique of backing out then turning at Nissos. That's the point at which my photo was from. I'm hoping for another Sub this year!

[Deleted]

There is a certain reluctance to use an anchor for maneuvering on naval ships of this type unless weather dictates and without the dubious bonus of a bow thruster, this stern first exit is fairly standard when one has twin screws and two beefy engines.

[stevec]

I suspect Greek sensitivity to military assets being photographed is relative to the where and how. Remember passing bases on Leros a little over 10 years ago where it was clearly not tolerated - although the assets visible were all WWII vintage American and hardly a threat to anyone (other than the civil population). The base on Halki has an interesting collection of hardware - all well past its best before date but still capable of doing damage if used in anger.

[Deleted]

And that is only the saucepans.

[howard]

I do not know if anyone else remembers seeing it, but there was a very old black & white photo of a WW1 vintage Dreadnought Battleship anchored in Halki Harbour. I think that the photo was in the wheelhouse of the old Halki ferry or possibly Aphroditi.

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2016 15:15:21 GMT howard said:

I do not know if anyone else remembers seeing it, but there was a very old black & white photo of a WW1 vintage Dreadnought Battleship anchored in Halki Harbour. I think that the photo was in the wheelhouse of the old Halki ferry or possibly Aphroditi.

Howard, I refer you to my thread "Old Photograph" in the Off Topic Forum. Is that the one you had in mind?

[davidfromhastings]

Feb 12, 2016 21:25:53 GMT @sth said:

There is a certain reluctance to use an anchor for maneuvering on naval ships of this type unless weather dictates and without the dubious bonus of a bow thruster, this stern first exit is fairly standard when one has twin screws and two beefy engines.

Thanks sth! Amazing what you learn sometimes - I had no idea why it reversed out but now I do

[davidfromhastings]

Feb 13, 2016 8:34:59 GMT stevec said:

I suspect Greek sensitivity to military assets being photographed is relative to the where and how. Remember passing bases on Leros a little over 10 years ago where it was clearly not tolerated - although the assets visible were all WWII vintage American and hardly a threat to anyone (other than the civil population). The base on Halki has an interesting collection of hardware - all well past its best before date but still capable of doing damage if used in anger.

I always make a show of pointing my lens downwards when walking past there -not taking photos, honest - but the annoying thing is that I would really like a photo of the No Photography sign itself (especially with that vintage bellows camera icon). Not sure how that would play out so guess I'll just leave it

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2016 17:16:39 GMT @sth said:

Feb 13, 2016 15:15:21 GMT howard said:

I do not know if anyone else remembers seeing it, but there was a very old black & white photo of a WW1 vintage Dreadnought Battleship anchored in Halki Harbour. I think that the photo was in the wheelhouse of the old Halki ferry or possibly Aphroditi.

Howard, I refer you to my thread "Old Photograph" in the Off Topic Forum. Is that the one you had in mind?

Think Howard has toddled off to a jousting competition.

[pda]

There is a very good facebook geezer who puts up some interesting old photos of Halki & all the other Dodecanese islands.
I'm sure there are a few warship ones on there somewhere..."ΤΑ ΔΩΔΕΚΑΝΗΣΑ ΤΟΥ ΧΤΕΣ" is the page..
He does another page for old photos of Rodos..."Η ΡΟΔΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΧΤΕΣ"

[Deleted]

Thanks Philip. Spotted them some time back.