CARGO SHIPS
S.S. HELLAS LIBERTY
She was launched as the ARTHUR M. HUDDELL in 1943 in the United States, one of thousands of Liberty ships built during World War II. Following the war, she was used for some time to transport and lay cables for AT&T. Laid up at the James River fleet in the early 80s, she avoided the scrappers and by the end of the 20th century was one of only three Liberty ships left afloat.
She was donated to Greece in 2009 (as many Liberty ships had been bought by Greek shipowners and had played a part in rebuilding the Greek shipping industry post war) to become a permanent museum ship moored in Piraeus named HELLAS LIBERTY and was completely restored.
She is now a fantastic surviving example of one of these iconic freighters.
Built in 1882 as the VILLE de VALENCE, she was one of five identical sister ships built in England for the 'Compagnie Havraise Péninsulaire de Navigation à Vapeur' and transported fruit on the Madagascar run. The design of these vessels were quite advanced for the time, sporting five watertight compartments and a double hull.
On the 12th of May 1918, six months before the end of the first world war, the TOGO was part of a five ship convoy sailing along the South coast of France towards Italy with a cargo of coal. In the early hours of the morning, the convoy was spotted by the German submarine UC 35, which fired a torpedo into the lead ship, a French cargo ship named the 'Pax' which sank almost immediately. The Togo broke off from the convoy and headed towards the coast hoping to outrun the submarine and shelter in the bay of Cavalaire. As she entered the bay, an explosion near the stern broke her in two. The stern section immediately sank, the bow however drifted closer to the coast before finally foundering in about 50 meters of water. One crew member was lost while the other 20 made it ashore. The wreck of the TOGO would be re-discovered in 1977 and is now extremely popular site for scuba divers, widely considered one of the most beautiful wrecks of the Mediterranean, with her bow lying upright at around 50 meters and stern at around 65 meters of water.
S.S. TOGO
M.V. PANAGIOTIS
She was built in 1937 on the Clyde as the coaster SAINT BEDAN. She was sold to Greek owners in 1964 and changed hands many times, finally being renamed PANAGIOTIS in 1975. During her final years she was actively used to smuggle contraband cigarettes around the Mediterranean and on the 2nd of October 1980, she was driven ashore and abandoned in the bay of Agios Georgios on the North Western side of Zakynthos. The bay and shipwreck has become one of the most famous locations on Earth, being visited by thousands of tourists every year and helped put Zakynthos on the map as a popular tourist destination.