 Artist's impression of Salamis if she had been taken over by the Imperial German Navy and completed during World War I
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Greece | |
| Name | Salamis |
| Namesake | Battle of Salamis |
| Ordered | 1912 |
| Builder | AG Vulcan, Hamburg |
| Laid down | 23 July 1913 |
| Launched | 11 November 1914 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1932 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 19,500 long tons (19,800 t) |
| Length | 569 ft 11 in (173.71 m) |
| Beam | 81 ft (25 m) |
| Draft | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Armament |
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| Armor | |
Salamis (Greek: Σαλαμίς) was a partially constructed capital ship, referred to as either a dreadnought battleship or battlecruiser, that was ordered for the Greek Navy from the AG Vulcan shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, in 1912. She was ordered as part of a Greek naval rearmament program meant to modernize the fleet, in response to Ottoman naval expansion after the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. Salamis and several other battleships—none of which were delivered to either navy—represented the culmination of a naval arms race between the two countries that had significant effects on the First Balkan War and World War I.
The design for Salamis was revised several times during the construction process, in part due to Ottoman acquisitions. Early drafts of the vessel called for a displacement of 13,500 long tons (13,700 t), with an armament of six 14-inch (356 mm) guns in three twin-gun turrets. The final version of the design was significantly larger, at 19,500 long tons (19,800 t), with an armament of eight 14-inch guns in four turrets. The ship was to have had a top speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph), higher than that of other battleships of the period.
Work began on the keel on 23 July 1913, and the hull was launched on 11 November 1914. Construction stopped in December 1914, following the outbreak of World War I in July. The German navy employed the unfinished ship as a floating barracks in Kiel. The armament for this ship was ordered from Bethlehem Steel in the United States and could not be delivered due to the British blockade of Germany. Bethlehem sold the guns to Britain instead and they were used to arm the four Abercrombie-class monitors. The hull of the ship remained intact after the war and became the subject of a protracted legal dispute. Salamis was finally awarded to the builders and the hull was scrapped in 1932.