Greek destroyer Lonchi (1907)

Lonchi - Α/Τ Λόγχη
History
Ensign of the Hellenic Royal NavyGreece
NameLonchi
NamesakeSpear
Ordered1905
BuilderYarrow Shipbuilders, Cubitt Town, London
Laid down1905
LaunchedJuly 7, 1907
Commissioned1907
Decommissioned1926
FateBroken up in 1931
General characteristics
Class and typeThyella class destroyer[1]
DisplacementStandard 350 long tons (360 t)
Length67.1 m (220 ft)
Beam6.2 m (20 ft)
Draft1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Propulsion2 shafts, 6,000 hp (4,500 kW)
Speed30-knot (56 km/h) maximum
Complement70
Armament
  • 2 × 76 mm (3.0 in) Hotchkiss guns
  • 2 × 57 mm (2.2 in) Hotchkiss guns
  • 2 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes

Lonchi (Greek: Α/Τ Λόγχη, "Spear") was a Thyella class destroyer that served in the Royal Hellenic Navy beginning in 1907. The ship, along with her three sister ships, was ordered from England in 1906 and was built in the Yarrow shipyard at Cubitt Town, London. Lonchi was 220 feet (67 m), displaced 352 metric tons (346 long tons; 388 short tons), and was armed with two 18 in (46 cm) torpedo tubes, two 76 mm (3.0 in) guns, and two 57 mm (2.2 in) guns.

Lonchi saw active service during the Balkan Wars, as part of the invasion fleet that seized several islands in the Aegean Sea in the first week of the war. For the remainder of the conflict, Lonchi participated in the naval blockade of the Dardanelles. During World War I, Greece belatedly entered the war on the side of the Triple Entente and, due to Greece's neutrality the four Thyella class ships were seized by the Allies in October 1916, taken over by the French in November and served in the French Navy 1917–1918. By 1918, they were back on escort duty under Greek colors, mainly in the Aegean Sea. Lonchi saw action in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). After the war, she was stricken in 1926 and broken up in 1931.

  1. ^ Moore, p. 293