Sunday, 26 October 2014

PHOTO GALLERY #2: Pontos, submarine of the Hellenic Navy

S-119 Pontos, a Poseidon class submarine 
On October 24, I had the opportunity to visit the fast attack craft Daniolos P-68 (see previous post, Photo Gallery #1) of the Roussen class, the most modern class of surface combatants in service with Hellenic Navy, and the submarine Pontos S-119, the last of the Poseidon class (Type 209/1200). The boats were opened to the public at Piraeus harbor due to the forthcoming celebration of Ohi Day (anniversary of the "No") to commemorate the rejection by Greek Prime Minister Metaxas of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Mussolini on October 28, 1940 during WWII. As I mentioned in my other post about Daniolos due to the bad weather there was almost no visitors, so the visit was like a "private tour" and I had a plenty of time to discuss with the crews and to take nice photos without people standing in front of the boats, sensors and weapon systems. Again, I would like to thank a lot the officers and the non-commissioned officers, they are real professionals, friendly, ready to explain everything in detail and with patience, they are men who love their boats and their work, they were simply GREAT! Enjoy the photos!


Upper rudder of Pontos
S-119 Pontos
Τhe bow of Pontos
S-119 Pontos
View of the bow
Bow of S-119 Pontos
The sail of S-119 Pontos
Hoistable devices
View of S-119 Pontos
From left to right: periscope, snorkel, communications antenna, ESM,
attack periscope, navigation radar
From left to right: periscope, snorkel, communications antenna, ESM,
attack periscope, navigation radar

View of the conning tower
S-119 Pontos
S-119 Pontos
S-119 Pontos
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4 comments:

  1. Víctor27 October 2014 at 11:50

    Concerning submarines of Hellenic Navy, do you have any notice about S-110 "HS Glavkos" decommissioned in 2011?

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    Replies
    1. D-Mitch27 October 2014 at 22:54

      Thank you for your comment Victor. The same question I asked to the captain of Pontos just to verify the following: despite that the boat was modernized and overhauled in the '90s, the submarine was constructed in 1971 (the first Type 209 submarine ever constructed!). So after 40 years of service and the commissioning of Papanikolis (first of Type 214), the oldest boat had to be retired. Pontos for example is not modernized, neither has the capabilities of the Type 209/1100 Mod but it is a newer ship construction than the latter. Materials have also their lifespan.

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    2. Manolis4 November 2014 at 10:06

      Glavkos, the first T-209 sub in the world, will be converted to a museum vessel and will be placed on soil, near Averof battleship and the Treeris in Athens, Pfaleron naval tradition museum. Nice work D-Mitch!

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    3. D-Mitch4 November 2014 at 21:06

      Manolioooo! Thank you for your comments. This will be great! A Combattante II class boat should have joined the museum fleet as well, it would not be so difficult to maintain it. Anyway.. Hope to see more retired vessels in the future as memorial-museum ships at Phaleron bay.

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