ZG3 Hermes

D.K.M. ZG3 Hermes

1942

(Neptun 1066)

Class: ZG3 Hermes - ex-Greek Vasilefs Georgios
Displacement: 1,414 tons
Dimensions: 323'1" (oa) x 33' x 8'3"
Machinery: 2-shaft geared turbines, 34,000 shp = 36 knots
Armament: 4-5in (4x1), 4-37mm (4x1) AA, 4-20mm AA guns; 8-21in (2x4) TT
Complement: 220

Builder: Yarrow, Glasgow
Laid Down: Feb 1937
Launched: 3 Mar 1938
Commissioned: 22 Dec 1938

Notes: One of two sisters, Vasilefs Georgios and Vasilissa Olga, ordered by the Greek government from a British yard in 1937, with a general design like the British I class. However, they were to be armed with 12.7cm SKC/34 guns purchased from Germany of the same design used to equip modern destroyers of the Kriegsmarine. (The armament was not added until the ships were delivered to Greece.) Vasilefs Georgios became the flagship of the Greek Navy's destroyer flotilla. After the Italian invasion of 1940, both conducted offensive night patrols in the Adriatic and escort duties in the Aegean. On 1 Mar 1941, they were used to evacuate Greek gold reserves to Crete, and after the German invasion on 13 Apr and British intervention, they covered convoys to and from Egypt.
Vasilefs Georgios was damaged by aircraft bombs near Sofiko in the Peloponnese on 14 Apr and limped into a floating dock at Salamis, but could not be repaired before German forces seized the port. Attempted scuttling of the dock did not seriously damage her and she was repaired under the guidance of technicians from Germaniawerft. She was commissioned in the Kriegsmarine on 21 Mar 1942 as ZG3 and later renamed Hermes on 22 Aug 1942. She served on convoy duty in the Aegean and later on the Italy-North Africa supply route. She sank the British submarine Splendid off Capri on 21 Apr 1943, but ten days later was heavily damaged by air attack and towed into Tunis, where she was scuttled on 7 May 1943 as Allied forces approached.
Vasilissa Olga evacuated the Greek government to Crete on 22 Apr, and thereafter served with British forces in the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans, until sunk at Leros by German Stukas on 26 Sep 1943.