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Destroyer Velos D-16: a 360° virtual tour of the Museum of the Anti-Dictatorship Struggle
The destroyer Velos D-16 (formerly USS CHARRETTE DD-581), a Fletcher-class ship, was built in Boston, USA, during the Second World War. She was launched on 3 June 1942 and commissioned on 18 May 1943. Today she is moored on the New Waterfront in Thessaloniki, near the Concert Hall, as the "Museum of the Anti-Dictatorship Struggle", and is open to visitors.
USS Charrette sailed from New York on 20 September 1943 to escort the aircraft carrier Monterey to service in the Pacific. Reaching Pearl Harbor on 9 October, she took part in training exercises until 10 November, when she sailed with Task Force 50 (TF 50) for air strikes against Japanese bases in the Marshall Islands.
You can also visit her digitally: the 360° virtual tour puts you on deck and inside the ship.
USS Charrette sailed from New York on 20 September 1943 to escort the aircraft carrier Monterey to service in the Pacific. Reaching Pearl Harbor on 9 October, she took part in training exercises until 10 November, when she sailed with Task Force 50 (TF 50) for air strikes against Japanese bases in the Marshall Islands.
You can also visit her digitally: the 360° virtual tour puts you on deck and inside the ship.
360 Virtual Tour Presentation
Charrette's Role in Allied Successes During World War II
During the war Charrette took part in many significant operations, including the raids on Kwajalein and Eniwetok and the strike against the Japanese at Truk. She also fought in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and supported the Leyte Gulf landings, performing escort and anti-submarine duties that contributed decisively to Allied success. For her Pacific service she was awarded thirteen battle stars.After the Second World War Charrette was placed in reserve. In 1958, following modernisation at Long Beach, California, she was transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy along with three sister ships. The Greek flag was raised aboard on 16 June 1959, with Captain G. Moralis as her first commanding officer, and the ship was renamed Velos (D-16).
In Hellenic Navy service Velos took part in almost every Greek and NATO exercise and played an active role in the crises with Turkey in 1964, 1967, 1974 (the Cyprus crisis) and 1987.
Velos as a Museum of the Anti-Dictatorship Struggle: From Decommissioning to Restoration
In May 1973 a movement of democratic Hellenic Navy officers, loyal to their oath to the Constitution, was planned for 22-23 May with the aim of overthrowing the dictatorship. The movement was betrayed and 68 officers were arrested.On 23 May 1973 Velos, under her commanding officer Nikolaos Pappas (1929-2013), withdrew from a NATO exercise off Sardinia and on 25 May anchored at Fiumicino, Italy, refusing to return to Greece in protest against the dictatorship. The action drew international attention to the situation in Greece. The captain, six officers and twenty-five petty officers requested political asylum and remained in Italy as political refugees.
Velos was decommissioned on 26 February 1991, having covered 362,662 nautical miles in 48 years of service. In 1994 she was designated the "Museum of the Anti-Dictatorship Struggle". After conservation and restoration work she was moved in June 2002 to Flisvos, at Palaio Faliro, where she remained until 9 September 2019. Since then she has been moored on the New Waterfront in Thessaloniki, near the Concert Hall, and she remains on the strength of the Hellenic Navy.
The 360° virtual tour of Velos
The 360° virtual tour we produced lets anyone who cannot get to Thessaloniki step onto the deck, look over the guns and go below into the ship's interior. For a floating museum that is not advertising, it is access. A 1942 ship has narrow ladders and high sills, and for many visitors the virtual tour is the only way they will ever see inside her.Do you look after a monument, vessel or collection that deserves to be seen by people who cannot travel to it? Talk to us.
Sources: Floating Naval Museum Destroyer VELOS - Hellenic Navy · USS Charrette
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