AINOS
| Name : | AINOS |
| Greek name : | ΑΙΝΟΣ |
| Type of Ship : | Landing Craft |
| LRS-Name : | AINOS |
| Internat. call sign : | SZHO |
| Port of Registry : | Piraeus 436 |
| Later Names : | 1915 X. 146 1915 K 55 1920 AINOS |
| Later Names : | 1941 presumably S 109 |
| Initial Flag of Registry : | Great Britain |
| Owner : | 1915 Royal Navy, Great Britain 1920 Chemical Products & Fertilisers S.A., Piraeus, Greece 1940 Evangelos P. Nomikos, Piraeus, Greece 1941 German Reich |
| Shipyard : | William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Pallion (Sunderland), Great Britain |
| Hull Number : | 498 |
| Year of Construction : | 1915 |
| Launch : | 28.05.1915 |
| Size (GRT) : | 130 |
| Size (NRT) : | 80 |
| Lenght (m) : | 32 |
| Width (m) : | 6,4 |
| Depth (m) : | 2,4 |
| Crew : | 7 |
| Engine : | Diesel engine/2 cylinders/J.&C.G. Bolinders Mekaniska Verkstad i Stockholm, Sweden |
| Output : | 60 HP |
| Screws : | 1 |
| Speed (kn) : | 8 |
1915 completed by shipyard William Doxford & Sons Ltd., Pallion (Sunderland), Great Britain, as landing barge X. 146 for the Royal Navy. The ship was an X-Class Lighter developed by naval engineer Walter Pollock (James Pollock & Sons Ltd., Faversham). The first boats of this type were sent to the Mediterranean to serve as landing and transport vehicles during the battle of Gallipoli. All vehicles active in the Aegean were renamed. Those transporting troops got the identifying letter “K” followed by a number, those transporting water, the letter “L”. X. 146 (later AINOS Piraeus 436) got the identifier “K 55”. [C][D]
1920 bought by the chemicals factory “Société Anonyme Hellenique de Produits et Angrais Chimiques”, Piraeus, Greece, together with three other X-Class Lighter and renamed AINOS.
1940 sold to Evangelos P. Nomikos, Piraeus, Griechenland.
26.11.1940 commandeered by the Greek government in Mesolongi. [A]
1941 discovered in Piraeus, Greece, by German troops and declared as prize. [H]
19.05.1941, 19:30, left Piraeus as troop transport of “Leichte Staffel Maleme” (Light squadron Maleme), presumably with identifier “S 109”, with a Greek crew of seven* and with mountain troops aboard, bound for Maleme on the island of Crete. The “Gruppe Maleme” (Maleme Group) convoy consisted of 21 Ships** and was, initially, escorted by the Italian torpedo boat SIRIO. [E][F][Η][I]
20.05.1941 Convoy reached the island of Milos and continued the voyage to Crete after a short break to establish order. The escorting torpedo boat SIRIO was, after damage to her propellers, replaced by the Italian torpedo boat LUPO (C.C. Francesco Mimbelli). [E][F][I]
21.05.1941, 22:20, approximately five nautical miles North of Cape Spatha the “Gruppe Maleme” convoy was attacked by the British “Force D” consisting of the cruisers AJAX, DIDO and ORION and the destroyers HASTY, HEREWARD, JANUS and KIMBERLEY. [E][F][G][I]
21./22.05.1941 sunk by “Force D” together with presumably 14 other ships of “Leichte Staffel Maleme” north of Crete with heavy loss of life. The Greek crew lost only mate Spyridon N. Syrigos. [B][E][F][G][I]
*) Crew: Vasilios Exarhopoulos (Captain, age 35, from Amorgos), Emmanouil Pantazis (engineer), Artemios Syrigos (Seaman), Emmanouil Prekas (Seaman), Spyridon Gavrilatos (Seaman), Spyridon N. Syrigos (mate, from Santorini). All were saved but Spyridon N. Syrigos. After the war, captain V. Exarhopoulos worked as captain for „Aliyah Bet“, the organization for the (illegal) transport of concentration camp survivors from Europe to Palestine.
**) There are different reports with respect to the number of ships in “Leichte Staffel Maleme”.
1920 bought by the chemicals factory “Société Anonyme Hellenique de Produits et Angrais Chimiques”, Piraeus, Greece, together with three other X-Class Lighter and renamed AINOS.
1940 sold to Evangelos P. Nomikos, Piraeus, Griechenland.
26.11.1940 commandeered by the Greek government in Mesolongi. [A]
1941 discovered in Piraeus, Greece, by German troops and declared as prize. [H]
19.05.1941, 19:30, left Piraeus as troop transport of “Leichte Staffel Maleme” (Light squadron Maleme), presumably with identifier “S 109”, with a Greek crew of seven* and with mountain troops aboard, bound for Maleme on the island of Crete. The “Gruppe Maleme” (Maleme Group) convoy consisted of 21 Ships** and was, initially, escorted by the Italian torpedo boat SIRIO. [E][F][Η][I]
20.05.1941 Convoy reached the island of Milos and continued the voyage to Crete after a short break to establish order. The escorting torpedo boat SIRIO was, after damage to her propellers, replaced by the Italian torpedo boat LUPO (C.C. Francesco Mimbelli). [E][F][I]
21.05.1941, 22:20, approximately five nautical miles North of Cape Spatha the “Gruppe Maleme” convoy was attacked by the British “Force D” consisting of the cruisers AJAX, DIDO and ORION and the destroyers HASTY, HEREWARD, JANUS and KIMBERLEY. [E][F][G][I]
21./22.05.1941 sunk by “Force D” together with presumably 14 other ships of “Leichte Staffel Maleme” north of Crete with heavy loss of life. The Greek crew lost only mate Spyridon N. Syrigos. [B][E][F][G][I]
*) Crew: Vasilios Exarhopoulos (Captain, age 35, from Amorgos), Emmanouil Pantazis (engineer), Artemios Syrigos (Seaman), Emmanouil Prekas (Seaman), Spyridon Gavrilatos (Seaman), Spyridon N. Syrigos (mate, from Santorini). All were saved but Spyridon N. Syrigos. After the war, captain V. Exarhopoulos worked as captain for „Aliyah Bet“, the organization for the (illegal) transport of concentration camp survivors from Europe to Palestine.
**) There are different reports with respect to the number of ships in “Leichte Staffel Maleme”.
| Date of Loss : | 27.04.1941 |
| Place of Loss : | Piraeus, Greece [H] |
| Kind of Loss : | Prize |
| Cause of Loss : | Prize |
| Name of Opponent : | German Reich |
1. Lloyds Register of Shipping
2. [A] Melissinos, Ioannis: The Navy during World War II - The total contribution of the Greek Merchant Navy (Motorsailers and Steamers) 1940-1945, volume I and II, University of Ioannina 1995 (Gr.)
3. [B] Dounis, Christos: The wrecks of the Greek Waters 1900-1950, volume I, Finatec, Athens 2000 (Gr.)
4. [C] Friedman, Norman: Fighting the great war at sea – Strategy, tactics and technology, Seaforth Publishing, Great Britain 2014
5. [D] xlighter.org
6. [E] KTB KRETA der 5. Gebirgsdivision
7. [F] Bericht des F.Kpt. Devantier (Anlage 2 zum Kriegstagebuch Marinebefehlshaber Griechenland vom 15.-31.5.41)
8. [G] TNA ADM 199/810
9. [H] Forum Marinearchiv
10. [I] Lupinacci, Pier Filippo (Compilatore), Tognelli, Vittorio E. (Revisore): La difesa del traffico l´Albania, la Grecia e l´Egeo, La Marina italiana nella seconde Guerra mondiale, Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare, Vol. IX, Roma, 1965
2. [A] Melissinos, Ioannis: The Navy during World War II - The total contribution of the Greek Merchant Navy (Motorsailers and Steamers) 1940-1945, volume I and II, University of Ioannina 1995 (Gr.)
3. [B] Dounis, Christos: The wrecks of the Greek Waters 1900-1950, volume I, Finatec, Athens 2000 (Gr.)
4. [C] Friedman, Norman: Fighting the great war at sea – Strategy, tactics and technology, Seaforth Publishing, Great Britain 2014
5. [D] xlighter.org
6. [E] KTB KRETA der 5. Gebirgsdivision
7. [F] Bericht des F.Kpt. Devantier (Anlage 2 zum Kriegstagebuch Marinebefehlshaber Griechenland vom 15.-31.5.41)
8. [G] TNA ADM 199/810
9. [H] Forum Marinearchiv
10. [I] Lupinacci, Pier Filippo (Compilatore), Tognelli, Vittorio E. (Revisore): La difesa del traffico l´Albania, la Grecia e l´Egeo, La Marina italiana nella seconde Guerra mondiale, Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare, Vol. IX, Roma, 1965
| Inserted : | 14.04.2015 |
| Inserted by : | Dimitris Galon |
| Last Edit : | 26.10.2015 |
| Edited by : | Dimitris Galon |
| Modifications : | - 19.06.2015 T. Reich photo 1 inserted - 26.10.2015 D. Galon English Service Life added |
