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The Kelly naval mission to Greece, May 1919–October 1921

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2016

Zisis Fotakis
Zisis Fotakis*
Affiliation:
University of Piraeus
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Extract

This article focuses on the activities of the Kelly naval mission to Greece between 1919 and 1921, the period when the geographic importance of Greece from the naval perspective and the potential of her navy attracted the interest of Britain. Notwithstanding the fact that plans to institute a pivotal Anglo–Greek naval partnership in the Eastern Mediterranean were frustrated because of the Asia Minor catastrophe, the Kelly naval mission to Greece was largely successful in developing the Greek Navy. During its term in Greece, work was expedited at the Ministry of the Marine, the recruiting law was revised and a significant number of Greek naval officers were admitted to British naval schools. Moreover, the syllabus of Greek naval colleges was updated and the Greek Naval Air Service developed on solid foundations. Financial difficulties and political complications hindered the realization of the more ambitious projects of the mission, i.e. the establishment of a new arsenal at Skaramanga and the procurement of sorely needed naval units. However, maintaining the many old Greek warships in working condition would have been impossible had it not been for the success of the mission in developing the organization and infrastructure of the Salamis arsenal.

Type
Articles
Information
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , 2006 , pp. 185 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham 2006

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References

1 Karvounarakis, Th., Anglo-Greek Relations, 1920-1922 (Ph.D. Cambridge 1992) 5–7 Google Scholar.

2 The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), FO 286/702, Memorandum-Naval bases in Greek territory, 2 February 1919.

3 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Brown MSS, BRO/14, Wemyss to Brown, 17 February 1919.

4 Churchill, W., The Aftermath: A Sequel to the World Crisis (London 1941) 391 Google Scholar.

5 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Wemyss to Kelly, 17 February 1919.

6 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Wemyss, Lowestoff, 7 March 1919.

7 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Wemyss, Lowestoff, 12 April 1919.

8 TNA (PRO), ADM 196/43, 312.

9 On Kelly’s record in Paris see Halpern, P., The Mediterranean Naval Situation, 1908-1914 (Cambridge MA 1971) 11, 59, 87, 98, 108, 147, 283Google Scholar.

10 University of Southampton, Battenberg MSS, MB1/T47, Kelly to Battenberg, 4 December 1914.

11 Halpern, P., The Naval War in the Mediterranean (London 1987) 13 Google Scholar.

12 Ibid., 432-3.

13 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/5, 2-3.

14 Ibid., 3.

15 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Granville, Athens, 4 June 1920 para. 15.

16 Cab 23/67 (20), Draft resolutions on economy (3), 8 December 1920. Cited in Karvounarakis, Anglo-Greek Relations, 31.

17 TNA (PRO), FO 286/711, Chetwode to Granville, Athens, 29 October 1919.

18 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Minister of Marine, Athens, 10/23 November 1920, para. 26.

19 Ibid., paras 30-1.

20 Ibid., para. 32.

21 Ibid., para. 33.

22 Ibid., para. 44.

23 Ibid., para. 45.

24 Ibid., paras 46-7.

25 Ibid., para. 48.

26 Ibid., para. 71.

27 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Venizelos, Athens, 5 Sept. 1919, 31.

28 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Granville to Curzon, Athens, 6 December 1919.

29 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Admiralty, Athens, 31 December 1919.

30 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Admiralty to C-in-C, Portsmouth, 6 December 1919.

31 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Inspecting Captain of Mechanical Training Establishments to the Secretary of the Admiralty, Fisgard, 10 March 1920.

32 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Greek Navy, 10 Greek Officers to undergo courses in England, 28 November 1919, Minute by DNI, 18 December 1919.

33 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Secretary of the Admiralty to the C-in-C Portsmouth, 2 January 1920.

34 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to the Minister of Marine, Athens, 10/23 November 1920, para. 6.

35 Ibid. See also K. Alexandrie and O. Papanikolaou, Έκθεσις περί της Εκπαιδεύσεως εις το Πυροβολικόν’, Ναυτικη Επιθεώρησις, July-Sept. 1920, 308

36 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to the Minister of Marine, Athens, 10/23 November 1920, paras 12-13.

37 Ibid., paras 15, 17; Alexandris, K., Όργάνωσις και Εκπαίδευσις του Πυροβολικού εν τω Ναυτικώ’, Ναχηικη Επιθεώρησις, 1924, 42, 84, 90-5Google Scholar.

38 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to the Minister of Marine, Athens, 10/23 November 1920, para. 16.

39 Ibid., para. 18.

40 Ibid., para. 20-1; Alexandris, Όργάνωσις και Εκπαίδευσις’, 89.

41 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to the Minister of Marine, Athens, 10/23 November 1920, paras 39, 41-3.

42 Ibid., para. 73.

43 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Venizelos, Athens, 5 Sept. 1919, 3-4.

44 Ibid., 5, 9.

45 Ibid., 4.

46 Ibid., 6-8.

47 Ibid., 10-11.

48 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Venizelos, Athens, 4 October 1919, para. 4.

49 Ίδοΰ τι εδαπανήσαμεν χωρίς εν τούτοις ν’ αποκτήσωμεν την υπεροπλίαν, Ακρόπολις, 13/26 July 1914.

50 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Granville, Athens, 16 December 1919.

51 Ibid.

52 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/5, Entry of 27 October 1919, 44; TNA(PRO), FO 286/711, Chetwode to Granville, Athens, 29 October 1919.

53 On the hostility of British naval opinion to the submarine immediately after the end of the First World War see Marder, A.J., From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: Victory and Aftermath (January 1918-June 1919) (London, New York, Toronto 1970) 256-62Google Scholar.

54 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to the Secretary of the Admiralty, Athens, 18 February 1920.

55 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Brown MSS, BRO/14, Calthorpe to the Admiralty, Constantinople, 22 July 1919, Minute n/d.

56 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Granville, Athens, 4 June 1920, paras 5-12.

57 Ibid., para. 13; Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to the Minister of Marine, Athens, 20 June/2 July 1920.

58 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to the Minister of Marine, Athens, 10/23 November 1920, para. 10.

59 Ibid., paras 55-7.

60 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to the Minister of Marine, Athens, 6/19 November 1920, paras 10-13.

61 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Venizelos, Athens, 5 September 1919, 18.

62 Ibid., 18-19.

63 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to the Minister of Marine, Athens, 10/23 November 1920, para. 59.

64 Ibid., para. 9.

65 Ibid., paras 49-51.

66 PRO, FO, 286/743, Kelly to Granville, Athens, 18 Feb 1920.

67 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Venizelos, Athens, 5 September 1919, 29-30.

68 Ibid., 29.

69 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Miaoulis, Athens, 2 July 1920, para. 3.

70 Ibid., para. 4.

71 Ibid., para. 5.

72 Ibid., paras 6-8.

73 Macfie, A.L., The Straits Question, 1908-1936 (Thessaloniki 1993) 116-18Google Scholar.

74 Γενικό Επιτελείο Στρατού, Επίτομος Ιστορία Εκστρατείας Μικράς Ασίας, 1919-1922 (Athens 1967) 55-62.

75 Churchill College, Churchill MSS, Char 8/258, Malley to Churchill, 22 December 1927.

76 Spyridonos, P., üòL•lwç кш EL•vOBpm (Αθήνα, 1957) 136 Google Scholar; Smith, M. Llewellyn, Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor 1919-1922 (London 1973) 130-1Google Scholar.

77 Llewellyn Smith, Ionian “Vision, 135-57.

78 Ibid., 180-232.

79 Εφημεμς της Κυβερνήσεως, Τεύχος Α, Φύλλο 61, Βασιλικό Διάταγμα 5 Απριλίου 1921, ‘Περί Γενικού Επιτελείου του Βασιλικου Ναυηκού’, 225-9.

80 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Granville, Athens, 6 October 1921, para. 9.

81 Ibid.

82 Εφημερίς της Κοβερνήσεως, Τεύχος A, Φύλλο 185, Βασιλικό Διάταγμα 31 Αυγούστου 1921, ‘Περί της Εσωτερικής Οργανώσεως πασών των Σχολών του Βασιλικου Ναυτικού’; Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, Archives de l’Ambassade de France à Athènes, File 402, Bulletin d’Informations Militaires, 23 September 1921, 4-9; Εφημερίς της Κυβερνήσεως, Τεύχος A, Φυλλο 218, Βασιλικό Διάταγμα ‘Περί καταργήσεως κοα αντικαταστάσεως των άρθρων 56, 65, 68, 74, 78, 95, 134, 225, 235, 236, 237, 238, 240 μεχρι και 263 ως και προσθήκης τωνάρθρων 239α και 263α του από 18 Ιουνίου 1918 Βασιλικού Διατάγματος “Περί Οργανισμού της Σχολής Ναυτικών Δοκίμων’”, 19 Οκτωβρίου 1921, 1106-12 (particularly Article 237, 1108-9).

83 Εφημερίς της Κοβερνήσεως, Τευχος Α, Φύλλο 205, Βασιλικό Διάταγμα 19 Οκτωβρίου 1921, ‘Περί Συστάσεως Σχολής Σημάτων και Μετονομασίας του Κλάδου των Οιακιστών εις Σηματωρών’, 1048-1050 (in particular Articles 2 and 24).

84 Εφημερίς της Κοβερνήσεως, Τεύχος Α, Φυλλο 243, Βασιλικό Διάταγμα 14 Δεκεμβρίου 1921, ‘Περί Συστάσεο>ς Τορπιλικής Σχολής, περί Τοποθετήσεων και περί Εκπαιδευσεως και Προαγωγής των Βαθμοίρόρων εν τη Τορπιλική Σχολή Εκπαιδευομενων’, 1318-22 (in particular Articles 2-4, 36, 46).

85 Εφημερίς της Κοβερνήσεαις, Τεύχος Α, Φυλλο 205, Βασιλνκό Δνάταγμα 26 Νοεμβρίου 1921, ‘Περί Συστάσεως Σχολής Αρμενιστών και περί Προαγωγής αυτών’, 1188-90 (in particular Articles 1 and 30).

86 PRO, ADM/1/8648/228, Smith to Bentinck, Athens, 30 December 1922.

87 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Granville, Athens, 6 October 1921, para. 15.

88 Εφημεμς Συζητήσεων της Βοολής, Τρίτη Συντακτική Συνελευση, Συνεδρία 20, 12 Φεβρουαρίου 1921 Ομιλία Ράλλη, 215-6, and Συνεδρία 86, 27 Απριλίου 1922, Ομιλία Τυπάλδου, 1437.

89 Archives Centrales de la Marine, BB7/143, Bulletin d’Informations Militaires, Athens, 21 July 1921.

90 Archives Centrales de la Marine, BB7/143, Attaché Naval to Commandant la Division Navale du Levant, Athens, 13 December 1922.

91 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, KEL/28, Kelly to Granville, Athens, 6 October 1921, para. 10; Siomos, A., ‘To Έργον της Διευθύνσεως Πυροβολικου Ναυστάθμου κατά το 1921-1922’, Ναυτική Επιθεώρησις 61 (1926) 660-79Google Scholar. Γενικό Επιτελείο Στρατού, Επιχειρήσεις Ιοονίου-Ιουλίου 1921 (Athens 1964) 26.

92 Greenwich Maritime Museum, Kelly MSS, Kel 5, 60a-61a.

93 Petropoulos, N., Αναμνήσεις ενός Παλιοό Ναυτικοό, I (Athens 1962), 34 Google Scholar. Alexandris, K., То Ναυτικόν μας κατά την Πολεμικήν Περίοδον, 1941-1945 (Athens 1952), 168 Google Scholar.