Greece:
Type III Hunt class destroyer
Adrias entering Alexandria harbour after striking a mine off the Dodecanese Islands, she travelled 730 miles to reach harbour, with her bows completely blown off. 6 December 1943
On 22 October 1943, during
operations in the Dodecanese, while near the island of
Kalymnos with the British destroyer
HMS Hurworth,
Adrias struck a mine. The explosion tore her bow off. The English Flotilla Commander onboard
Hurworth ordered Cmdr. Toumbas to abandon ship.
Hurworth, while trying to come to
Adrias's rescue, also hit a mine and sunk taking 133 men with her. In spite of the damage suffered,
Adrias took on the survivors of
Hurworth (among them her CO) and managed to reach the nearby coast of
Gümüşlük in neutral Turkey with 21 men of her crew dead and 30 wounded. After some minor repairs, the ship sailed on 1 December for
Alexandria, despite her missing bow. After a trip of 730 nautical miles (1,350 km), of which 300 were within the range of Luftwaffe's
Junkers Ju 88 bombers based in occupied Greece, (the threat of them forced her to sail only at night despite her limited maneuverability), she managed to reach Alexandria on 6 December (day of the Feast of
St. Nicholas, patron saint of seamen) where she was enthusiastically greeted by the British Fleet and other Allied ships. This achievement was considered a brilliant example of seamanship, and provided a morale boost to the Royal Hellenic Navy and other allied ships in the Mediterranean.
Adrias in 1942