Ιστορικές φωτο του Καστελλόριζου [Historic photos of Megisti]

[Appia_1978]

Καστελόριζο 1938

Το πλοίο είναι το Fiume της Adriatica

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[Finnpartner_1966]

Aπο τα "Ελληνικα Υπερωκεανεια" του Α. Τζαμτζη ειναι η φωτο?

[Appia_1978]

Συγγνώμη, παρέλειψη εκ μέρους μου ...

Όχι, είναι από το λεύκωμα της Ένωσης Εφοπλιστών.

[Nicholas Peppas]

Καστελόριζο 1938

Το πλοίο είναι το Fiume της Adriatica

13904

This photograph brought back many memories.... It has appeared in numerous books, including the 1997 Kathimerini insert on ocean liners,
but it is rarely accompanied by the name of the ship (Fiume) that Appia_1978 nicely presents here. In fact, the picture has accompanied articles about Greeks going to Australia. In the past, its caption has given the impression that these were traveling thousands of miles with this ship!!

The book of Reginald Appleyard and John Yannakis Greek Pioneers in Western Australia (Univ Western Australia Publishers, Perth, Australia 2002) has a wonderful description and discussion of how Castellorizians went to Perth and Fremantle, Australia, especially during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. And here is why Fiume becomes important to us Greeks!

Fiume was a small vessel serving the Dodecanesos during the 1930s when the islands were under Italian occupation. She belonged to the Adriatica di navigazione S.p.a. (based in Venice, Italy). She was built in 1926 by Costiera of Fiume. [For those who do not remember the old Italian names, Fiume is today's Rijeka in Croatia]. She had 654 tons and only 14 cabins for passengers. Yet, she could accommodate more than 250. She had two propellers and dimensions of 48.2 m by 7.80 m by 3.70 m.

Originally assigned to short routes in Eastern Adriatica (mostly Venice, Trieste, Fiume (now Rijeka), Pola (now Pula), all the way down to Spalato (now Split)) she was moved to Rodos in 1937. A nice Web site has a summary of all the ships of this regional company (Adriatica) owned in teh Mediterranean sea http://www.naviearmatori.net/html/vedi_armatore-ita-26-0.html

Between 1937 and June 1940 Fiume was running the routes No 61 (Rodos-Kos-Astypalaia every other week), No 62 (Rodos-Castelorizo weekly) and No 63 (Rodos-Kassos weekly or every other week). In July 1940 she starting running routes No 1 (Rodos-Kos-Kalymnos-Leros) and No 2 (Rodos-Carpathos). Clearly she was... the Panormitis of that period!...

It was during that period that she carried many Greeks from Castellorizo to Rodos, thus becoming a popular feeder for Greek immigration to Australia

After August 15, 1940, Fiume was only running the most important military and civilian routes in Dodecanesos. The end of Fiume is very well known to those who have read the Greek naval history. On September 24, 1942, while carrying 249 civilian and military passengers and 38 crew members on the way to Symi, Fiume was torpedoed by the Greek submarine Nereus (under Cdr Al. Rallis) in Punta Sabbia about 9 km from the port of Rodos. Eyewitness accounts indicated that she was lost "in 25 seconds" a rather unbelievably short time. A total of 214 person died according to Italian sources [There are numerous Italian sites about this event in www.google.it] (http://www.google.it]) The official Greek Navy site http://www.hellenicnavy.gr/dy_y4.asp indicates that the Fiume was carrying mostly Italian soldiers that were replacing the Italian unit of Symi. The same site lists the vessel at 1500 tons, a number that is repeated in http://enkripto.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-post_4955.html. The German site http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-09.htm lists her at 662 tons and reports 333 dead.

It must be noted that Adriatica lost more than ten ships during that same period. They had the same fate as Fiume due to Greek or British submarine activity from Thessaloniki to Rodos and Tainaron.

While Fiume's routes and travels in Dodecanesos were relatively short lived she has left an important imprint to the Greek-Australians, some of whom are still alive (2009) in Perth and Fremantle, as she was their first step to a new world and a new life...

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[Ellinis]

Πλήρης και απολαυστική η καταγραφή της ιστορίας και της σημασίας ενός κατά τα άλλα μικρού σκάφους. Προσωπικά δεν το είχα συνειδητοποιήσει πως το Fiume ήταν ο "Πανορμίτης" της προπολεμικής περιόδου!

[Nicholas Peppas]

I have wanted to show some of my old photographs and postcards from Kastellorizo, this wonderful remote site of Greece. Kastellorizo (Megisti) has known several occupying forces including the Venetians, French, British, Turks and Italians. This strong and vibrant Greek community started losing its inhabitants when foreign policies, especially unusual Turkish pressure, forced many Kastellorizians to leave for other lands. Kastellorizians were always maritime people and loves to trade with boats. But when the Ottomans started forbidding them to use timber from the Turkish mountains (the Turkish town of Kas is only two miles away from the island), they had no choice but to leave...

In their wonderful book Greek Pioneers in Western Australia (Univ Western Australia. Perth, Australia, 2002) Reginald Applegate and John Yannakis discuss how Kastellorizians emigrated to Fremantle and Perth as early as 1870. I have discussed this book above. Here I am adding a few pictures from it.

First, here is the classic picture from 1890 which shows how active and busy the natural harbor was...

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Then, here is an early Italian postcard when the island's name was Castelrosso!

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And here is a picture today

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[Nicholas Peppas]

The Castellorizians abroad love their fatherland and have written many, many books about their history... Here are four of them

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[Nicholas Peppas]

And here are two more pictures from Kastellorizo from the very early 1990s, again from Appleyard's and Yannakis' book and the third from now... Pretty island!

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[Ellinis]

Η αγάπη των μεταναστών του Καστελλόριζου για την πατρίδα τους είναι πολύ μεγάλη.
Το 19ο αιωνα οι Καστελλοριζιοι και οι Κασιωτες -μεταξύ άλλων- είχαν μεγάλους στόλους με ιστιοφόρα πλοία.
Το πως το εμπόριο με αυτά τα σκάφη τους βοήθησε να αναπτύξουν το νησί τους, φαίνεται στα υπέροχα νεοκλασσικά σπίτια που έφτιαξαν και που ευτυχώς παραμένουν και σήμερα.
Για την παρακμή της ναυτιλίας τους συντέλεσε και η εισαγωγή των ατμόπλοιων που οδήγησε στον σταδιακό αφανισμό των ιστιοφόρων. Τα μικρά νησιά δεν είχαν την τεχνογνωσία και τις υποδομές για να ακολουθήσουν στην εποχή του ατμού.

[Nicholas Peppas]

Η αγάπη των μεταναστών του Καστελλόριζου για την πατρίδα τους είναι πολύ μεγάλη.
Το 19ο αιωνα οι Καστελλοριζιοι και οι Κασιωτες -μεταξύ άλλων- είχαν μεγάλους στόλους με ιστιοφόρα πλοία.
Το πως το εμπόριο με αυτά τα σκάφη τους βοήθησε να αναπτύξουν το νησί τους, φαίνεται στα υπέροχα νεοκλασσικά σπίτια που έφτιαξαν και που ευτυχώς παραμένουν και σήμερα.
Για την παρακμή της ναυτιλίας τους συντέλεσε και η εισαγωγή των ατμόπλοιων που οδήγησε στον σταδιακό αφανισμό των ιστιοφόρων. Τα μικρά νησιά δεν είχαν την τεχνογνωσία και τις υποδομές για να ακολουθήσουν στην εποχή του ατμού.

Thanks for the kind remarks. Studying the history of Kastellorizo I realize how incomprehensibly ignorant was the attitude of the Greek governments (and public?) in the 1950s-80s period concerning our Acritan regions... They had abandoned Castellorizo, the lesser Dodecanesos, Thrace, NW Macedonia including Prespa, etc, in the name of modernization... These were the days that everybody wanted to say he/she was Athenian and that saying you were from the provinces (eparhiotis) was a curse and a stigma! It is really funny that it took the groups of German and Northern European tourists for us to realize what we have and what our patrimony is...

Do you know that in 1969, just forty years ago, there was no direct connection (from Piraeus) to the lesser Cyclades (Irakleia, Koufonissia, Donousa, Schinousa), the lesser Dodecanesos (Lipsoi, Castellorizo) etc? Also in 1969 you couls not go from Thessaloniki to Lesvos but only via Piraeus and Herakleion- Thira was being discussed as a possible line...

[Nicholas Peppas]

An unusual photo from Kastellorizo. And here is the associated historical explanation from Wikipedia! Yes, this is the cruiser Jeanne d'Arc.



But they, too, were expelled by the inhabitants on 20 October 1915. On 28 December 1915, the French navy led by the cruiser Jeanne d'Arc occupied on the island at the behest of a pro-French local party which feared Turkish reprisals. The French quickly blocked another landing attempted on the same day by a Greek contingent of Evzones.

[/URL]Turkish shore batteries responded to the French occupation by shelling the island, in 1917 succeeding in sinking the British seaplane carrier HMS Ben-my-Chree. Due to the Treaty of Sevres (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kastelorizo#cite_note-be132-3) the island was ultimately assigned to Italy: the Italian navy assumed it from the French on 1 March 1921.[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kastelorizo#cite_note-be132-3"]


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[Nicholas Peppas]

An unusual photo from Kastellorizo. And here is the associated historical explanation from Wikipedia! Yes, this is the cruiser Jeanne d'Arc.
4829648297



Well, it appears that the French love Castellorizo! Here is an extremely important film from the arrival of the French in Castellorizo in 1943 and the liberation of the
island from the Italians.

The short film is in the Institut national de l' audiovisuel (INA) of France

http://www.ina.fr/histoire-et-conflits/autres-conflits/video/AFE00003138/occupation-d-une-ile-grecque-par-les-forces-navales-francaises-libres.fr.html

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[Morosini]

Nicholas,

Thank you for your interesting posts regarding Castellorizo. I am one of the descendants of the island now residing in Sydney, Australia and the author of some of the books you refer to above.

Those interested in the island's history should also visit my website www.castellorizohistory.com.

The French film you have located is fascinating. I believe it was shot on 13 September 1943 when two French vessels arrived as part of an escort of the Kountouriotis. The island had been liberated three days earlier by the British Special Boat Squadron.

What is particularly poignant about these images is that the island was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe only one month later and the island's entire population hurriedly evacuated to Palestine. They were not to return for two years during which time the island was further bombarded and then much of the town was burnt to the ground (in July 1944) in a cruel fire, the cause of which has never been satisfactorily explained.

To add to their misery, the vessel that was to return the Castellorizians to their island (in September 1945), the Empire Patrol, caught fire and sank off Port Said and 33 Castellorizians drowned.

Nicholas Pappas
Sydney

[Nicholas Peppas]

Nicholas,

Thank you for your interesting posts regarding Castellorizo. I am one of the descendants of the island now residing in Sydney, Australia and the author of some of the books you refer to above.

Those interested in the island's history should also visit my website www.castellorizohistory.com (http://www.castellorizohistory.com).

The French film you have located is fascinating. I believe it was shot on 13 September 1943 when two French vessels arrived as part of an escort of the Kountouriotis. The island had been liberated three days earlier by the British Special Boat Squadron.

What is particularly poignant about these images is that the island was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe only one month later and the island's entire population hurriedly evacuated to Palestine. They were not to return for two years during which time the island was further bombarded and then much of the town was burnt to the ground (in July 1944) in a cruel fire, the cause of which has never been satisfactorily explained.

To add to their misery, the vessel that was to return the Castellorizians to their island (in September 1945), the Empire Patrol, caught fire and sank off Port Said and 33 Castellorizians drowned.

Nicholas Pappas
Sydney

Dear Mr Pappas

I want to thank you very much for your very important comments and corrections. This adds to my knowledge of what happened to Castellorizo in this very important period of our history.

I have read your two books, the Greek and the English, and I liked them very much. I have also absorbed the book below which shows us what happened to the first Greeks in Perth, Fremantle and the surrounding area.
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If I can be of any help, let me know

Nicholas Peppas

PS I am sure your pseudonym will surprise some who are not familiar with Morosini's siege of Castellorizo
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[Nicholas Peppas]

Η καταληψη του Καστελλοριζου οπως παρουσιασθηκε στις 18 Δεκεμβριου 1915

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[Gallos952]

F/B Rodos at Megisti of Kastellorizo in the 2000's, probably.
[email protected]

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[Gallos952]

F/B Romilda by GA Ferries at Megisti. It was possible, once a week,
to go Kastellorizo from Astypalia in the early 2000's.
[email protected]

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[Ilias 92]

Thank you Gallos952 very nice photos and very rare.
The first with F/B RODOS of DANE SEA LINES is probably after 1996.
This experimental fin hydrofoil in the bow was a search program of Technical University of Athens to improve the ship speed and fuel efficiency.
From 1992-3 the ship was in Piraeus Rhodes express line (12 hours) and in Piraeus Rhodes Limassol line, once a week.
The hydrofoils in bow hadn’t the expected results and one or two years after the construction remove.
I don’t remember if the ship had also calls to Castellorizo this time in Cyprus line or later.
It’s difficult to understand that, this small island 100 years ago had population more than 15.000 peoples, working mainly in shipping and trading matters in Dodecanese and East Mediterranean and now the population is only 500, a lot of them retirement.:apologetic:
CastellorizoPanorama in 1920’s (http://stampcircuit.com/search/site/castellorizo?page=4)

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[T.S.S. APOLLON]

F/B Romilda by GA Ferries at Megisti. It was possible, once a week,
to go Kastellorizo from Astypalia in the early 2000's.
[email protected]

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Gallos952 Thank you for the beautiful picture!!! The ship is F/B Rodanthi

[Gallos952]

Gallos952 Thank you for the beautiful picture!!! The ship is F/B Rodanthi


I was quit sure to make a mistake regarding the GA Ferries unit.
Thank you for the precision. I don't take time to control myself.
Filia apo Parissi. JF

[Gallos952]

British article relating the take of Castellorizo by
the french navy, part the Orient Army.
Interesting for all of you, specialist of the subject.
[email protected]

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[Gallos952]

French vignette for "Franchise Postale" of 1916.
A beautiful item for collector.
[email protected]

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[Ellinis]

F/B Romilda by GA Ferries at Megisti. It was possible, once a week,
to go Kastellorizo from Astypalia in the early 2000's.
[email protected]

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Actually it is RODANTHI in the post card

[Gallos952]

Part of an article published by La Lettera in april 1934.
[email protected]

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[Gallos952]

Article on Azur Cave published by the TCI review in 1927
[email protected]

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[Gallos952]

Earthquake report in "La Domenica del Corriere" - April 18th 1926
[email protected]

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[Nicholas Peppas]

This photograph brought back many memories.... It has appeared in numerous books, including the 1997 Kathimerini insert on ocean liners,
but it is rarely accompanied by the name of the ship (Fiume) that Appia_1978 nicely presents here. In fact, the picture has accompanied articles about Greeks going to Australia. In the past, its caption has given the impression that these were traveling thousands of miles with this ship!!

The book of Reginald Appleyard and John Yannakis Greek Pioneers in Western Australia (Univ Western Australia Publishers, Perth, Australia 2002) has a wonderful description and discussion of how Castellorizians went to Perth and Fremantle, Australia, especially during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. And here is why Fiume becomes important to us Greeks!

Fiume was a small vessel serving the Dodecanesos during the 1930s when the islands were under Italian occupation. She belonged to the Adriatica di navigazione S.p.a. (based in Venice, Italy). She was built in 1926 by Costiera of Fiume. [For those who do not remember the old Italian names, Fiume is today's Rijeka in Croatia]. She had 654 tons and only 14 cabins for passengers. Yet, she could accommodate more than 250. She had two propellers and dimensions of 48.2 m by 7.80 m by 3.70 m.

Originally assigned to short routes in Eastern Adriatica (mostly Venice, Trieste, Fiume (now Rijeka), Pola (now Pula), all the way down to Spalato (now Split)) she was moved to Rodos in 1937. A nice Web site has a summary of all the ships of this regional company (Adriatica) owned in teh Mediterranean sea http://www.naviearmatori.net/html/vedi_armatore-ita-26-0.html

Between 1937 and June 1940 Fiume was running the routes No 61 (Rodos-Kos-Astypalaia every other week), No 62 (Rodos-Castelorizo weekly) and No 63 (Rodos-Kassos weekly or every other week). In July 1940 she starting running routes No 1 (Rodos-Kos-Kalymnos-Leros) and No 2 (Rodos-Carpathos). Clearly she was... the Panormitis of that period!...

It was during that period that she carried many Greeks from Castellorizo to Rodos, thus becoming a popular feeder for Greek immigration to Australia

After August 15, 1940, Fiume was only running the most important military and civilian routes in Dodecanesos. The end of Fiume is very well known to those who have read the Greek naval history. On September 24, 1942, while carrying 249 civilian and military passengers and 38 crew members on the way to Symi, Fiume was torpedoed by the Greek submarine Nereus (under Cdr Al. Rallis) in Punta Sabbia about 9 km from the port of Rodos. Eyewitness accounts indicated that she was lost "in 25 seconds" a rather unbelievably short time. A total of 214 person died according to Italian sources [There are numerous Italian sites about this event in www.google.it] (http://www.google.it]) The official Greek Navy site http://www.hellenicnavy.gr/dy_y4.asp indicates that the Fiume was carrying mostly Italian soldiers that were replacing the Italian unit of Symi. The same site lists the vessel at 1500 tons, a number that is repeated in http://enkripto.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-post_4955.html. The German site http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-09.htm lists her at 662 tons and reports 333 dead.

It must be noted that Adriatica lost more than ten ships during that same period. They had the same fate as Fiume due to Greek or British submarine activity from Thessaloniki to Rodos and Tainaron.

While Fiume's routes and travels in Dodecanesos were relatively short lived she has left an important imprint to the Greek-Australians, some of whom are still alive (2009) in Perth and Fremantle, as she was their first step to a new world and a new life...

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Here is another nice photograph of FIUME, the classic Italian ship for Dodecanissos before World War II

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https://www.facebook.com/rodostoyxtes/photos/pb.138857706322919.-2207520000.1432407338./342406209301400/?type=3&theater

[Maiandros]

Here is another nice photograph of FIUME, the classic Italian ship for Dodecanissos before World War II

166620
https://www.facebook.com/rodostoyxtes/photos/pb.138857706322919.-2207520000.1432407338./342406209301400/?type=3&theater

Στην όμορφη αυτή φωτογραφία,το πλοίο είναι στο λιμάνι της Σύμης.