Alexandros Sakellariou
Surname | Sakellariou |
Given Name | Alexandros |
Born | 1887 |
Died | 7 Jul 1982 |
Country | Greece |
Category | Military-Sea |
Gender | Male |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseAlexandros Pilatos Sakellariou was born in the village of Mandra in Greece in 1887. He attended the Hellenic Naval Academy between 1902 and 1906. During the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, he served aboard the Greek Navy flagship, cruiser Georgios Averof, and saw action at the Battle of Elli and the Battle of Lemnos, among others. He was dismissed from the navy in Jun 1917 for his royalist political stance, and shortly after served a three-year prison sentence at the Izzeddin Fortress at Souda Bay, Crete, Greece. He returned to naval service in Nov 1920 after royalists gained power in Athens. He saw actions during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922 in command of destroyer Lonchi, destroyer Ierax, and then destroyer Niki. He retired from military service in Sep 1923 at the rank of captain. In retirement, he was briefly detained for political reasons. In Feb 1925, he was awarded the Cross of Valour in Gold, Greece's highest military decoration at the time, for his service during the Greco-Turkish War. In Jul 1925, he was reactivated into military service under the dictatorship of Theodoros Pangalos at the rank of commander. He commanded the auxiliary vessel Amfitriti in 1925, destroyer Aetos in 1926, the Thessaloniki Naval Defence Area between 1926 and 1927, the Hellenic Naval War College between 1928 and 1929, and train vessel Aris in 1930. Upon promotion to the rank of captain in 1932, he served as General Director of the Salamis Naval Base and Commander of the Destroyers Flotilla until 1935. He was promoted to an admiral rank in Mar 1935 and was made the Chief of the Light Fleet. In this role, he played a key role in the bloodless coup d'état of Georgios Kondylis of Oct 1935, which restored the monarchy.
ww2dbaseIn Jan 1937, Sakellariou was made the Chief of the Navy General Staff. Upon German invasion in Apr 1941, he was appointed by King George II the Deputy Prime Minister (under Prime Minister Emmanouil Tsouderos) and the Minister for Naval Affairs. In this role, seeing the the Greek Navy could not respond effectively to German aerial attacks, he ordered the surviving Greek vessels to withdraw to Egypt. He would follow the fleet to Alexandria, Egypt aboard the British sloop HMS Auckland shortly after. In exile, he resigned his political posts in May 1942, retaining only the command of the fleet. He retired from service for the second time in Dec 1943 with the rank of vice admiral. Immediately after the war in 1945, he published a study on Greece's role in WW2.
ww2dbaseIn 1946, Sakellariou was elected into the Greek parliament as the head of his own political party, the Panhellenic National Party. In Jul 1947, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Cross of Valour. In Aug 1947, he was was made the Minister of Supply and the acting Minister of Merchant Marine under Prime Minister Konstantinos Tsaldaris. Under Prime Minister Themistoklis Sofoulis, he served as the Minister for Naval Affairs. In the 1950 elections, he was again elected into the parliament. Between 1951 and 1952, he served as the Minister for National Defence unde Prime Minister Nikolaos Plastiras. He published several memoirs during his retirement, including Voyaging in 1957, From Bridges and Wardrooms in 1967, An Admiral Remembers, and finally Memoirs of an Admiral. He passed away in Athens, Greece in Jul 1982.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Revision: Mar 2019
Photographs
Alexandros Sakellariou Timeline
1 Jan 1887 | Alexandros Sakellariou was born in Mandra, Attikis, Greece. |
4 Nov 1902 | Alexandros Sakellariou entered the Hellenic Naval Academy in Greece. |
8 Jul 1906 | Alexandros Sakellariou graduated from the Hellenic Naval Academy in Greece and was promoted to the rank of line ensign. |
29 Mar 1910 | Alexandros Sakellariou was promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant. |
2 Jul 1913 | Alexandros Sakellariou was promoted to the rank of lieutenant 2nd class. |
17 Oct 1914 | Alexandros Sakellariou's 2 Nov 1914 promotion to lieutenant 1st class was retroactively dated to this date. |
2 Nov 1914 | Alexandros Sakellariou was promoted to the rank of lieutenant 1st class; the promotion was retroactively dated to 17 Oct 1914. |
21 Jun 1917 | Alexandros Sakellariou was dismissed from the Greek Navy due to his royalist political stance. |
21 Dec 1917 | Alexandros Sakellariou's 2 Dec 1920 promotion to lieutenant commander was retroactively dated to this date. |
26 Jun 1920 | Alexandros Sakellariou's 2 Dec 1920 promotion to commander was retroactively dated to this date. |
10 Nov 1920 | Alexandros Sakellariou returned to Greek naval service. |
2 Dec 1920 | Alexandros Sakellariou was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander (the promotion was retroactively dated to 21 Dec 1917) and immediately was promoted again to the rank of commander (retroactively dated to 26 Jun 1920). |
12 Sep 1923 | Alexandros Sakellariou retired from naval service at the rank of captain. |
25 Feb 1925 | Alexandros Sakellariou was awarded the Cross of Valour in Gold. |
24 Jul 1925 | Alexandros Sakellariou was reactivated into military service at the rank of commander. |
22 Oct 1932 | Alexandros Sakellariou was promoted to the rank of captain. |
23 Mar 1935 | Alexandros Sakellariou was promoted to the rank of rear admiral. |
2 May 1942 | Alexandros Sakellariou resigned his government posts while in exile in Egypt, retaining only the command of the Greek fleet. |
26 Dec 1943 | In Egypt, Alexandros Sakellariou retired from military service at the rank of vice admiral. |
31 Dec 1943 | Alexandros Sakellariou's 4 Sep 1946 promotion to vice admiral was retroactively dated to this date. |
1 Jan 1944 | Alexandros Sakellariou's retirement date was later changed to this date on 4 Sep 1946. |
31 Jul 1946 | Alexandros Sakellariou was awarded the War Cross First Class and the Outstanding Acts Medal. |
4 Sep 1946 | Alexandros Sakellariou was briefly recalled to active service at the rank of vice admiral, with the promotion retroactively dated 31 Dec 1943 and retirement date changed to 1 Jan 1944. |
1 Jul 1947 | Alexandros Sakellariou was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Cross of Valour. |
29 Aug 1947 | Alexandros Sakellariou was made the Minister of Supply and the acting Minister of Merchant Marine. |
18 Nov 1948 | Alexandros Sakellariou stepped down as the Minister for Naval Affairs. |
31 Mar 1952 | Alexandros Sakellariou resigned as the Minister for National Defence. |
7 Jul 1982 | Alexandros Sakellariou passed away in Athens, Greece. |
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