May 27, 1821 | The Battle of Eressos – The first major naval achievement of ’21

It is considered the first frontal naval battle waged by the Greek sailors in the Greek revolution of 1821. The Battle of Eressos was fought on May 27, 1821 in the bay of Eresos of Lesvos between the revolutionary Greeks and the two-decker ship of the Ottoman Fleet. 

Descriptively, the two-decker ship was a smaller warship than the three-decker one, but more flexible. It carried three masts with square sails and had a displacement of up to 1500 tons. It carried 64-78 cannons (guns) and a crew of 600-700 men.

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The leading figures of this naval battle was Iakovos Tombazis (i.e. the first admiral of the revolution of 1821), who led the naval battle, and Dimitrios Papanikolis who successfully attempted, for the first time, to “open fire” using “caustic ship” – as the fireship was originally called – resulting in the explosion of the enemy two-decker.

On May 23, 1821, the Greek fleet, consisting of 57 ships, sailed from Psara in search of the Turkish fleet, when it was informed of the departure of an enemy ship through the Straits of Dardanelles, which was the outpost of the Turkish fleet. 

The pursuit of the enemy ship had begun, however its size and armament did not allow the ships of the Greek Fleet to approach it. The ship of Giannis Zakkas from Hydra began to attack the two-decker, however, it was forced to withdraw with three casualties and one wounded.

The enemy two-decker then ran aground in the port of Eressos and landed a detachment on land. For the destruction of the ship, the Greek admirals decided that a fireship should be used. After the first failed attempt, and after the Greek arsonists failed to get the fireship next to the Turkish two-decker on May 27, and in broad daylight, instead of one fireship, the Greeks used two. 

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Each one was accompanied by an escape boat. Initially, Dimitrios Papanikolis successfully sided the fireship under the high bow of the enemy ship. Papanikolis set his fireship on fire and immediately the flames started licking the wooden two-decker. Kalafatis Georgios, who was in charge of the second fireship, failed to successfully side the two-decker and was forced to leave the operation permanently.

In the meantime, the Greek Fleet had opened fire on the enemy ship. However, the fire on the enemy ship was constantly expanding and the concept of “every man for himself” prevailed among the personnel. Many officers and sailors either drowned in the sea or were burned on the deck of the ship. The destruction of the ship was completed with the explosion of the gunpowder depot, which caused a large number of casualties.

The tragedy of the Turkish two-decker lasted about 35 minutes. It took so long to turn the imposing ship into ash and ruins. The number of victims remains unidentified. Some sources speak of only eight rescued from the more than one thousand members of its crew.

The Battle of Eresos was the first major naval achievement of ’21. In fact, it was the first time that the Greek revolutionaries used a fireship. In the successful outcome of the operation, the contribution of two men was decisive, that of sailor Dimitrios Papanikolis (1790-1855) and the now forgotten shipbuilder Ioannis Demolitsas (he died in March 1823).

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