Sfendoni
Career
Ordered:	1905
Laid down:	1905
Launched:	1907
Commissioned:	1907
Decommissioned:	1945
Fate:	decommissioned after World War II
Current position:
General Characteristics
Displacement:	standard displacement 350 tons
Length:	67.1 m
Beam:	6.2 m
Draft:	1.8 m
Speed:	Maximum Speed 30 knots
Complement:	70
Armament:	Gun 2 X FR 3in 7.6cm 12pdr Hotchkiss Single & Gun 2 X FR 57mm 6pdr 40cal Hotchkiss QF Single
Powerplant:	2 shafts, 6,000 hp
Armour:	2-7.6cm/2-5.7cm/2-45.7cm tt

Sfendoni I (Greek: Α/Τ Σφενδόνη, "Slingshot") was a Thyella class destroyer that served in the Royal Hellenic Navy (1907-1945). It was the second ship of that name in the Hellenic Navy, but the first destroyer-type vessel bearing the name.

The ship, along with her three sister ships, was ordered from England in 1905 and was built in the Yarrow shipyard at Scotstoun.

During World War I, Greece belatedly entered the war on the side of the Triple Entente and, due to Greece's neutrality the four Thyella class ships were seized by the Allies in October 1916, taken over by the French in November and served in the French Navy 1917-18. By 1918, they were back on escort duty under Greek colors, mainly in the Aegean Sea. Sfendoni saw action in the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922).

After the declaration of war by Italy in World War II, Sfendoni saw action in the area of North Ionian Sea and the strait of Otranto, executing escort missions for cargo ships carrying ammunition, fuel and food to Allied forces. In between escort missions, attack operations of limited scale were planned and executed without any losses to the Hellenic Navy. After the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, the Royal Hellenic Navy suffered serious losses, but Sfendoni evacuated with the remaining ships of the Greek fleet to Alexandria, Egypt and served under British command for the duration of the war. After the war, Sfendoni was decommissioned.

See also

Hellenic Navy Ships

History of the Hellenic Navy