Greek cruiser Georgios Averof

Listen first. Water slaps gently against a steel hull, and somewhere a rope creaks against its mooring. The air smells of salt, warm metal and fresh paint. In front of you, a long grey warship sits low in the calm water of Faliro Bay. Her three tall funnels rise against the sky above the Athens coastline. This is the Georgios Averof, and she has outlived almost every ship of her kind.

The Averof is an armoured cruiser. That was a type of warship built in the years before the First World War. Armoured cruisers were fast, heavily protected and armed with big guns. Navies around the world built dozens of them. Today, this ship is the only one of her type still afloat. When you walk her decks, you are walking through a class of warship that has otherwise vanished from the world.

Her story begins in Italy, not in Greece. She was built at the Orlando shipyard in Livorno, on the Tuscan coast. She belonged to a family of Italian designs known as the Pisa class. Greece bought her while she was still being built. She was launched in 1910 and joined the Greek fleet the following year. At the time, she was one of the most modern warships in the eastern Mediterranean.

So why does she carry a man's name? The answer is a remarkable gift. Georgios Averof was a wealthy Greek benefactor from the mountain town of Metsovo, in the region of Epirus. He made his fortune in trade abroad. He also gave generously to his homeland, funding schools and public buildings. In his will, he left a large sum to strengthen the Greek navy. That money paid for a large part of this ship, and so she carries his name.

Now take a moment to look at her shape. The hull is long and narrow, built for speed. Low, rounded turrets sit at the front and the back, each holding a pair of heavy guns. Along the sides you can see more turrets with smaller guns. Steam from coal-burning boilers once rushed out through those funnels. Imagine the deck covered in black dust, and hundreds of sailors shovelling coal deep below the waterline.

The ship's great moment came very soon after she arrived. In 1912, the Balkan Wars began. Greece and its allies fought against the Ottoman Empire. The Averof became the flagship of the Greek fleet. Her commander was Rear Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis, a naval officer from the island of Hydra. Under his command, the cruiser took part in two important sea battles near the entrance to the Dardanelles, the narrow strait that leads towards Istanbul.

The first was the Battle of Elli, in December 1912. Here is a detail many visitors miss. During the battle, the Averof left the slower Greek ships behind. She was much faster than the rest of the fleet, so she moved ahead and fought largely on her own. This bold move became a famous part of Greek naval memory. A second clash followed, the Battle of Lemnos, in January 1913. After these battles, the Ottoman fleet stayed inside the strait, and Greece kept control of the northern Aegean Sea.

Those battles had lasting results. Islands in the northern and eastern Aegean became part of Greece in this period. For many Greeks, this ship is connected with that moment. That is why she is treated with such respect today. She is not only an old warship. She is a national symbol, a little like a famous historic ship in another country's harbour. Families bring their children here. School groups walk her decks every year.

Her service did not end there. The cruiser served through the following decades and received updates along the way. Then came the Second World War. In April 1941, German forces invaded Greece. Many Greek ships were lost, but the Averof escaped to Alexandria, in Egypt. From there, she worked alongside Allied navies. She spent long months escorting convoys, including in the Indian Ocean. It was hot, tiring work for an old ship far from home.

Here is the second surprise. In October 1944, after Athens was liberated, the Averof came home. She carried the returning Greek government in exile back to the country. Picture the scene: an old cruiser from the Balkan Wars sailing back into Greek waters, more than thirty years after her first battles. For a country that had suffered occupation and hunger, her return had deep meaning.

After the war, her fighting days were over. She left active service in the early 1950s. For many years she stayed moored at the island of Poros, south of Athens. In the 1980s, she was brought here to Faliro Bay and opened as a floating museum. The Hellenic Navy still cares for her. Naval personnel look after the ship, and she still flies the Greek flag at her stern.

When you go on board, move slowly. Notice the narrow passageways and the low doorways with raised steps. Sailors had to lift their feet over these steps hundreds of times a day. Look at the officers' rooms, with their wood panelling and brass fittings. Compare them with the plain spaces for the ordinary crew. Visit the bridge, where commanders stood to steer the ship. Put your hand on the cool steel of a gun turret and feel how thick it is.

The ship also gives you a clear view of the modern coast. Behind you, the busy coastal avenue carries traffic between central Athens and the southern suburbs. Across the water, yachts move in and out of the nearby marinas. Further along the shore, you may see the sloping roof and park of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, home to the Greek national opera and library. Old and new Athens sit side by side here, separated only by a short walk.

Before you leave, stand on the quay and look back at the full length of the ship. Notice how the grey hull meets the blue water, and how the funnels catch the afternoon light. The sounds are gentle now: water, gulls, a distant engine. More than a century ago, these same decks shook with the noise of heavy guns. Take that quiet with you as you walk away along the bay.