Hydra - class ironclad The " Hydra " class of ironclads composed three ships , " Hydra " , " Spetsai " , and " Psara " . The ships were ordered from France in 1885 during the premiership of Charilaos Trikoupis , as part of a wider reorganization and modernization of the Greek armed forces , which had proved themselves inadequate during the Cretan uprising of 1866 . Launched in 1889 and 1890 , the ships were ready for service with the Greek Navy by 1892 . They were armed with a main battery of three guns and five guns , and had a top speed of . The ships frequently served together throughout their careers . Their participation in the Greco – Turkish War in 1897 was limited due to intervention by the Great Powers . Modernizations in the 1890s and 1900s upgraded the ships ' armament , but by the First Balkan War , they were too slow to keep up with newer vessels in the Greek fleet , particularly the armored cruiser " Georgios Averof " . They saw action at the Battle of Elli but were left behind due to their slow speed at the Battle of Lemnos . Thoroughly obsolete , the ships were reduced to secondary duties after the war and did not see active duty during World War I . The ships were intended to be sold in 1919 , but were retained out of active service until 1929 . Design . The Balkan crisis that started with the Serbo - Bulgarian War , coupled with Ottoman naval expansion in the 1860s and 1870s , prompted the Greek Navy to begin a rearmament program . In addition , the Greek fleet had proved to be too weak to effectively challenge Ottoman naval power during the 1866 Cretan Revolt . In 1885 , Greece ordered three new ironclads of the " Hydra " class . The ships were ordered from the Graville and St . Nazaire shipyards in France during the premiership of Charilaos Trikoupis . The ships were long between perpendiculars and had a beam of and a mean draft of . They displaced as built . By 1910 , their displacement had increased slightly , to . Approximately 400 officers and men crewed each ship . The ships were powered by a pair of triple expansion steam engines with four double - ended cylindrical boilers ; they were rated at and provided a top speed of . Coal storage amounted to The boilers were trunked into two funnels . The hull was divided into 118 watertight compartments . The " Hydra " class was armed with a main battery of three Canet guns . Two guns were mounted forward in barbette s on either side of the forward superstructure ; these were L / 34 guns . The third gun , a L / 28 gun , was placed in a turret aft . The secondary battery consisted of four L / 36 guns in casemate s were mounted below the forward main battery , and a fifth 5 . 9 - inch gun was placed on the centerline on the same deck as the main battery . A number of smaller guns were carried for defense against torpedo boat s . These included four L / 22 guns , four 3 - pounder guns , four 1 - pounder guns , and six 1 - pounder revolver cannons . The ships were also armed with three torpedo tube s . Two tubes were placed on the broadside and one was mounted in the bow . The ships were armored with a mix of Creusot and compound steel . The main belt was thick amidships and reduced to on either end of the hull . At a normal displacement , the main belt extended for above the waterline . Under a full load , however , the belt was completely submerged below the waterline . Above the belt , a strake of 3 in of armor covered the side of the vessels amidships . The main battery was protected by of armor with 12 - inch thick barbette s . " Hydra " had an armored deck thick ; the decks of " Spetsai " and " Psara " were increased to . Construction and modernization . " Hydra " was built by the " Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire " dockyard in St . Nazaire , while " Spetsai " and " Psara " were built at the " Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée " shipyard in Graville . " Hydra " was launched on 15 May 1889 . " Spetsai " was launched on 26 October 1889 and " Psara " followed on 20 February 1890 . All three ships were transferred to Piraeus and in service by 1892 . In 1897 – 1900 , the three ships were partially rearmed . Their small - caliber guns were replaced with one gun forward , eight 9 - pounder guns , four 3 - pounders , and ten 1 - pounder revolver cannon . One of the 14 - inch torpedo tubes was replaced with a weapon . In 1908 – 1910 , the ships ' armament was again revised . The old 5 . 9 in guns were replaced with new , longer L / 45 models . Service history . Throughout their careers , the three " Hydra " - class ships generally operated together . The ships saw limited action in the Greco – Turkish War in 1897 , as the Royal Hellenic Navy was unable to make use of its superiority over the Ottoman Navy . The Ottoman Navy had remained in port during the conflict , but a major naval intervention of the Great Powers prevented the Greeks from capitalizing on their superiority . The three ships saw action during the First Balkan War at the Battle of Elli , alongside the powerful armored cruiser " Georgios Averof " . At the subsequent Battle of Lemnos , the ships were left behind due to their slow speed and did not engage the Ottoman flotilla . By 1914 , " Hydra " and " Psara " had been reduced to secondary duties : " Hydra " became a gunnery training ship while " Psara " was used to train engine - room personnel . During World War I , Greece belatedly entered the war on the side of the Triple Entente and the " Hydra " class ships served as coastal defense . They were already obsolete and were decommissioned immediately after the war , although their hulks survived as naval training facilities and accommodation space for a decade . All three ships were broken up for scrap in 1929 .