Andreas Vokos Miaoulis Andreas Vokos , nicknamed Miaoulis ( , 20 May 1768 – 24 June 1835 ) , was an admiral and politician who commanded Greek naval forces during the Greek War of Independence ( 1821 - 1829 ) . Miaoulis , who was of Arvanite origin , was born in Euboea and settled on the island of Hydra east of the Morea and was known among his fellow islanders as a trader in corn who had gained wealth and made a popular use of his money . He had been a merchant captain , and was chosen to lead the naval forces of the islands when they rose against the government of the Sultan . Miaoulis contributed in every way possible to the cause of the resistance against the Turks . He expended the money he had made from his wheat - shipping business during the Napoleonic Wars . Between May 1825 and January 1826 , Miaoulis led the Greeks to victory over the Turks in skirmishes off Modon , Cape Matapan , Suda , and Cape Papas . Role in the Greek War of Independence . The islanders had enjoyed some measure of exemption from the worst excesses of the Turkish officials , but suffered severely from the conscription raised to man the Turkish ships ; and though they seemed to be peculiarly open to attack by the Sultan ' s forces from the sea , they took an early and active part in the rising . As early as 1822 Miaoulis was appointed " navarch " , ( ) or admiral , of the swarm of small vessels which formed the insurgent fleet . He commanded the expedition sent to take revenge for the massacre of Chios in the same year . He was victorious at the Battle of Nauplia in September . In 1824 , after the conquest of Psara by the Turks , he commanded the Greek forces which prevented the further progress of the Sultan ' s fleet , though at the cost of the loss of many fire ships and men . But in the same year he was unable to prevent the Egypt ian forces from occupying Navarino , though he harassed them with some success . In 1825 he succeeded in carrying stores and reinforcements into Missolonghi , when it was besieged for the second time , though he could not avert its fall . In order to save Missolonghi , he attempted to disrupt the sea communications of the Egyptian forces . In this he failed owing to the enormous disproportion of the two squadrons in the siege and strength of the ships . As the war went on , the naval power of the Greeks diminished , partly owing to the penury of their treasury and partly to the growth of piracy in the anarchy of the Eastern Mediterranean . He continued to be the naval chief of the Greeks until the former Royal Navy officer Thomas Cochrane entered their service in 1827 . Miaoulis then retired in order to leave the British officer free to act as commander . When Miaoulis retired to make room for Cochrane , the conduct of the struggle had really passed into the hands of the Great Powers . When independence had been obtained , Miaoulis in his old age was entangled in the civil conflicts of his country , as an opponent of Capodistrias and the Russian Party : he seized some of the principal ships of the Greek fleet at Poros in August 1831 , including the Hellas , and destroyed them during the counter - attack of the Russian fleet . He was one of the deputation sent to invite King Otho to accept the crown of Greece , and was made rear - admiral and then vice - admiral by him . Otto also awarded him with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer . Miaoulis died on 24 June 1835 at Athens . He was buried in Piraeus near the tomb of Themistocles , the founder of the ancient Athenian Navy . His heart rests in an urn at the Ministry of Commercial Navy . The Hellenic Navy named a cruiser , the " Navarchos Miaoulis " , after him in 1879 . A big festival , called Miaoulia , takes place in Hydra every year the weekend closest to the 21st June , to honor Admiral Miaoulis , a most important man of the Greek Revolution in 1821 .