How many, really, do we know about the feat of the destroyer “Adrias”, which on October 22, 1943 hit a mine, counted dead and wounded, lost its bow(!), and still sailed for 3 hours until it ran aground in Gumusluk in the neutral , then, of Turkey? This story of unparalleled courage and self-sacrifice is narrated, alive, by Margarita Pournara in the book “Adrias – They were all heroes” (published by Kyklops), which will be presented on Thursday, February 15 (at 19:30) in Patras, at the offices of ESIEPIN . The journalist-writer talks to “P” about the incredible struggle of the heroic crew members who, in her eyes, now seem like her own people.
-An old Kodak camera, “filled” with history, reached the hands of the shipbuilder Aris Theodoridis, who suggested that you write the biography of the legendary destroyer “Adrias. Your first thoughts/feelings?
With two Cycladic grandmothers, I sometimes feel that salt water runs through my veins. It makes sense that I’m interested in all the stories of the sea. When Aris Theodoridis invited me to show me the anecdotal material for “Adria”, I will never forget the feelings they caused me. The protagonists were Greek sailors and officers of “Adria” who had managed to escape to the Middle East and fight for 4 years without having any contact with their own people. But it also starred the ship that lost its bow, but continued to sail in a unique chronicle for naval annals. Some shots of the sailor Petros Aslanis that he took after the explosion were so brutal with the blood of the crew members painted on the ship’s sheet metal, that it seemed inconceivable to me that a book would not be written about this saga.
-So you say yes. During the project (research-writing) what difficulties did you face and what were the challenges?
We had to go through the British and German archives to find all the evidence beyond the memoirs left by some of the protagonists. The help of the diver and researcher Kostas Thoktaridis, who had located the bow of the ship at the bottom, was enormous, but he also has an extensive archive of that period. The challenge was to “democratize” heroism. So far, the credit has gone to the skipper Ioannis Toumba, but everyone, from the first to the last of his crew, were heroes. My goal was to highlight these invisible ones, especially the first engineer Kostas Arapis, who put up an incredible fight.
-What impressed you most about the incredible adventure of this ship?
That 80 years have passed and most Greeks had no idea about this naval feat that Churchill mentioned in the House of Lords and the American Pentagon printed in pamphlets in 1943. We are talking about something so unique that should be honored every year by the Greek state and be taught in schools as a lesson in endurance: how not to give up when everything is against you.
-Governor Ioannis Toumbas, lieutenant general Konstantinos Arapis, doctor Andreas Kapodistrias. Tell us about this miraculous trio.
The first had the audacity not to sink his half-damaged ship after hitting a mine while there were dead and wounded. Thanks to the second, a repair miracle was done at sea for the 16 miles that separated the ship from neutral Turkey and also for the triumphant voyage of 730 miles 40 days later to Egypt. Arapis was also a shipbuilder in addition to being an engineer and thus saved the situation. Kapodistrias managed to save all but one of the wounded, operating with shears and antiseptic colognes. It was an incredible moment that these personalities coexisted, plus everyone else
– Courage and recklessness. Two elements, combined, are rewarded (and) by luck. Fortune, you say, favors the bold?
Today, Toumbas would have gone through a naval court, perhaps, because he would have put the lives of his sailors in danger, by not accepting the invitation of the British ship that was with him in the mission, to sink “Adria” and for all of them to board the English destroyer. It was another time when courage and self-sacrifice had a different definition
– The feat of the injured “Adria” is unknown to many – especially to young people. You note that a similar adventure would have been made into a film in America and that in Britain “the boat would have become a museum”. What do you expect with this book?
I wish it could be made into a movie. Of course, if we saw it on Netflix, we would think of it as fiction. How can anyone believe that a ship really lost 35 of its 80 meters and yet continued to sail and traveled without bow, anchor and compass? Who also would have believed that the Greeks arrived by chance during the night of that fateful night in a Turkish bay where Turkish Cretans lived, interchangeable in 1923, who spoke Greek and loved our country? When after 40 days the Arab built a cement wall where the bow of the ship once was and they set sail for Egypt, the Muslim inhabitants of Gümülük wished them “The Virgin Mary be with you” in Greek!
-Your father, a decorated hero of the Second World War, instead of fairy tales and lullabies, he told you “incidents of bravery in the mountains of Pindus” as you write. How did these narratives affect you?
Every little girl believes that her father has supernatural powers. Mine was indeed incredibly brave and indeed unlike his generation who preferred silence about the trenches of Pindus, he liked to talk about the War. When the book cover was first printed, I took a print and took it to the grave of Kostas Arapis in Piraeus, who has left no descendants. I had the feeling that after 8 decades a vindication had come. In writing, I made these heroes my own people because one of my own people was a hero.
Heroics like your father’s and the crew of the “Adrias” today sound fictional – perhaps even unreal. Such actions are inspired by the seasons and circumstances, you say? Today, that is, our relative softness, can mutate into unrestrained bravery, if necessary?
Having met many members of the Navy I feel that they practice transcendence and self-sacrifice every day. Who does not remember what the crews of our submarines and warships did in 2020 in the Kastellorizo crisis? I have no doubt that, if necessary, those who serve on land, sea and air will show the same fortitude.
-What impression did your own adventure -of writing- leave on you?
I’m not sure I believe in metaphysics, but when I travel around Greece to present the story of the legendary destroyer, I have the feeling that 204 people from somewhere up there are also traveling with me.
#ship #sailed #bow #anchor #compass