Greece ordered Salamis from AG Vulcan in Hamburg in 1912 as competition with the Ottoman Navy sharpened. The design grew from six to eight 14-inch guns and from two 18-inch to five 20-inch torpedo tubes, while projected speed and displacement also rose. Those changes contributed to delay and produced a plan for a fast, heavily armed battleship whose guns and hull depended on suppliers in different countries. The possible resale of Brazilian and Argentine dreadnoughts further complicated Greek-Ottoman calculations by offering a quicker route to a major capital-ship advantage. The First World War halted completion, stranded the American guns behind the British blockade, and left the German-built hull at the center of a prolonged legal dispute before it was scrapped in 1932.
Chapter · 21:43-27:52
Salamis grew amid the Greek-Ottoman dreadnought race
The unfinished Salamis evolved into a plan for a fast, heavily armed battleship while Greek and Ottoman planners watched dreadnoughts offered across the international market.