Epameinondas Kavvadias

Epameinondas Kavvadias
Black-and-white photograph of a man in naval uniform
Kavvadias photographed in uniform, c. 1940
Native name
Επαμεινώνδας Καββαδίας
Nickname(s)Paminos
BornJanuary 1, 1886
Athens
DiedApril 10, 1965(1965-04-10) (aged 78–79)
Athens
AllegianceKingdom of Greece, Second Hellenic Republic
ServiceHellenic Navy
Years of service1902–1947
RankVice Admiral (Greek: αντιναύαρχος)
CommandsNafkratousa (1913), Dafni (1914), Doris (1914–15), Niki (1920–22), Thyella (1922), Hephaestos (1928–29), Georgios Averof (1932–33), Hellenic Navy (1937 and 1938-39, 1939-41)[1]
Battles / warsGerman invasion of Greece
AwardsGold Cross of Valour, War Cross 1st Class, War Cross 2nd Class.[1]
RelationsPanagiotis Kavvadias (father)
Alexander Polycleitos Cawadias (brother)

Epameinondas Kavvadias (Greek: Επαμεινώνδας Καββαδίας; 1 January 1886 – 10 April 1965) was a Greek admiral who served thrice as Chief of the Navy General Staff and led the Greek fleet in the first years of World War II.

Life

Epameinondas Kavvadias was born in Athens in 1886 to a family hailing from Kefalonia. His father, Panagiotis Kavvadias, was an archaeologist who became Greece's Ephor General of Antiquities. Kavvadias entered the Hellenic Naval Academy in 1902 and graduated in 1906, and served in the Royal Hellenic Navy in the Balkan Wars as a sub-lieutenant in the destroyer Nafkratousa. During the Asia Minor Campaign, he commanded the destroyers Thyella and Niki. He was dismissed from the Navy in 1922, following the September 1922 Revolution, due to his royalist convictions, but reinstated by the Theodoros Pangalos dictatorship in 1925.

As Captain, he served his first tenure as Chief of the Navy General Staff in 1933–1934. In 1935 he was appointed to the post of Commander of the submarine fleet, and served again for a short period at the head of the Navy General Staff in December 1936 – January 1937. He subsequently served as Chief of the Royal Naval Base at Salamis until 1939, including another short term at the head of the General Staff in August–September 1938. Promoted to Rear Admiral in the meantime, in September 1939 he was appointed Chief of the Fleet Command. He led the operations of the Greek fleet during the Greco-Italian War of 1940–1941, and following the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, led the fleet to its exile in the British-held Middle East. He remained Chief of the Fleet until 2 May 1942, when he was appointed Vice Minister for Naval Affairs in the Greek government in exile, a post he held until 25 March 1943. In 1946, he was sent to London as naval attaché. In 1950, he published his war memoirs under the title The naval war of 1940 as I experienced it (Greek: "Ο ναυτικός πόλεμος του 1940 όπως τον έζησα").

He died in Athens on 10 April 1965.[2]

Honours

Among other Greek and foreign medals, Kavvadias received:

He was also named honorary aide de camp to King Paul in 1947, and Honorary Chief of the Fleet in 1963.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Hellenic Navy 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Διατελέσαντες Αρχηγοί ΓΕΝ: Καββαδίας, Επαμεινώνδας" (in Greek). Hellenic Navy. Retrieved 10 May 2015.

Sources

Military offices
Preceded by
Rear Admiral Periklis Dimoulis
 Chief of the Navy General Staff
23 August 1933 – 17 July 1934 		Succeeded by
Rear Admiral Periklis Dimoulis
Preceded by
Vice Admiral Dimitrios Oikonomou
 Chief of the Navy General Staff
19 December 1936 – 12 January 1937 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the Navy General Staff
13 August – 17 September 1938 		Succeeded by