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HELLAS LIBERTY – IMO 5025706

ex ARTHUR M. HUDDELL – surviving World War II Liberty ship and Greek maritime museum

HELLAS LIBERTY is one of the last surviving American-built Liberty ships and one of the most historically important preserved merchant vessels in Greece.

Built in Florida in 1943 as ARTHUR M. HUDDELL, the vessel served during the Second World War and was specially adapted to transport equipment associated with Operation PLUTO – Pipe Line Under The Ocean, the Allied project to supply fuel across the English Channel following the Normandy landings.

Decades later, the surviving hull was donated by the United States to Greece and towed across the Atlantic to Piraeus, arriving on 11 January 2009.

Following almost two years of extensive restoration, she became:

HELLAS LIBERTY

and opened as a floating museum dedicated both to the Liberty ships and to their central role in the post-war rebirth of Greek merchant shipping.

Vessel Details

Current Name: HELLAS LIBERTY

Original Name: ARTHUR M. HUDDELL

IMO: 5025706

Type: EC2-S-C1 Liberty Cargo Ship / Museum Ship

Built: 1943

Builder: St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Original Role: Wartime cargo vessel; later PLUTO pipeline support

Length Overall: approx. 135 m / 441 ft 6 in

Beam: approx. 17.3 m / 57 ft

Maximum Historical Displacement: approx. 14,474 t

Historical Deadweight: approx. 10,865 t

Original Propulsion: Triple-expansion steam engine

Original Power: approx. 2,500 hp

Original Speed: approx. 11–11.5 knots

Museum Location: Piraeus pending relocation

Museum Status in 2026: Temporarily closed pending final relocation to the Maritime Tradition Park

Major Preservation Drydock: June 2026.

Built during World War II

ARTHUR M. HUDDELL was completed in:

December 1943

at Jacksonville, Florida.

She belonged to the enormous Liberty-ship construction programme that produced nearly:

2,700 merchant vessels

during the Second World War.

The purpose was simple but strategically vital: to replace merchant ships faster than Axis submarines and aircraft could destroy them.

Operation PLUTO

In 1944, ARTHUR M. HUDDELL was modified to transport flexible pipeline equipment for:

Operation PLUTO – Pipe Line Under The Ocean.

The project laid fuel pipelines beneath the English Channel to support Allied forces advancing through France after the:

Normandy landings.

This gives the vessel direct historical significance beyond her later association with Greek shipping.

Liberty Ships and Greece

Liberty ships became crucial to the recovery of Greek merchant shipping after the Second World War.

After devastating wartime losses, Greek owners acquired 100 Liberty ships with the backing of the Greek state.

Additional vessels followed, and the ships became closely associated with the foundations of Greece's post-war shipping expansion.

Saving ARTHUR M. HUDDELL

By the early 2000s only a handful of Liberty hulls survived.

A long Greek campaign, strongly associated with shipowner:

Spyros M. Polemis

sought to acquire one of the remaining vessels for preservation.

After political and diplomatic efforts in the United States, Congress enabled the transfer of:

ARTHUR M. HUDDELL

to the Greek government.

Atlantic Tow to Piraeus

The vessel departed the United States under tow on:

6 December 2008.

The tow was undertaken by:

POSEIDON.

After crossing the Atlantic, ARTHUR M. HUDDELL reached:

Piraeus on 11 January 2009.

Restoration in Greece

The vessel arrived in poor condition after decades of inactivity.

Extensive restoration work took place around:

Perama

and:

Salamis.

The process required almost:

two years.

A major contribution from the late:

Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos

helped make completion of the project possible.

HELLAS LIBERTY

Following restoration, the ship became:

HELLAS LIBERTY.

She was presented to the public in:

2010

as a floating museum devoted to:

Greek merchant shipping,

Liberty ships,

wartime maritime history,

and the Greek shipping recovery after 1945.

More Than 500 Exhibits

The museum contains:

authentic navigational equipment,

communications equipment,

documents,

ship models,

historic machinery,

photographs,

and hundreds of Liberty-related objects.

The museum organisation states that the collection contains more than:

500 exhibits.

One of Only Three

HELLAS LIBERTY is considered one of the world's surviving Liberty museum ships.

Unlike the preserved American Liberty ships:

JEREMIAH O'BRIEN

and:

JOHN W. BROWN,

the Greek vessel is presented primarily in:

merchant rather than wartime armed configuration.

Museum Closure and Future Relocation

The museum has been temporarily closed because its present berth at:

Piraeus Gate E2

is affected by major works connected with the new:

Museum of Underwater Antiquities.

The long-term plan is to relocate HELLAS LIBERTY to the:

Maritime Tradition Park

near the battleship:

GEORGIOS AVEROF

at Faliro.

Temporary Movement in Piraeus

In March 2026, HELLAS LIBERTY was moved within the Port of Piraeus during dredging work and subsequently returned to its previous berth near the old Silo.

The final move toward Faliro had not yet taken place at that stage.

Drydock – June 2026

A significant new chapter in preservation occurred in:

June 2026.

The Hellas Liberty Museum organisation announced successful completion of a scheduled:

drydocking.

The work was described as essential for:

safety,

operational readiness,

and long-term preservation.

This is an important update that should now be included in the PiraeuShips article.

PiraeuShips Record

HELLAS LIBERTY represents a unique link between Piraeus, the Second World War and the post-war rise of Greek merchant shipping. Built in Florida in 1943 as ARTHUR M. HUDDELL, the vessel participated in the wider Allied logistics effort and was adapted to carry equipment for Operation PLUTO following the Normandy landings. Saved from the U.S. reserve fleet decades later, she was donated to Greece, towed across the Atlantic and arrived at Piraeus in January 2009. After an extensive Greek restoration she reopened as HELLAS LIBERTY, a floating museum dedicated to the Liberty ships and the generation of Greek seafarers and shipowners who used them to rebuild the country's merchant fleet. Following another major preservation drydock in June 2026, the ship is awaiting its eventual relocation from Piraeus to the Maritime Tradition Park at Faliro.

Original video footage © PiraeuShips. All rights reserved.

Olympias

 

Name	Olympias
Owner	Hellenic Navy
Ordered	1985
Laid down	July 27, 1987
Launched	August 1987
Commissioned	August 26, 1987
Homeport	Palaio Faliro 37°56.057′N 23°41.11′E
Status	serves as exhibit in dry dock and used in events
General characteristics
Type	Trireme
Displacement	47 tonnes
Length	36.9 m (121 ft 1 in)
Beam	5.5 m (18 ft 1 in)
Draught	1.25 m (4 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	Two large square sails 170 oarsmen
Speed	Maximum (with oars) over 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) Continuous (crew rowing in turns) 4.0 kilometres per hour (2.5 mph) 2.15 knots (estimated).
Troops	14 (10 Hoplites + 4 Archers)
Complement	200 including 5 officers (in antiquity)
Armament	Bronze bow ra

 

THALIS O MILISSIOS – IMO 5357800

ex JOSEPH HENRY – 1909-Built Historic Cable-Laying Steamship and Floating Museum

THALIS O MILISSIOS is one of the most historically significant preserved ships in Greece and an exceptional survivor from the earliest years of twentieth-century submarine communications.

Built in the United States in 1909 as JOSEPH HENRY, the steel cable-laying steamship was constructed by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Virginia for the U.S. Government.

After almost four decades of American service, she was transferred to Greece in 1947 and renamed:

THALIS O MILISSIOS.

For the following 36 years, the vessel played a crucial role in developing Greece's telecommunications network, laying and maintaining submarine telephone cables connecting the islands with the mainland.

Withdrawn from service in 1983, she narrowly escaped scrapping and was eventually donated to the Aegean Maritime Museum in 1991.

Today THALIS O MILISSIOS is officially recognised as a Floating Museum and is preserved at the Park of Maritime Tradition at Palaio Faliro.

Even more remarkably, the Aegean Maritime Museum identifies her as:

the world's oldest surviving cable-laying steamship still retaining its original steam engines, as well as the oldest vessel on the Greek Ship Registry.

Vessel Details

Current Name: THALIS O MILISSIOS

Original Name: JOSEPH HENRY

IMO: 5357800

Type: Cable-Laying Steamship / Museum Ship

Flag: Greece

Built: 1909

Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Virginia, USA

Original Owner: United States Government

Transferred to Greece: 1947

Greek Operator: T.T.T. / Telegraph, Telephone and Postal Services; later OTE

Current Custodian: Aegean Maritime Museum

Official Status: Floating Museum

Gross Tonnage: 842 GT

Length Overall: 51.26 m

Beam: 9.77 m

Hull: Steel

Propulsion: Original steam machinery preserved

Withdrawn from Commercial / Cable Service: 1983

Donated to Aegean Maritime Museum: June 1991

Current Location: Park of Maritime Tradition, Palaio Faliro, Athens

Preservation Status: Preserved museum vessel.

Built as JOSEPH HENRY

The vessel was constructed in:

1909

at:

Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company

in Virginia.

Her original name was:

JOSEPH HENRY.

The name honoured the influential nineteenth-century American scientist whose work in electromagnetism contributed fundamentally to the development of electrical communications.

The vessel was ordered for the:

United States Government

and purpose-built for work associated with undersea telecommunications cables.

An Early Cable-Laying Steamship

Long before:

satellites,

mobile networks,

fibre-optic systems,

and modern wireless communications,

international and island communications depended heavily on:

submarine cables.

Cable ships were specialised vessels able to:

carry long lengths of cable,

lay them accurately on the seabed,

recover damaged sections,

and undertake repairs at sea.

JOSEPH HENRY belonged to this technologically important but relatively small family of specialist vessels.

Transfer to Greece – 1947

Following the Second World War, the United States transferred the vessel to Greece in:

1947.

She was handed over to the Greek:

Telegraph, Telephone and Postal Services – T.T.T.

which later developed into the telecommunications organisation:

OTE.

At the same time, JOSEPH HENRY received her new Greek name:

THALIS O MILISSIOS – ΘΑΛΗΣ Ο ΜΙΛΗΣΙΟΣ.

Named after Thales of Miletus

The new name honoured:

Thales of Miletus,

the ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician and scientist.

Thales is frequently associated with some of the earliest recorded investigations into:

electricity,

magnetism,

astronomy,

and natural philosophy.

The name was therefore particularly appropriate for a ship dedicated to telecommunications technology.

Connecting the Greek Islands

For more than three decades, THALIS O MILISSIOS worked to connect:

the Greek islands

with:

mainland Greece.

Her principal duty was the laying and maintenance of:

submarine telephone cables.

This work took the vessel throughout the Aegean.

For an island country such as Greece, these undersea communications links were essential to the development of a modern national telephone network.

A Working Ship for 36 Greek Years

The vessel remained in active Greek service from:

1947 until 1983.

That means her Greek operational career alone lasted approximately:

36 years.

By the time of withdrawal she was already:

74 years old.

The technological world around her had changed almost beyond recognition since her construction in 1909.

Withdrawal – 1983

THALIS O MILISSIOS was finally withdrawn from active cable-laying service in:

1983.

A new vessel equipped with considerably more advanced technology replaced her.

At that point, OTE intended to:

scrap the historic ship.

Had that plan proceeded, an irreplaceable survivor from the earliest period of maritime telecommunications would have disappeared.

Saved by the Aegean Maritime Museum

The newly established:

Aegean Maritime Museum

intervened to save the vessel.

The museum recognised not only her Greek telecommunications history but also her international significance as an extremely rare surviving steam cable ship.

Following years of preservation efforts, OTE formally donated THALIS O MILISSIOS to the museum in:

June 1991.

Restoration

After acquisition, specialists carried out a detailed survey to determine how the historic vessel could be preserved.

The restoration was supervised with the involvement of:

Lloyd's Register of Shipping

Hellenic Register of Shipping

and:

Greek Merchant Marine Inspection Service.

The objective was not simply to keep the hull afloat.

The project aimed to preserve the vessel as closely as possible to her authentic historical form.

Original Steam Machinery Survives

This is perhaps the most important fact about the vessel.

The Aegean Maritime Museum describes THALIS O MILISSIOS as:

the oldest cable-laying steamship in the world that still preserves its original steam engines.

That makes the vessel technologically important far beyond Greece.

Many preserved historic ships survive only after:

major machinery replacement,

conversion,

or extensive reconstruction.

THALIS retains a direct mechanical connection with the era in which she was built.

Oldest Vessel in the Greek Ship Registry

The museum also states that THALIS O MILISSIOS is:

the oldest vessel registered in the Greek Ship Registry.

In 2026 she has reached approximately:

117 years since construction.

Official Floating Museum

The Greek State formally designated the vessel as a:

Floating Museum.

Her preservation also received international recognition.

In:

1998

Aegean Maritime Museum founder George Drakopoulos was honoured by the:

World Ship Trust

for his contribution to saving THALIS O MILISSIOS.

Maritime Tradition Park

Today the ship is preserved at:

Palaio Faliro

within the:

Park of Maritime Tradition.

She forms part of an extraordinary concentration of historic Greek vessels that also includes:

Battleship GEORGIOS AVEROF

Destroyer VELOS

Trireme OLYMPIAS

EUGENIOS EUGENIDIS

and:

EVANGELISTRIA.

Together these vessels represent very different periods of Greek naval and maritime history.

Piraeus Connection

THALIS O MILISSIOS also has an important connection with the wider Piraeus maritime area.

During her working career she repeatedly operated from Greek telecommunications and repair facilities, while preservation and maintenance work has also brought her into the Piraeus ship-repair environment.

A documented drydocking took place in the:

Vasileiadis dry dock

in 2008.

The ship therefore belongs not only to the national maritime heritage collection but also to the historical industrial landscape of Piraeus.

PiraeuShips in 2020

PiraeuShips published the dedicated:

THALIS O MILISSIOS – IMO 5357800

entry in:

August 2020.

The original database correctly recorded:

842 GT

1909 construction

Newport News Shipbuilding

Greek flag

and:

JOSEPH HENRY

as the former name.

The expanded profile, however, reveals why the ship is far more important than those basic specifications suggest.

A Survivor from Another Technological Age

THALIS O MILISSIOS was built before:

the First World War,

commercial radio broadcasting,

modern aviation,

electronic computers,

satellite telecommunications,

and container shipping.

Yet the hull and original steam machinery survive more than a century later.

Few ships represented in the PiraeuShips archive offer such a direct physical link with the beginnings of modern communications technology.

PiraeuShips Record

THALIS O MILISSIOS represents one of the most historically important vessels preserved in Greece. Built by Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia in 1909 as the U.S. Government cable ship JOSEPH HENRY, she was transferred to Greece in 1947 and spent the following 36 years laying and maintaining the submarine telephone cables that connected the Greek islands with the mainland. Withdrawn from active service in 1983 and initially threatened with scrapping, the ship was saved through the intervention of the Aegean Maritime Museum and donated to the institution in June 1991. Today she is preserved at the Maritime Tradition Park in Palaio Faliro as an officially designated Floating Museum. At approximately 117 years of age in 2026, THALIS O MILISSIOS is described by the museum as the world's oldest surviving cable-laying steamship still retaining its original steam engines and as the oldest vessel on the Greek Ship Registry. The PiraeuShips record therefore documents not simply an old ship, but an internationally significant survivor from the formative age of submarine telecommunications.

Original video footage © PiraeuShips. All rights reserved.