October 31, 1912 marks the anniversary of the sinking of the Feth-i Bülend Ottoman warship by the Greek Navy during the First Balkan War.
During the First Balkan War, a Greek torpedo boat captained by Nikolaos Votsis set sail from its base at Litochoro near the base of Mount Olympus.
He led his crew through to Thessaloniki Harbour, which was still occupied by the Ottoman Turks and was heavily protected by minefields and coastal batteries.
The Greek vessel, named as torpedo boat Number 11, managed to avoid detection and succeeded in sinking the Turkish corvette Feth-i Bülend right in the middle of the harbour.
The Turkish ship, commissioned in 1870, was not only sunk by the Greek torpedo boat, but seven crew members also died during the attack.
The success of this mission announced in the loudest and most dramatic fashion, that the future of the Thessaloniki and the region of Macedonia laid with Greece.
Little more than a week later, the Hellenic Army marched triumphantly into Thessaloniki.
