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THE BATTLESHIP “G. AVEROF”
PROMOTION AND ENRICHMENT OF THE MUSEUM ARCHIVES
Emmanuel Stefanakis and George Kritikos
Harokopio University of Athens, Department of Geography, Athens, Greece - (estef, gkriti)@hua.gr
Commission IV, WG IV/1
KEY WORDS: Museum Archives, Historical Photos, Spatio-Temporal Modelling, Spatial Data Infrastructure, Mashups,
Geographic Open Source Software, Geographic Catalog Servers.
ABSTRACT:
The battleship “G. Averof ’ was a legendary warship of the Greek fleet during the first half of the 20th century with an active history
in three wars (Balkans, World War I and II). Nowadays, “G. Averoff’ is a Museum operated by the Greek Navy, and the world's
only surviving heavily armored cruiser of the early 20th century. In the Department of Geography at Harokopio University of Athens
- in cooperation with the Admiral in duty and the personnel at the Museum Battleship “G. Averof’ - we launched in Spring 2007 a
research Project with subject the promotion and enrichment of the Museum Archives. This paper presents the methodology applied
and the first outcomes of the Project. Special attention has been given to the spatio-temporal dimension of the battleship history,
while appropriate systems and tools offered by the current technology in web mapping and catalog services have been adopted.
1. INTRODUCTION
The battleship “G. Averof” (Figure 1) was a legendary warship
of the Greek fleet during the first half of the 20th century with
an active history in three wars (Balkans, World War I and II).
The ship has been acquired by the Greek Navy due to the funds
offered by the wealthy Greek patriot and benefactor Georgios
Averof. The boat-building has been concluded in 1911 in Italy.
The main action of the battleship is focused on the Balkan Wars.
The battleship, with the beginning of the First Balkan War in
October of 1912, was at the head of the Aegean Fleet, under the
command of Rear Admiral Paylos Kontouriotis. The battleship
contributed to the liberation of Aghio Oros and the East and
North Aegean islands (Thasos, Samothraki, Tenedos, Aghios
Eustratios, Mitilini, Chios). The successful result of the battles
of Elli and Limnos that followed offered the dominance of the
Greek Navy in the Aegean Sea. During the Second Balkan War
(1913) the battleship contributed to the occupancy of Kavala
and Alexandroupoli.
“G. Averoff’ is the world's only surviving heavily armored
cruiser of the early 20th century. Today, is a Museum
(http://www.bsaverof.com) operated by the Greek Navy.
In the Department of Geography at Harokopio University of
Athens - in cooperation with the Admiral in duty and the
personnel at the Museum Battleship “G. Averof’ and the
permission of the Hellenic Navy - we have launched in Spring
2007 a research project with subject: “the promotion and
enrichment of the Museum Archives”. Specifically, the research
project is focused on:
— the “life” in the battleship during the war periods
(with presentation of the interior space in digital form,
accompanied with photos and documents). During war
periods the ship crew was 1200 persons.
Figure 1. The battleship “G.Averof’.
- the movement of the ship in space-time and detailed
mapping of the naval engagements and other
operations.
- the development of the ship during the last century
(armaments, breakages, demodemizations).
- the virtual visits in the Museum (with interactive
multimedia and web applications).
This paper presents the methodology applied and the first
outcomes of the Project. It is worthy to mention that special
attention has been given to the spatio-temporal dimension of the
battleship history, while appropriate systems and tools offered
by the current technology in web mapping and catalog services
have been adopted.
The discussion is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the
main Phases of the Project. Section 3 highlights the significance
and originality of the methodology applied. Section 4 describes
the current status of the Project by presenting the first outcomes.
