# Dimitrios Shipwreck - Help please



## peejay

I'm hoping some of you Greekophiles (?) can help me out here.

On our recent trip to Greece we stayed at a smashing spot just north of Githio on the Peloponnese.
There is a shipwreck just a few metres from the beach with the name 'Dimitrios', i've entered the stoppover in the database....

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Campsites&op=display_results&csid=5371




























I'd like to know a bit more about it and searched high and low on t'internet but can't find any decent info.

Does anyone know any more about this ship and how it ended up there?

Pete


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## locovan

http://www.submerged.co.uk/dimitrios.php

Is this any help???is it the same Ship


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## peejay

Mavis, thanks but thats not it. 
Slightly different spelling - 'Dimetrious' - and was wrecked somewhere in Devon by the looks of it.


Pete


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## Stanner

http://www.artificialowl.net/2008/09/shipwreck-of-dimitrios-near-gythio.html

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Greece/Peloponnesus/Lakonia/Gytheio/photo1181641.htm

The view seems to be that it was smuggling either drugs or cigarettes from South Africa or Turkey and was wrecked in a storm or seized by the Greek Government and lost when being towed to port.


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## locovan

Stanner said:


> http://www.artificialowl.net/2008/09/shipwreck-of-dimitrios-near-gythio.html
> 
> http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Greece/Peloponnesus/Lakonia/Gytheio/photo1181641.htm


I saw those but they still are not saying how and why it happened


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## peejay

Stanner said:


> http://www.artificialowl.net/2008/09/shipwreck-of-dimitrios-near-gythio.html
> 
> http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Greece/Peloponnesus/Lakonia/Gytheio/photo1181641.htm


Thanks, I had seen those links, plenty of photo's but no proper info on the ship itself.

Pete


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## geraldandannie

"Is said that the ship made smuggling of cigarettes from Turkey to Italy, when it fell in storm and was abandoned in this beach of Peloponnese."

Gerald


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## Stanner

First post just edited to add explanation(s) I found - other than that it's a total mystery.

So probably just dumped there by the local tourist board to cause a mystery and draw in lots of tourists.

Could also be a work by Anthony Gormley I suppose.


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## locovan

As you google there are many Ships abandoned
http://www.cyprus-travel-secrets.com/shipwreck-off-the-coast-of-paphos.html

Love mysteries


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## geraldandannie

More ...

_what i heard is that this ship was coming from the south (Africa) and was scouted to be carrying drugs into Europe, which it was.   the ship was impounded by the Greek government and left-in-tow. how it go to where it is now, i'm not sure. i guess it was just disregarded by the government and that was that. _

There's a book, apparently

X. Dounis "Shipwrecks in the Greek seas"

:wink:

Gerald


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## peejay

The best i could find was in one of Stanners links....

_hey there.

i once visited this shipwreck two years ago and took some photos myself. i hope to go back and take better ones.

anyways, i asked around about the story of the Dimitrios. what i heard is that this ship was coming from the south (Africa) and was scouted to be carrying drugs into Europe, which it was.

the ship was impounded by the Greek government and left-in-tow. how it go to where it is now, i'm not sure. i guess it was just disregarded by the government and that was that.

hope that sheds some light on the history. _

But that is just hearsay, i'm surprised there isn't anything more substantial on the net.

Pete

Late edit, Gerald types quicker than me :lol:

I'll keep searching...


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## DTPCHEMICALS

I have spent ages trying to find any history on this vessel
Plenty of photos

Dave p


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## peejay

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> I have spent ages trying to find any history on this vessel
> Plenty of photos
> 
> Dave p


Me too Dave, me too. :wink:

Pete


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## geraldandannie

Just found this about another wreck

_The ship's name is Dimitris and the story is similar to the Panagiotis in Zakynthos

The most commonly accepted story regarding the wreck of the Panagiotis maintains that she spent the later part of her life as a smuggler ship. In 1980 (during a time of record population lows on the island of Zakynthos), Panagiotis was making her way from Turkey with a freight of contraband cigarettes (for the Italian Mafia, as some versions of the story assert). The crew was suspected by authorities, and so the Panagiotis was pursued by the Greek Navy. Encountering stormy weather, she ran aground in a shallow cove to the north of Porto Vromi, where the crew abandoned ship to evade the pursuing Navy. To this day, she remains at the site which is now called "Navagio" for the Greek "shipwreck."_

Gerald


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## Stanner

As the wreck near Paphos on Cyprus also seems to have the same name - remind me never to sail on a ship called "Dimitrios".


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## peejay

Its a fantastic sight when you're close up, you can walk all the way round the wreck as the water only goes up to your waist. Where the hull is rotting you can peer inside, very spooky.

One of the most interesting wildcamps I've ever stayed at.










pete


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## locovan

It has been great to share this with you makes a change from football.
All the photos are lovely think I will get Ray to paint a picture. :wink:


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## peejay

I've enjoyed it too Mavis.

That photo that Davep showed was a corker, wish I could take a good piccy like that.

I'll just have to go back next year and take a few more, or maybe take some brushes with me.  

Still looking for more info on her.........

Pete


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## DTPCHEMICALS

I wish I could take one like it too.

Its one of the hundreds on different sites. www.redrubble.com

DAve p


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## Stanner

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> I wish I could take one like it too.
> 
> Its one of the hundreds on different sites. www.redrubble.com
> 
> DAve p


??? where on there ???


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## sallytrafic

locovan said:


> It has been great to share this with you makes a change from football.
> All the photos are lovely think I will get Ray to paint a picture. :wink:


I liked it too and will start another thread with a different shipwreck










Link to thread >HERE<


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## nicholsong

~For best factual Info on ship losses go to Lloyd's Register of Shipping. It will help if somebody knows the Port of Registration, which may still be on the stern. That should give a clue to the Country of Registration, which will help to distinguish this ship from others of same name. 

Often the original names of ships are welded onto the bow as individual letters, which are then painted usually in white. However when a ship is sold the new owner often changes its name and the welded name is painted over with the hull colour and the new name merely painted below or beside the original. If both lots of paint have worn away the all that is left is the original welded name, but that would not be its name at the time of the loss.

Are we sure that the spelling of Dimitrios is correct? - has anyone seen that on the vessel.

Some of this could explain why it is difficult to find more info.

Sorry I do not have link to Lloyd's, but it has been long night's drive from 1645 to 0615 !

And so to bed

Geoff


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## locovan

We have HMS Montgomery to worry about down here in Kent if she blows   
http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southeast/series1/ship-wrecks.shtml

On our Beach at Seasalter we have 2 fishing boat wrecks that went down in the storms and only the hulls stick up at low tide.


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## locovan

With all this History about us is it no wonder we love Shipwrecks and their Mystery.
http://mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/Publication/TK-Kent/cms/pdf/Coastal Hidden Gems Kent Smugglers.pdf


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## DTPCHEMICALS

Hi Stanner,
i just kept googling ...dimitrios.. dimitrios wrecks.... Wrecks in the aegean. etc.

Ther are loads of piccys. Many with the name William painted on.

dave p


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## locovan

http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=1047687

It looks like a very big hole in her side.
Go to home and admire just how many photos this site has put together

http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/viewcat.php?pos=590&cid=61&num=10&orderby=dateD


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## peejay

nicholsong said:


> Are we sure that the spelling of Dimitrios is correct? - has anyone seen that on the vessel.
> 
> Some of this could explain why it is difficult to find more info.
> 
> Geoff


Geoff, its the correct spelling, heres a close up we took...










Pete


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## DTPCHEMICALS

And it could have been renamed.

dave p


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## mattnlaura

Just been to see this ship and met a few campers staying there. An English couple, a German couple and a lone Frenchman. The shipwreck looks great, took lots of pics.
Found this thread whilst looking for info on it and this wikipedia article telling the correct history of the ship: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitrios_shipwreck


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## nicholsong

mattnlaura said:


> Just been to see this ship and met a few campers staying there. An English couple, a German couple and a lone Frenchman. The shipwreck looks great, took lots of pics.
> Found this thread whilst looking for info on it and this wikipedia article telling the correct history of the ship: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitrios_shipwreck


As a sailor I think "the shipwreck looks great" is inappropriate - peoples lives may have been lost.

Geoff


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## Spacerunner

nicholsong said:


> As a sailor I think "the shipwreck looks great" is inappropriate - peoples lives may have been lost.
> 
> Geoff


How sensitive :roll:


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## duxdeluxe

I can understand where Nicholsong is coming from, but the sight of shipwrecks like this, or various dive sites, give a lot of visual pleasure to many people long after the event. What is the nautical equivalent of "take only photographs and leave only footprints"?


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## Spacerunner

duxdeluxe said:


> I can understand where Nicholsong is coming from, but the sight of shipwrecks like this, or various dive sites, give a lot of visual pleasure to many people long after the event. What is the nautical equivalent of "take only photographs and leave only footprints"?


Take only photographs and a few mussels?


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## mattnlaura

nicholsong said:


> mattnlaura said:
> 
> 
> 
> Just been to see this ship and met a few campers staying there. An English couple, a German couple and a lone Frenchman. The shipwreck looks great, took lots of pics.
> Found this thread whilst looking for info on it and this wikipedia article telling the correct history of the ship: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitrios_shipwreck
> 
> 
> 
> As a sailor I think "the shipwreck looks great" is inappropriate - peoples lives may have been lost.
> 
> Geoff
Click to expand...

Lol. How great the shipwreck looks now has got nothing to do with how many lives were lost during its demise. In any case if you'd have read the article i posted you'd see that it was completely unmanned when it hit the beach.


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## Penquin

The marine equivalent is "take only photographs and leave only fin marks" from my experience of diving (6,500 + dives in Uk, Inidan Ocean and other pleasant places .......)

There are some wrecks which cannot be dived legally due to their being designated as "war graves" this includes the wreck of the "Royal Oak" in Scapa Flow;

http://tinyurl.com/7upmuzg

there are numerous designated wrecks around the UK due to their being war graves.

The same designation has been applied to German wrecks also by the UK authorities in respect of those who lost their lives on, or in, them.

The wreck that you are discussing would not have been prohibited as it was being towed empty apparently when it broke it's tow and drifted onshore.

Ship wrecks are VERY common - it was said that around the UK there have been nigh on 1 million, most of which have left no trace, some are very spectacular (Torrey Canyon on Seven Stones Reef, Scilly Isles). others are historic artefacts (Mary Rose in Solent), others have been sunk deliberately as dive sites (HMS Scylla in Whitesand Bay, Cornwall).

It is comparatively easy to locate details of lost ships using such resources as Lloyds Shipping List and The Hydrographic Office, but it takes time to locate the full story usually - if indeed it is possible......

Food for thought ?

Dave


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## nukeadmin

> There are some wrecks which cannot be dived legally due to their being designated as "war graves" this includes the wreck of the "Royal Oak" in Scapa Flow;


In another life (adopts Grandads voice) "When I was in the Navy" one of my adquals was a navy diver, and i had to dive on this ship and put an ensign on it and lay a wreath as a sign of respect.


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## peejay

Hi Matt,

I know what you mean't :wink:

Thanks for the link, how did I miss that! I spent ages searching for info about the wreck.

Great place to stay the night as well.


Pete


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## Lesleykh

Thanks for starting this topic. It has been a really interesting read. 

We were there last year and never got further than the basic drugs rumour about how the ship became grounded.

Lesley


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## mattnlaura

Yes Pete a great place. Has a fresh water tap too.

Matt


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## jonse

*Ship wrecks*

Hope to get to Taraya In Morocco, after the desert de tour trip in Feb as there are some wrecks along the coast I would like to see, will post when we get back some time in April,


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