Hydra class battleship

The three Hydra-class ships, "Hydra", "Spetsai" and "Psara", were ordered from France in 1885 during the premiership of Charilaos Trikoupis, as part of a wider reorganization and modernization of the Greek armed forces, which had proved themselves inadequate during the Cretan uprising of 1866 and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.

The ships saw limited action in the Greco-Turkish War (1897), as the Royal Hellenic Navy failed to make use of its superiority over the Ottoman Navy. By the outbreak of the Balkan Wars in 1912, the three Hydra-class ships were antiquated, but did take part in the war, in which Greece liberated the islands of the Eastern Aegean and defeated Turkey in the two decisive naval battles of Elli and Limnos.

During World War I, Greece belatedly entered the war on the side of the Triple Entente and the Hydra class ships served as coastal defense, a role they also played in the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). After the defeat in 1922, the Greek Navy was reduced in size and in 1929 these ships were scrapped.