JU 88 plane wreck near Kefallonia, Greece. Source: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sport is making available more than 90 plane and shipwrecks to leisure divers.

The wrecks are airplanes and metallic ships, both military and civilian, dated between 1868 and 1970, with the majority of them going under during the Second World War. Located in depths between 10 and 120 meters below sea level, there is an experience for every diver.

Wrecks up to 18m (60 ft)

1. The Heinkel 111 bomber. It’s located near the island of Leros at a maximum depth of 16 meters. It’s only a large part of the aircraft that was “fished out” with the help of fishnets. There are no indications of how it got down or where the rest of it is.
2. The Arado 196 German hydroplane, near Irakleia in the Cyclades. It was shot down during WW2 near the island of Ios and “fished out” and laid out in its current location in a maximum depth of 11 meters.
3. The Martin Baltimore plane that ditched outside Ikaria in April 1945 due to mechanical failure. Its maximum depth is 18 meters.
4. Australian landing craft A6 or A20, in Balos Beach, Crete. It sunk during the Battle of Crete on May 20th, 1941 and its max depth is 12 meters.
5. SS Minnewaska, in Suda Bay, Crete. An ocean liner that was requisitioned by the British Government for service in WWI, it struck a floating mine outside Suda Bay and sunk soon after. Only parts of the ship are still on-site at a maximum depth of 12 meters.
6. German fighter plane, in Gerani, Chania. It sunk during the Battle of Crete in May 1941 and its maximum depth is 8 meters.
7. Shipwreck Alexandros in Poseidi, Chalkidiki. It sunk in 1960 and its maximum depth is 5 meters.
8. Turkish shipwreck in Kalamitsi, Chalkidiki that sunk sometime in 1900–1920. Its depth ranges between 5 and 18 meters.
9. SS Norseman ocean liner. It was sunk in 1916 by a U-39 submarine and four years later partially refloated and scrapped. What remains from the wreck may be found at a depth of 10–16 meters.
10. SS Creteland in Agios Georgios, Evia. It sunk in 1930 and the wreck located at a depth of 8–13 meters.
11. Shipwreck of an unknown commercial ship near the island Proti in Messinia. It sunk in 1943 and it’s at a maximum depth of 5 meters.
12. Cement ship Pioneer I, Lichades, Evia. It sank on the 8th, July 1944 near the island of Ag. George Lichadon of Evia. Maximum depth 10 meters.

Unknown WWII shipwreck near Messinia, Greece. Source: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

Wreck Dive Sites up to 30m (100 ft)

1. German landing craft in Leros, Cyclades. German warship that sunk near the islet Strongyli after being shot. The shipwreck is at a maximum depth of 20 meters.
2. Another Arado AR196, near Leros, this time. It was transported to its current location by fishnets and it lies at a maximum depth of 20 meters.
3. Clio Steamboat. It sunk in January 1904 after it crashed into the rocky coast of the islet Dipsa in South Evia. What remains after more than a century underwater, may be found at a depth of about 27 meters.
4. Mitilini Shipwreck in Kipsa Bay, Chalkidiki. It sunk after it struck a rock reef during a storm. Its maximum depth is 20 meters.
5. Junkers Ju 88, northwest of Corfu. Warplane, that, probably, went down due to malfunction and it, now, lies at a maximum depth of 26 meters.
6. Junkers Ju 88, near Ithaca. It went down, at the Southeast end of Ithaca, near the cape of Ag. Ioannis. The shooting incident has not been identified by archival research, but the wreck is dated during WWII. It is preserved in three sections, each separate from the other at 21, 23, and 35 meters.
7. Cassandra Motorship. It sank on February 28, 1973, on the island of Platourada or Akio in the South Evoikos after being stranded in shallow waters. Maximum depth 28 meters.
8. Athanasios shipwreck. The greek steamship was sunk by the German air force, in the gulf of Plytra (Laconian gulf) in April 1941. Its maximum depth is 28 meters.
9. Slepi (freighter) Christos in Pteleos, Magnisia. Wreck of a small freighter that sank during WWII. Its maximum depth 22 meters.

Bristol Beaufighter plane wreck, near Naxos island, Greece. Source: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

Wrecks located deeper than 30 meters

1. Junkers 88 or Dornier 17 german military plane in Strimonikos Bay.
2. Bristol Beaufighter, west of the island of Naxos. This British warplane was shot down in November 1943 after an air battle with two German Arado 196 aircrafts.
3. Greek passenger steamer Patris near the islet Patroklos in the Saronic Gulf. It sank following an accident on June 15, 1927.
4. British cable ship Retriever. It was sunk by the German air force in April 1941, near the Hellinikon airport in Athens.
5. British cargo steamer Clan Cumming. It sank from a landmine in April 1941, east of Aegina.
6. Italian minesweeper R.D.7. It sank from a landmine on June 15, 1942, southwest of Aegina island.
7. Italian cargo steamer Monrosa. It sank on October 25, 1941, off Anavyssos, by a British submarine.
8. Greek cargo steamer Petalloi. It was sunk by the German air force on April 6, 1941, northeast of Aegina.
9. Italian torpedo boat Aldebaran. It sank in a British landmine on October 20, 1941 near the islet of St. George.
10. German amphibious Lokfaegre. It was sunk by allied fire near the island of Arsida, on October 10, 1944.
11. Italian Curtatone destroyer. It sank from a mine impact near the island of Fleves, on May 20, 1941.
12. Greek HYDRA destroyer. It sank near the islet of Lagousa (Aegina), on April 22, 1941.
13. Greek steamer Roza Vlassi. It sank due to cargo shifting, south of Sounio, on December 24, 1959.
14. Greek lifeguard Mimis. It sank from a mine impact east of Aegina, on March 29, 1941.
15. Agios Markos, Salamina. It sank on April 21, 1941, at the site of Kaki Vigla in Salamina.
16. Italian Altair torpedo boat. It sank from a collision with a British mine on October 20, 1941, near the islet of Patroclus.
17. Italian war plane rcraft Savoia-Marchetti SM 79 “Sparviero”. It fell due to lack of fuel, on August 5, 1944, near Poros.
18. German submarine U-133. It sank because of a mine on March 14, 1942, east of Aegina.
19. Ocean liner Britannic (HMHS Britannic). It sank on November 21, 1916, from a mine impact, outside the port of Kea. The shipwreck was first discovered and explored by none other than Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1976.
20. Overseas S / S Burdigala. It sank on November 14, 1916, about two nautical miles southwest of Cape Agios Nikolaos in Kea, from a landmine impact.
21. Steamer Patris. It sank on February 23, 1868, after hitting a reef in Kountouros of Kea.
22. Destroyer ship“Queen Olga”. It sank on September 26, 1943, in Lakki, Leros, following an air raid by Luftwaffe.
23. Passenger ship Panormitis, near Telendos. It sank on January 26, 1966, traveling from Leros to Kalymnos, after it caught fire and a collision with the rocks of the coast.
24. Cargo ship NW of Cape Korai, Leros. It sank in September 1943, from a torpedo of a German aircraft in Partheni bay, north of Leros.
25. American landing craft in Laki, Leros. It has not been identified yet and its sinking conditions are unknown. It is of American origin and is apparently part of the Truman doctrine assistance in post-war Greece.
26. German landing craft, Leros. It sank on November 12, 1943, NE of the rocky islet of Strongyli in Leros after being shot at.
27. Greek cargo steamer Artemis Pita. Commanded by the German occupation army, it was sunk by Allied aircraft on February 21, 1943, in Adamas, Milos.
28. Spanish cargo steamer San Eduardo. It was sunk by a British aircraft on May 9, 1943 southwest of Serifos.
29. Italian cargo steamer Citta Di Tripoli. It was sunk by the British submarine HMS TORBAY on July 2, 1941, northwest of Kea.
30. French passenger ship Theophile Gautier. It was sunk by the British submarine HMS Talisman on June 11, 1941, north of Kea.
31. Greek cargo steamer Sifnos. It was sunk by the German air force in April 1941, north of Milos.
32. Belgian cargo ship Portugal. It sank, due to a collision, on October 4, 1957, on the Tripiti reef (northwestern Macronissos).
33. Bristol Beaufighter warplane, Paros. It was shot down by Germans in the autumn of 1943 in the southeast of Paros.
34. British warplane Vickers Wellington Mk.XIIII. It was shot down by German fire on November 7, 1943, east of Sifnos.
35. Junkers 52, Leros. It fell because of allied fire on November 13, 1943, and sunk near Ano Symi of Leros.
36. Junkers 52, Kea. It was ditched, in September 1943, off Kea.
37. Italian barge, Lakki Leros. Italian barge launching metal anti-submarine port protection network. It sank in September or October 1943.
38. Bulgarian cargo steamer Balkan. It was sunk by the British submarine HMS Sportsman on December 23, 1943, south of Moudros in Lemnos.
39. British passenger ship Princess Alberta. It was sunk by a German mine, January 1918, south of Lemnos.
40. Greek passenger steamer Alexandroupolis. It sank, due to an accident, on November 30, 1948, near Akra Tigani in Lemnos.
41. Greek cargo steamer Kiriaki. It was sunk by the German air force on April 24, 1941, in Souda, Crete.
42. Beaufighter war plane wreck, Sitia.
43. Arado Ar 196. It was shot down by Allied aircraft near Chania (Crete) on August 3, 1943.
44. British steamer HMT Marquette. It was sunk by a German U-35 submarine on October 23, 1915, in the Thermaic Gulf.
45. Ermine Passenger shipwreck. It sank on August 2, 1917, in Strymonikos Gulf.
46. British minesweeper (probably HMS By George). It sank in Strymonikos gulf.
47. German amphibious ship Kriegsmarine F 898. It sank in Strymonikos gulf.
48. German Junkers 52 aircraft. It fell into the Strymonikos gulf.
49. German aircraft Junkers 88 or Dornier 17. It sunk in the Strymonikos gulf.
50. Helena Commercial ship, Nea Michaniona. The hull and the superstructure of the ship are preserved, at a depth of up to 37m.
51. Italian gunboat Pellegrino Matteucci. It sank near the Akra Dukato of Lefkada, from a mine impact, on May 21, 1941.
52. Perseus Submarine, (HMS Perseus — N36), Kephalonia. It sank on December 6, 1941, after hitting an Italian mine off the coast of Cephalonia.
53. Sara, Othonoi. It sank on February 2, 1925.
54. SS Ardena, Kephalonia. A passenger steamer sank in the Argostoli Strait on October 23, 1943, after being hit by a mine.
55. Carinthia V, Kefalonia. A yacht, that sank in 1971 in the SE part of Kefalonia.
56. Greek cargo steamer Vivi. It sank after being hit by a mine on November 10, 1940, near the Cape Papas in the Gulf of Patras.
57. Greek cargo steamer Darma. It was bombed and sunk by the German air force on April 21, 1941, at Bozaitika in the Gulf of Patras.
58. British torpedo boat HMS Chamois. It sank in the Gulf of Patras two nautical miles north of Araxos on September 26, 1904, due to an accident caused during tests by a blade detachment from its propeller.
59. German cargo steamer Margeurite. It was sunk by a landmine on October 13, 1943, in the Gulf of Patras.
60. Dutch cargo steamer Mars. It sank from a mine impact on May 30, 1945, in the Gulf of Patras.
61. Greek cargo steamer Christoforos. It sank due to weather conditions on January 13, 1921, in the Gulf of Patras.
62. Greek minesweeper Nestos. It sank in Psathopyrgos on April 23, 1941, by the German air force.
63. British minesweeper BYMS 2077. It was sunk by a landmine on October 25, 1944, in the Gulf of Patras.
64. Norwegian cargo steamer Sven Jarl. It sank from a landmine on January 17, 1948, near the mouth of the river Evinos.
65. French steamer Parana. It was sunk by a torpedo of the German submarine UC-74, on August 24, 1917, near Kafireas.
66. British steamship Helmstedt. It sank on March 22, 1880, southeast of the islet of Mandili in Karystos.
67. Italian cargo steamer Delfin. It sank in southern Evia, by a torpedo of the British submarine HMS TACU, on December 14, 1942.
68. British minesweeper H.M.S. Regulus (J 327). It sank on January 12, 1945, after being hit by a mine in Sivota.
69. Junkers 88, Psathoura of the Northern Sporades. It was ditched, on May 27, 1942, in front of the lighthouse of Psathoura.
70. German steamer Volos. It sank on the Lefteris reef (Magnesia) by mistake, on February 21, 1931.

Following the opening of the underwater museum in Alonissos to the public last summer, perhaps, this marks a new day for diving tourism in Greece.

Source: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports