The last trireme: how an ancient Greek warship ended up serving NATO 2,500 years later

When people talk about NATO warships, they usually picture nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, cruisers with cruise missiles, and the latest unmanned systems. But few know that one of the alliance’s fleets still officially includes a ship built using 5th-century BC technology.

This is not a museum model or a prop for a historical film. This is the «Olympia» (HS Olympias) — an exact reconstruction of an ancient Greek trireme, which is officially included in the fleet of the Hellenic Navy. In essence, it is the world’s only rowing warship of antiquity that is still considered an active unit of a modern navy.

The story of the «Olympia» is more than just a tale of an unusual vessel. It is an example of how an archaeological experiment forced historians to rethink their understanding of warfare in the ancient world.

A naval weapon that changed the course of history

To understand the significance of the «Olympia», we need to go back almost two and a half thousand years.

In the 5th century BC, the trireme was considered the pinnacle of military engineering. It was the fastest and most dangerous ship of its time. It was such vessels that made Athens the greatest naval power in the Mediterranean and enabled the Greeks to defeat the vast fleet of the Persian Empire in the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC.

Historians often call this battle one of the most important in world history. If the Persian king Xerxes had won, the дальнейшее развитие European civilization could have taken a completely different path.

The trireme’s main weapon was neither archers nor soldiers on deck. Everything depended on speed, manoeuvrability, and the bronze ram at the bow. Once up to speed, the ship literally punched through the enemy hull, after which the opponent quickly lost control or even sank.

An experiment that astonished the entire scientific world

Despite numerous images and descriptions by ancient authors, until just a few decades ago many scholars doubted that such ships could have existed at all.

The main reason was the ship’s extraordinary design. A vessel less than 37 metres long had to accommodate 170 oarsmen seated on three levels. Many engineers believed such a ship would inevitably be too heavy, unstable, and simply unable to develop high speed.

To settle the debate once and for all, British historian John Morrison and shipbuilder John Coates proposed building a real trireme.

The project was supported by the Hellenic Navy and British writer and philanthropist Frank Welsh. In 1987, the «Olympia» was launched at a Greek shipyard — the most accurate reconstruction of an ancient ship possible.

Built almost exactly as it was 2,500 years ago

The creators sought to replicate the technologies of ancient masters in every detail.

The 36.9-metre hull was assembled from wood using the ancient system of joining planks with wooden pegs and mortises. About 20,000 oak pegs were used in the construction — practically without metal fasteners.

A massive bronze ram was installed at the bow, and the only major departure from ancient technology was the use of modern steel cables, which replaced the ropes of antiquity.

Even today, specialists describe such a design as a true engineering masterpiece of its era.

The tests proved that ancient historians were not exaggerating

Once construction was completed, the most important moment arrived.

During the trials, a crew of 170 volunteers took their places at the oars, just as the ancient Athenians had done more than two thousand years earlier.

The results surprised even the researchers themselves.

The «Olympia» managed to reach a speed of about nine knots — roughly 17 km/h. For a fully rowing ship, that is an outstanding result. Even more impressive was its manoeuvrability: the trireme completed a 180-degree turn in about one minute, covering an arc of just two and a half times its own hull length.

This confirmed the descriptions of ancient historians, which for a long time had been considered exaggerated.

According to designer John Coates, the trireme resembled not an old boat but rather a modern fighter jet — an extremely light, fast, and crew-demanding combat machine.

Nearly two hundred people had to work as one mechanism

The full crew of an ancient trireme numbered around 200 people.

The 170 oarsmen were divided across three levelsand had to move in absolute synchrony. Any mistake immediately reduced speed and could ruin the attack.

In addition to them, there were officers, helmsmen, sailors, several archers, and heavily armed hoplites on board. After the ram attack, it was they who boarded the damaged enemy ship and finished the battle.

According to historians’ calculations, original triremes in a combat charge could accelerate to more than 16 knots — about 30 km/h. The modern reconstruction turned out to be slightly heavier than the ancient original, so it could not reach those speeds, but it fully confirmed the viability of the design itself.

From an ancient fleet into the 21st century

After the scientific program ended, the «Olympia» did not go into reserve.

In 2004, this very trireme carried the Olympic flame during preparations for the Athens Games, symbolically linking modern Greece with its ancient past.

Later, the ship took part in international events more than once. In 2018, the «Olympia» sailed along the Thames alongside the legendary British cruiser HMS Belfast. The contrast looked almost surreal: side by side were ships separated by more than two thousand years of military technology development.

Today the trireme is part of the exhibition at the Naval Museum in Palaio Faliro, but it officially continues to be listed as part of the Hellenic Navy.

Thus the ancient ship that once became a symbol of Athenian power has turned into a unique monument of world history and the only ancient combat trireme that, after 2,500 years, still formally remains in the service of a modern navy.