GREEK NATIONAL ANTHEM
THEMISTOKLES, THE FREARIAN SON OF NEOCLES (526-461 B.C.)

Themistokles was born in Flya, a suburb of ancient Athens, today known as Chalandri. Indefatigable, perceptive, calm and a man of insight, he participated in the Battle of Marathon. He was elected as the leader of the democratic party, from amongst all the eminent dignitaries of Athens in the elections of 493 B.C.
H.S. THEMISTOKLES is the fourth ship of the Hellenic Navy by the same name. The first one was a brig, which was commissioned in 1830, one of the first units for the newly formed Hellenic Fleet, after the victorious end of the Revolutionary War of 1821 against the Turks. The second ship was a DE (ex-HMS BRANHAM), which was transferred to the Hellenic Navy by the Royal Navy in 1942. Various tasks were assigned to this ship during World War II for operations in the area of the Mediterranean Sea. The third Themistokles was a Gearing Class Fram II Destroyer (ex-USS FRANK KNOX), which was transferred to the Hellenic Navy by the U.S. Navy, in San Diego in 1971 and was decommissioned in April 1992. On 30 September 1992, ex-USS BERKELEY (DDG-15) was transferred to the Hellenic Navy and recommissioned as H.S. THEMISTOKLES DDG-221.
On 18 February 2002, H.S. THEMISTOKLES was decommissioned in Salamis, Greece.
On 19 February 2004, H.S. THEMISTOKLES was sold for scrap.
For more history on Themistokles read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themistocles