P/S Patris

The P/S Patris was a 66-meter, 641 GRT paddle passenger steamer constructed in 1860 by C. Lungley & Co. at Deptford on the River Thames, England, for the Hellenic Steam Navigation Company (originally christened Othon and renamed Patris in 1862). On the night of February 23, 1868, sailing from Piraeus to Syros with approximately 400 to 500 passengers and crew, the ship struck Koundouros Reef off southwestern Kea due to a navigational error in nighttime haze. Despite chaotic scenes on deck, all 400 to 500 passengers and crew safely reached the shores of Kea just a few hundred meters away with zero fatalities. The vessel broke into two distinct sections and settled down the steep submarine reef slope between 28 and 54 meters depth. In 2007, one of its monumental 6-meter paddle wheels was carefully raised and conserved for exhibition at the Industrial Museum of Ermoupoli in Syros. The second paddle wheel, compound steam engines, boilers, and iron hull framing remain in extraordinary preservation, designated as a protected underwater historical monument.