Ten years after the Greek-Turkish War of 1897, the Hellenic Navy had a limited force of antiquated torpedoes and three French warships built in 1889. The urgent need for a reliable fleet resulted in the reinforcement of the fleet – at the end of 1908 – with four new English and four German destroyers. The Battleship “Georgios Averof”, the glory of the Hellenic Navy, was to be added to the Greek fleet.

In 1900, the National Fleet Fund was established during the government of Theotokos, which undertook the collection of bequests and offers for the Hellenic Royal Navy, with the aim of building new units of the Hellenic Fleet. This was a major armament program which placed the Hellenic Royal Navy among the most modern in the world. The program included shipbuilding of all kinds. The crown of the armament program was the purchase of the Battleship George Averof.

Specifically, the Battleship G. Averof was purchased by the Greek Government on 30 November 1909. She was the 3rd of the same series after “PISA” and “SAN GIORGIO”, built by ORLANDO in Livorno, Italy for the Italian Royal Navy. The Italian government decided that the first two ships were sufficient for the completion of their naval program and notified the shipyard that it could make the third ship available for sale.

The negotiations were coordinated and warmly conducted by the Greek Government and the leadership of the Hellenic Navy. The ship was eventually purchased for 23,650,000 gold drachmas. The price was 2,000,000 drachmas, less than the amount which was paid by Italian Government for sister ship “PISA”.

For the purchase of the ship contributed decisively the legacy of the great national benefactor Georgios Averof, who with compound interest and the raising of the bonds had reached the amount of 8,000,000 gold drachmas. G. Averoff stipulated in his will the 20% of his property to be used for the construction of a warship that would carry his name.

It is worth noting that the ship was claimed by the Ottomans who had sent officers to Livorno to inspect the ship. In the end, however, they did not move dynamically for her acquisition, because they felt that Greece could not afford to buy her. After inspecting the ship, the Ottoman officers departed with destination Paris. During their trip they were surprised when suddenly they received a telegram according to which Greece intended to buy her. They hurriedly returned to Livorno to make an offer to the Italians themselves. Specifically, they offered 250,000 gold pounds more than what had been agreed with Greece. The Italians replied that the transaction with the Greeks had been completed.This was made possible thanks to the bequest of G. Averof, which was given as an advance payment thus sealing the agreement between them.

We must emphasize how decisive was the contribution of this great benefactor and visionary G. Averof, in the realization of the sacred desire of every Greek, namely the liberation of his enslaved brothers.