ATHENS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Greece celebrated its national Ohio Day on Monday with the conclusion of a four-day warships display event.
The Ohi Day, or "Anniversary of the No," commemorates the rejection by then Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas on Oct. 28, 1940, of the ultimatum made by Italy to surrender Greece to the Axis forces.
As part of the celebrations of the Ohi Day, two warships -- frigate Hydra and fast attack missile boat Grigoropoulos -- were docked at Piraeus Port and have been opened to the public since Friday.
Hydra has been in the service of the Greek Navy since March 1992. The frigate on display is the fifth ship under that name. The fourth one is a destroyer that served during the early stages of World War II.
"During the German invasion of Greece, it was attacked by German bomber aircraft in 1941 and sunk in the Saronic Gulf. The destroyer was waiting to transfer the members of the Greek government to Alexandria in Egypt. A total of 41 members of the crew together with their commander died," explained Dionysis Artemakis, commander of Hellenic Navy and commanding officer of Hydra.
Grigoropoulos was named after Lieutenant Michail Grigoropoulos, executive officer of destroyer Vasilissa Olga, who was killed when the ship was sunk by the Germans on Sept. 21, 1943.
"People's response is impressive and very touching. We tour them around the spaces of the naval ships, explain what they see and how we work," Artemakis told Xinhua.
"We are open to the public, and we are very excited to see all these people visiting the ships and come in touch with us," George Papadopoulos, lieutenant commander of Grigoropoulos, told Xinhua.
