Maritime telegrams

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Maritime telegrams

Shipping consists of 1,054 telegrams. These were messages exchanged between captains and shipping agents or shipowners in the 1950s-1960s, and they mainly concern cargo loading and ship chartering. However, there were also telegrams reflecting the personal lives of sailors and their families. Radiocommunication was a vital part of 20th century shipping. In Greece wireless telegraphy was first used by the navy in 1910, while the ships of the Greek fleet were first equipped with radios in 1912. Currently, the radio operator specialisation has been all but abolished.
The large number of telegrams in this category is due to the important role of shipping in the Greek economy. During the postwar period, Greeks made up the largest group of independent free cargo ship managers, composing an international fleet under a variety of flags, transporting dry and liquid bulk cargo on behalf of various countries. Greek-owned shipping corresponded to 1.5% of global shipping in 1947 and sky-rocketed to 12.5% in 1970. The main shipowners who appear in the telegrams are Chatzipateras, Skinitis, and Sofianos.

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See the Telegrams Archive of the OTE Group Telecommunications Museum

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31/10/1903. Telegram in which the sender asks for 15 sacks of bread to be sent, while informing the recipient of the dispatch to Piraeus of a cargo load of sponges. The recipient is Hydra entrepreneur and sponge fishing vessel financier Panos Verveniotis. (ΜΤ-020731)

23/01/1912. Telegram from Livorno to Andros. The sender informs the recipient that he is departing for Cardiff, Wales. (ΜΤ-020882)

19/10/1929. Great Northern Telegraph Company (Limited) telegram. Via Northern, from Stockholm to London. The telegram concerns supplies for a steamer. (ΜΤ-021040)

30/09/1932. The navigator of S/S ANTONIOS informs the Sidra company in Piraeus of the ship’s departure. The telegram bears the stamp of the Piraeus Telegraph Office. (MT-021852)

12/10/1936. Cryptographic telegram from London to Piraeus, decoded into English, regarding the chartering of a ship for cargo transport. It bears the censorship stamp “Exchange control” and the recommendation to send “a validated exact translation to the Telegraph Office’s Censor noting the relevant code number” that very day. After I. Metaxas declared martial law, the confidentiality of correspondence was abolished and exchange control was imposed. (ΜΤ-021951)

09/12/1937. Cryptographic telegram from Piraeus to the central offices of the Cable & Wireless company in London, regarding the chartering of commercial vessels. (ΜΤ-021954)

14/04/1952. Radiogram in which captain Moscholios informs the recipient regarding the day of the vessel’s arrival at Zonguldak (Turkey). Zonguldak port on the Black Sea was created in 1847 to provide export services to the neighbouring coal mines of Eregli. (ΜΤ-020605)

05/05/1952. Radiogram in which captain Moscholios informs the recipient of the day the steamer Margarita will arrive at Stratoni, Chalkidiki. (ΜΤ-020606)

24/03/1952. Radiogram in which Captain Moscholios informs the recipient regarding the collection of cargo at Zonguldak (Turkey). (ΜΤ-020607)

03/06/1952. Radiogram in which captain Moscholios informs the recipient regarding the time at which he will pass through Istanbul. (ΜΤ-020608)

28/03/1952. Radiogram sent to Stefanos Sofianos informing him of the ship’s crossing of Çanakkale and asking him to inform the charterers to deposit the overtime pay as per the charter agreement. (ΜΤ-020609)

21/04/1952. Radiogram in which captain Moscholios informs the recipient that he is crossing Çanakkale. (ΜΤ-020612)

01/02/1952. Radiogram in which captain Moscholios informs the recipient regarding the day on which he will cross the Isthmus. (ΜΤ-020613)

11/01/1952. Radiogram in which captain Moscholios informs the recipient regarding the ship's passing Cavo D’ Οro and requests the conclusion of a pending financial matter. (ΜΤ-020614)

11/01/1952. Radiogram in which captain Moscholios informs the recipient regarding the ship's passing Cavo D’ Οro and requests the conclusion of a pending financial matter. (ΜΤ-020614)

24/09/1951. Telegram from Venice to London, in English, informing the recipient of the docking of steamer Margarita in Kherson. (ΜΤ-021124)

21/12/1951. Via Radio-Athinai telegram in English, in which the sender, Vintiadis, informs the recipient, Sofianos, regarding the cement cargo aboard steamer Margarita. (ΜΤ-021133)

18/12/1951. Via Radio-Athinai telegram in English, in which the sender informs the recipient, Sofianos, regarding the exact location of steamer Margarita. (ΜΤ-021136)

27/01/1952. Via Radio Athina telegram from Istanbul to Athens, in which the captain of steamer Margarita informs the recipient, Stefanos Sofianos, regarding repairs to the boiler and deck steam pipes, while requesting the replacement of the first officer, who was suffering from congestion. (ΜΤ-021235)

27/91959. Telegram in English from New York to Piraeus in which the sender informs shipowner K. Skinitis that the Agios Nikolaos vessel transmitted the sudden death of radio operator Markos Xenakis in Montreal on 24/25 September and that his funeral was held on 28 September. The sender asks the recipient to inform Stamatia Xenaki. (ΜΤ-022979)

26/05/1962. Telegram in which Katigo Kolokotroni and her husband Minoas ask Konstantinos Skinitis to purchase three icons; Saint Charalampos, the Agioi Anargyroi, and Saint Panteleimon, in order to deliver them to Giannis (Kolokotronis?) and Maro. (ΜΤ-023017)

22/10/1965. Radiogram in which steamer Panagiotis D. informs shipowner K. Skinitis in Piraeus regarding its departure from Manchester, as well as of the illness (somnambulism) of a sailor, due to which his remittance will need to be cancelled. (ΜΤ-023125)

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