Greek People's Liberation Navy

The Greek People's Liberation Navy (Greek: Ελληνικό Λαϊκό Απελευθερωτικό Ναυτικό; Elliniko Laiko Apeleftherotiko Naftiko), commonly abbreviated as ELAN (ΕΛΑΝ), was the naval force of the communist-led Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) resistance movement during World War II, and later during the Greek Civil War.[1][2]

Greek People's Liberation Navy
Ελληνικό Λαϊκό Απελευθερωτικό Ναυτικό
Dates of operation1942–1945
Size~1,200 men, ~100 mostly small armed boats
Part ofNational Liberation Front
AlliesSoviet Union, SNOF, Albanian Partisans, Bulgarian Partisans, Yugoslav Partisans, Yugoslavia (Until July 1949), SOE
OpponentsGerman Army, Royal Italian Army, Kingdom of Bulgaria, Collaborationist government, Security Battalions, Kingdom of Greece
Battles and warsGreek resistance
Greek Civil War

ELAN was essentially an auxiliary coastal force, operating mostly caïque and other small vessels near the coasts of the Greek mainland and between the islands. By mid-1944 however it had grown to about 100 mostly small armed boats and over 1,200 men, divided into seven squadrons of three or four flotillas with up to six vessels each.

Structure

By the time of Liberation in late October 1944, ELAN was organized into six squadrons and a number of independent detachments, named after their areas of operations. These were:

References
  1. Elaine Thomopoulos (2012), The History of Greece, ABC-CLIO, pp. 130–, ISBN 978-0-313-37511-8
  2. American University (Washington, D.C.). Special Warfare Research Division; Doris M. Condit (1961), Case Study in Guerrilla War: Greece During World War II, Special Warfare Research Division, Special Operations Research Office, American University, pp. 332–


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