On June 28, 1969, the Greek Post Office issued a set of stamps commemorating "Greece and the Sea". The values and designs are respectively: 80 lepta, sailing vessel, brig-rigged, and steamship of the 19th century, from a painting by Ioannis Poulakas (1864-1942). 2 drachmae, a modern super-tanker of the Greek merchant navy. 2.50 drachmae, merchant vessels and warships of the War of Independence, 1821, from a work by an unknown artist. 4.50 drachmae, vessels of the modern Greek Navy on manoeuvres. 6 drachmae. Battle of Salamis, 480 B.C., detail from a painting by Constantine Volonakis (1839-1907). The destroyer Velos can easily be identified on the 4.50 drachmae stamp by the number on her hull, "16". She is the ex-U.S.S. Charette (DD 581) of the "Fletcher" class, transferred to Greece under the Mutual Defence Assistance Programme on June 15, 1959, at Long Beach, California. She was built at the Boston Navy Yard and was laid down on February 20, 1941, launched on June 3, 1942 and completed on May 18, 1943. The Velos has a displacement tonnage of 2,100 standard, 3,050 tons full load, her dimensions being 376.5 x 39.5 x 12.2 ft. draft, and 18 ft. max. draft. She carries four 5-in., 38 cal. and six 3M. A.A. (3 twin) guns. Her antisubmarine weapons are hedgehogs and depth charges, and she has five 21 in. torpedo tubes. Main engines are two sets of General Electric geared turbines, of 6,000 s.h.p. driving two shafts, maximum speed being 34 knots. The destroyer has a maximum radius of 6,000 miles at 15 knots, or 5,285 miles at 32 knots. She carries a complement of 300.
SG1115 Sea Breezes 8/69