Olympias was constructed from 1985 to 1987 by a shipbuilder in
Piraeus. She was built to drawings by the naval architect
John Coates which he developed through long discussions with the historian
John Morrison following the longest correspondence on any subject in
The Times in the early 1980s. The work was also advised by the classics teacher
Charles Willink and drew on evidence gained from Greek literature, history of art and archaeology above and below water. Finance came from the Hellenic Navy and donors such as
Frank Welsh (a banker, writer and trireme enthusiast). Morrison, Coates and Willink founded the Trireme Trust together with Welsh. The Trireme Trust was chaired by Professor
Boris Rankov; it was wound up in 2018 and its documents archived at
Wolfson College, Cambridge. The
bronze bow
ram weighs 200 kg. It is a copy of an original ram now in the
Archaeological Museum of Piraeus. The ship was built from
Douglas fir with tenons of Virginia
oak. The keel is of
iroko hardwood. The important
hypozomata (bracing ropes) had to be replaced by a steel rope because no natural fibre or synthetic fibre ropes with about the same
elastic modulus as
hemp could be obtained for economic reasons. The steel cables' tension varied as the
hull bent on the waves, rather than exerting constant tension like a natural fibre rope. This caused the alarming possibility of the rope breaking and endangering the crew, so protective measures had to be taken. She underwent
sea trials in 1987, 1990, 1992 and 1994, but one of the most informative was a 1987 exercise crewed by 170 volunteer oarsmen and oarswomen.
Olympias achieved a speed of and was able to perform 180 degree turns within one minute, in an arc no wider than two and a half (2.5) ship-lengths. These results, achieved with an inexperienced, mixed crew, suggest that ancient historians like
Thucydides were not exaggerating about the capabilities of triremes.
Olympias was transported to Britain in 1993, to take part in events celebrating the 2,500 years since the beginning of
democracy. In 2004 she was used to transport the
Olympic Flame ceremonially from the port of
Keratsini to the main
port of Piraeus, as the
Olympic torch relay approached
Athens for the
2004 Summer Olympics.
Olympias is now an exhibit in a dry dock at the
Naval Tradition Park in
Palaio Faliro, Athens. In the years 2016 to 2018, a number of trips in the
Saronic Gulf were organized, with amateur rowers and passengers. == Technology ==