Built in Livorno, Italy in 1910, the battleship Averof, with a displacement of 10,000 tons, was the flagship and by far the largest warship of the Greek Royal Navy until 1951, when it was retired from active service. More than a century after its construction, it remains seaworthy, one of only three armored cruisers in the world today. Initially intended to join the Italian Navy, it was purchased by Greece and soon served in the Balkan Wars and World War II, becoming the first Greek warship to enter Indian waters since the time of Alexander the Great, and continued to serve in escort duties throughout the rest of the war.

In 1945, it was moored in Poros where it was abandoned until 1984, when the Greek Navy General Staff decided to salvage it from oblivion. After years of slow repairs and maintenance, the ship is now anchored in the Faliron Bay on the coast of Athens as a floating naval museum. John Carr not only provides the complete technical specifications and operational history of the ship, including details of its renovation, but also relies on firsthand accounts from officers, warrant officers, and sailors to narrate the long and distinguished career of this excellent battleship.