Greek battleship Kilkis

300px Kilkis - Θ/Κ Κιλκίς
Career (Greece)	50px
Namesake:	Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas
Laid down:	May 12, 1904
Launched:	September 30, 1905
Commissioned:	July 22, 1914
Decommissioned:	1931
Fate:	Sunk on April 23, 1941 near Salamis. Salvaged and sold for scrap
Notes:	previously USS Mississippi (BB-23)
General characteristics
Class and type:	Mississippi class battleship
Displacement:	Full load 14,095 tons Standard 13,000 tons
Length:	382 ft (116 m)
Beam:	77 ft (23 m)
Draft:	24.7 ft (7.5 m)
Propulsion:	Engines: triple-expansion reciprocating engines, Shafts: 2 (twin screw ship), Power: 10,000 hp
Speed:	17-knot (31 km/h) maximum
Complement:	744
Armament:	4×12-inch (305 mm), 8×8-inch (203 mm), 8×7-inch (178 mm), 12×3-inch (76 mm), 6×3 pdr, 2×1 pdr, 6×.30 MG, 2×21-inch (533 mm) T/T
Armour:	Belt: 9 in, Turrets: 12 in, Deck: 3 in, Conning Tower: 9 in

Kilkis (Greek: Θ/Κ Κιλκίς) was a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class Greek battleship (θωρηκτό) named for a crucial battle of the Second Balkan War.

Laid down for the United States Navy in 1904, she served in that navy as the USS Mississippi (BB-23) from 1908 until 1914, when both Mississippi-class ships were purchased from the United States by Greece. The sale financed the purchase of the new dreadnought battleship USS Idaho. She was transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy at Newport News, Virginia, late in July of that year. New latice masts were installed to support radiotelegraphy antennas, giving the two ships their distinctive shape.

The ship was seized by France along with the rest of the Greek Fleet in 1916 due to Greece's neutrality in World War I (see the National Schism). When Greece entered the war on the side of the Entente, France returned her to the Royal Hellenic Navy. After World War I Kilkis saw action in the 1919 Allied Crimean expedition in support of White Russian forces, and the Asia Minor Campaign.

Kilkis underwent repairs and upgrades in 1926-1928 but was already obsolete due to low speed and low freeboard. She served with the Royal Hellenic Navy until 1931. In 1935, after a period in reserve, the hulk of Kilkis became a naval artillery training facility. She was sunk in the Salamis channel by Stuka dive bombers on April 23, 1941, during the German invasion of Greece. Her wreck was refloated and sold for scrap in the 1950s.

See also

• USS Mississippi (BB-23)
• Greek battleship Limnos