Battle of Salamis

The Battle of Salamis was a naval engagement that took place during the second Persian invasion of Greece, in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Attica, in 480 BC. It was fought between the Athenian fleet, under Themistocles, and the Persian armada, led by Achaemenes. The type of warship used was the trireme, which was an ancient galley with three lines of oars and a 200-ton displacement.

In 480 BC, King Xerxes of Persia decided to conquer Greece, since his father Darius I had failed to do so ten years before. While the Persian Army defeated the Spartan forces at the Thermopylae and advanced towards Athens, the Achaemenes’ fleet, which was composed of 600 triremes, sailed into the Saronic Gulf, in the Aegean Sea. There, in the strait between the Greek coast of Attic Peninsula and the island of Salamis, the efficient Athenian warships were waiting for the invaders.

Although the Greek had only 370 vessels, they were able to defeat the Persians because Achaemenes massive fleet was hemmed in and unable to maneuver and surround the Greek warships. It was impossible in such cramped space of the narrow strait. Thus, Xerxes, who sat on a throne on a nearby coastal hill, saw how his powerful navy was destroyed by the Athenian fleet, whose triremes were faster than the Persian ones. Many Persian warships were boarded by vicious Greek hoplites, who jumped off their trireme and proceeded to kill their enemy.