Samsun (Samsoun) Greeks exchanged to Greece 1923.

Picture showing a raft full of Greeks

towed to the ships that will take them to Greece.
After the Asia Minor disaster in 1922, the Greek population had to leave Turkish soil. Most of
them were women and children, who left in boats for Greece during the last months of 1922
[1] and the first months of 1923. Few were left to deport later with the regular population
exchange in 1924. The refugees of Samsun were relocated in the larger centers of the country
Athens, Pireus, Thessaloniki, but many at the tobacco producing areas of Drama and Kavala.
[1] The 11 June 1922 Bombardment of Samsun was carried out by the United States Navy
and the Greek Navy. The ships fired 400 rounds at the town, in return the single Turkish
cannon in the town fired back 25 rounds. The bombardment lasted almost three hours
(15:02-18:00).
There were several reasons for the bombardment. One of them was to assist Greek rebels,
fighting Turkish forces in the area. Another reason was to disrupt consignment of weapons
and ammunition into inner Anatolia. Moreover Turkish sailing boats were taking over Greek
ships in the Black Sea and were putting them in Turkish service. Recently a large Greek ship
named Enosis had been taken over by one Turkish officer and five soldiers on 25 April 1922.
At the end, the attack could not wreak any damage to the Turkish logistical system or military
material, though it caused damage to civilian properties and loss of civilian lives. The ships
stayed in Samsun until being recalled back to Constantinople. Around eight o'clock pm admiral
Robert L. Ghormley went ashore, accompanied by a pharmacist, to see if any Americans were
injured or dead.
The New York Times reported about the incident on 11 June 1922, stating that the Greeks
claim the firing was directed against the ammunition dumps. The newspaper further
mentioned that few lives were lost and the warehouse of the American Tobacco Company was
slightly damaged. The New York Times published another article about the incident on 12
June. The article wrote that the commander of an American torpedo boat destroyer at
Samsun reported, contrary to the Greek report, there were 90 casualties as a result of the
bombardment and a portion of the town was destroyed. The ammunition depots belonging to
the Turks, which were situated three miles inland, were not damaged.
Civilian properties damaged or destroyed by the bombardment include:The governors office
destroyed, the house of the Grek priest partially damaged, three houses belonging to local
Greeks destroyed, one shop (Alston) partially damaged, one shop belonging to a Greek
destroyed (value of loss 30,000 liras), 25-26 houses belonging to Turks destroyed, 19 houses
belonging to Turks damaged, 19 barges damaged (cost of repairs 1,500 liras), Armenian
church and its orphanage damaged, one sentry house destroyed, a depot belonging to the
local merchants destroyed, gasoline and kerosene in the petroleum depot belonging to the
municipality burned off: 9,496 tinplate containers of American kerosene, 19,800 tinplate

containers of Russian kerosene, 41,700 tinplate containers of kerosene, 6,000 kg Russian

gasoline, 33,000 kg gasoline belonging to the municipality and 38,368 kg mercantile
gasoline).As a result of the bombardment, there were four dead and three wounded among
Turkish civilians.

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Naval bombardment of virtually undefended Samsun was carried out by the following, on June
7, 1922: American warships:USS Sands (DD-243); USS McFarland (DD-237); USS Sturtevant
(DD-240); Greek warships: Cruiser, Georgios Averof; Destroyer, Nazos; Battleship, Kilkis;
Destroyer,Leon; plus several other Greek Cruisers and minesweepers.
The imperial powers, in the scramble for control over the spoils of the dissolved Ottoman
Empire, would come into conflict with each other.
In addition, the Allies did not fully allow the Greek Navy to effect a blockade of the Black Sea
coast, which could have restricted Turkish imports of food and material.

Still, the Greek Navy was allowed to bombard some larger ports (June and July 1921 Inebolu;
July 1921 Trabzon, Sinop; August 1921 Rize, Trabzon; September 1921 Arakl, Terme,
Trabzon; October 1921 Izmit; June 1922 Samsun).[75] The Greek Navy was able to blockade
the Black Sea coast especially before and during the First and Second nn, Ktahya
Eskiehir and Sakarya battles, preventing weapon and ammunition shipments.
Refer to: "In the year prior to the bombardment, the Allied Powers had deprived Greece of its
belligerent rights under International Maritime Law to blockade an enemy port. The
bombardment did not stop the flow of war materials to the Kemalists, who then declared the
Pontos a war zone." "Greece in Asia Minor; the Greek Naval Bombardment of Samsun, June 7,
1922." Harry Psomiades, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Queens College and the Graduate School
of the City University of New York.
See also: Shirinian, George N. (Ed.). The Asia Minor Catastrophe and the Ottoman Greek
Genocide: Essays on Asia Minor, Pontos and Eastern Thrace, 1913-1923. Bloomingdale, IL:
The Asia Minor and Pontos Hellenic Research Center. Dedicated to the memory of Professor
Harry J. Psomiades
The first year of the war, the Greeks together with its allies occupied the straits and
Constantinople, which stayed under joint occupation until the end of the war. Initially the
British and then the French occupied Cilicia. The Italians occupied southwestern Anatolia and
the Armenians occupied northeastern Anatolia. In the first years of the war, the wars against
the French and Armenians diverted significant Turkish troops from the front against the
Greeks. There were also revolts during the war which dispersed troops. After the victories
against the French and Armenians the Turks could turn their energies on the Greek intrusion.
The Greeks estimated, despite warnings from the French and British not to underestimate the
enemy, that they would need only three months to defeat the already weakened Turks on
their own. Exhausted from four years of bloodshed, no Allied power had the will to engage in
a new war and relied on Greece. During the Conference of London in February 1921, the
Greek prime minister Kalogeropoulos revealed that the morale of the Greek army was
excellent and their courage was undoubted, he added that in his eyes the Kemalists were "not
regular soldiers; they merely constituted a rabble worthy of little or no consideration". Still,
the Allies had doubts about Greek military capacity to advance in Anatolia, facing vast
territories, long lines of communication, financial shortcomings of the Greek treasury and
above all the toughness of the Turkish peasant/soldier.

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