Salamis Naval Base (Nafstathmos Salaminas)

Salamis Naval Base is the principal base of the Hellenic Navy, situated on the northeastern shore of Salamis Island at Cape Arapis, with associated installations at Amphiali and Skaramangas on the adjacent mainland coast of the Saronic Gulf, close to Piraeus and Athens. It falls under the Hellenic Navy Logistics Command and employs roughly 10,000 naval and civilian personnel.

Most Hellenic Navy units are homeported at Salamis, together with a large part of the service's administrative, training and support organisation. Several commands of the Fleet Headquarters are located within the base: the Command of Frigates, the Command of Fast Attack Craft, the Command of Gunboats, the Command of Mine Warfare Vessels, the Command of Amphibious Forces and the Command of Submarines, along with the Underwater Demolition Command. The base also controls the Forward Operating Naval Base at Syros.

Base organisation comprises the headquarters and subordinate services covering ship movements, docks, jetties and base security, general procurement and supply, fuel supply, naval infrastructure, naval weapons, a chemical laboratory, and financial and technical sections. The Salamis Naval Hospital is located on the base. Ship maintenance work is subcontracted to yards and firms at Salamis, Perama, Keratsini and Drapetsona. Other units in the base area include the Palaskas Training Camp and Amphiali Heliport (LGAM). A standard gauge light railway from Piraeus via Perama terminated inside the base at Amphiali from 1936 until 1977.

A royal decree of 16 April 1881 directed the construction of a naval base at Arapi, near Cape Arapis, replacing the earlier base at Poros and the interim facilities established at the Faneromeni Monastery between 1878 and 1881. The Greek government acquired some 300 hectares, most of it ceded by the Municipality of Salamis, and construction began the same year, with naval activities transferred progressively to the new site. The installations were heavily damaged in 1944 and the approach channel obstructed by sunken hulls; clearance, salvage and reconstruction began in November 1944 and the facilities were returned to operational condition. The base has remained in continuous Hellenic Navy use since, later complemented by the second base at Souda Bay.