At the beginning of the 20th century, Pavlos Kountouriotis (1855 – 1935) later the first President of the Hellenic Republic, in 1908 he became aide-de-camp to King George I and the following year he was promoted to Captain.
In June 1911 and due to the indiscipline of the crew of the battleship “Averof”, the position of Governor was assumed by the then Captain Pavlos Kountouriotis. With the outbreak of the Balkan Wars, he was promoted to Rear Admiral, while on April 16, 1912, he became Chief of the Naval General Staff, a position in which he remained until September 16, 1912. He then became Chief of the Aegean Fleet, during the Balkan Wars.
As Commander of the battleship “Averof”, the Hydra hero of the Balkan wars, occupies Lemnos, while in the following days he liberates Thassos, Imbros, Tenedos, Psara, Agios Eustratios and Samothrace. By December 21, he had managed to liberate almost all the Aegean islands, including Chios. With the battleship “Averof” he participated in two naval battles, that of Hellas and that of Lemnos (January 5, 1913). The naval battle of Hellas was won thanks to a daring maneuver by Kountouriotis, which was considered unthinkable heroism. His successful maneuvers forced the Turkish fleet to withdraw to the Dardanelles and confine itself within the Hellespont.
At the end of the Balkan Wars, he was promoted to Vice-Admiral for “exceptional service in war” and was the first Greek, after Konstantinos Kanaris, to receive this rank. He then took over the Ministry of Marine in the governments of Alexandros Zaimis and Stefanos Skouloudis. Disagreeing with Greece’s policy of neutrality in World War I, he participated in the Government of Thessaloniki as a member of the Triad (Danglis-Venizelos-Koundouriotis). In 1917 he once again assumed the portfolio of the Ministry of Marines and in the same year he retired with the rank of Admiral, an honor he deserved.
After the death of King Alexander, he assumed the duties of Regent until November 1920 and again after the departure of George II from the country in December 1923, until the proclamation of the Republic in March 1924. As a person of great prestige and wide acceptance he was elected first President of the Republic, a position in which he remained until 1926, when he resigned protesting the Dictatorship of general Theodoros Pangalos. On June 4, 1929, he was re-elected to the office of president by the House and the Senate, but resigned definitively this time, in December of the same year, for health reasons.
Another hero of the Balkan wars, Rear Admiral of the Navy Nikolaos Votsis (1877 – 1931), during the First Balkan War achieved something that was considered impossible. With the first naval engagements on October 18, 1912, in command of Torpilovolos 11, he entered the fortified port of Thessaloniki, without being noticed, where he launched three torpedoes against the Turkish battleship “Fetich Bulent” of 2806 tons, as a result of which the two torpedoes hit and the Turkish warship to sink, while the Torpedo 11 of N. Votsis left without any loss. This initiative undertaken by N. Votsis succeeded thanks to his cool judgment and bravery as he was not only in danger of being recognized by the enemy, but also in danger of the minefield, which he passed, in the port of Thessaloniki.
After this success he commanded the battleships Kilkis and Lemnos and served as High Commissioner in Constantinople from 1921 to 1922. He was promoted to rear admiral and retired at his own request in 1922.
Much later, Petros Voulgaris (1883 – 1957), on April 8, 1945, assumed the prime ministership of the country, from April 1945 until August 1945 for six months and nine days, trying to bring political parties to an agreement for elections .
At the beginning of the 20th century, some of the inhabitants of Hydra have indulged in sponge fishing, some in fishing, others are engaged in seafaring and a few are engaged in livestock.
During this period the Hydra, which has always been seaward, begins to experience a temporary economic recovery with the sponging, in which the heroes of the Revolution now become risk-taking divers, diving into mythical depths without any equipment or in their primitive diving suits of that era.
But this economic recovery was temporary and despite the strong and dominant presence of the Hydra element in Greek affairs from the beginning of the 20th century, as well as the privilege of the Hydra to elect three deputies, which seems to have remained unexploited, the decline of Hydra enters decay stage and the Hydraians slowly leave Hydra.
So as can be seen from the numbers, the 28,000 inhabitants in 1828 became 6,500 in 1910 and much later 3,200 in 1940.
The wealthiest come to the Capital and engage in business, where they succeed. However, most of the Hydraians settle in Piraeus, around the Church of Agios Nikolaos and create an entire district called Hydraiika, with the result that when Piraeus becomes a Municipality, the first Mayor Kyriakos Serfiotis is a Hydraian and not only that, because the Hydraians everywhere if found they were distinguished.
If we start across the Atlantic, we will meet the Hydra national hero of Argentina, Nikolaos Kolmaniatis, whose honorary plaque brought to Hydra by an Argentine Navy training ship in 1935, is embedded in a special monument under the School of Merchant Mariners.
The Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, Dorotheos Kotaras, was also a Hydrian, the Metropolitans of Paris and Patsis were also Hydrians, as well as Epiphanios Kalafatis of Paronaxia and Procopius Georgandopoulos of Krinis and Kalamaria, who are still alive today.
And to the temple of the spirit in the Academy of Athens, Hydra sent her own children Antonios Lignos, Ioannis Haramis, Nikolaos Hatzikyriakos-Gikas and Panagiotis Tetsis.
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