Background to the Spartan-Athenian Naval War of 1890

This imaginary war was created so that I had a background against which I could try out my recently written SIMPLE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY BATTLESHIP VS. BATTLESHIP NAVAL WARGAME RULES. The inspiration for the setting came from the recent mini-camapigns being fought using Mark Cordone's HOPLITE Portable Wargame mini-campaign.

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During the latter part of the nineteenth century the rivalry between the Greek city-states of Sparta and Athens was growing. The Spartans particularly resented the growing links between the Athenians and the Cretans, especially after the Athenians signed a treaty with the Cretans that gave them exclusive rights to buy the Cretan agricultural surpluses.

Sparta's growing population needed that food supply, and despite diplomatic requests to both the Athenians and Cretans to allow the Spartans to be party to the treaty, they were rebuffed. In order to intimidate the Cretans, the Spartan king ordered the Corinthian-built battleship Leonidas to Crete ... not knowing that the Athenian battleship Artemis (which was also built in Corinth) was already there on a goodwill visit.

On receiving information that the Leonidas had set sail for Crete, the Athenian Admiralty sent a coded telegram to the captain of the Artemis, ordering him to prevent the Spartan warship from reaching Crete.

The stage was set for a confrontation ...

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Note about the Corinthian shipbuilders

Corinth was the major centre for shipbuilding in the region and built warships for all the local nations. As a result, both the Spartan and Athenian fleets had identical battleships.