Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands 1809, Great Britain took possession of all the islands with the exception of Corfu and Paxos, which was only surrendered in 1814. In 1815, the Ionian Islands became a British protectorate under the name United States of the Ionian Islands. The civil and military governor of the Ionian Islands was the "Provveditore generale da Mar", who lived on Corfu and had the supreme peacetime command of the Venetian navy. In wartime, due to his absence at the head of the fleet, he was sometimes replaced by a "Provveditore generale delle Tre Isole" ("Superintendent general of the Three Islands"), referring to
Greek destroyer Niki (1906) back on escort duty under Greek colors, mainly in the Aegean Sea. "Niki" saw action in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). In 1919, she conducted escort missions in the Black Sea carrying Greek refugees from Pontus. Later, while covering the Greek Army's disorganized retreat after the fall of Smyrna on September 4, 1922, "Niki"s commander, Lieutenant Commander D. Hatziskos was killed by a sniper. After the war, "Niki" was refurbished from 1925 to 1927. She also participated in the Second World War, first carrying supplies in the Ionian Sea and after surviving the German invasion of April 1941, "Niki" served in