Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15km long and just 2-4 km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri peninsula and Cape Drapano, and runs west to east. The bay is overlooked on both sides by hills, with a relatively low and narrow isthmus in the west near Chania. Crete (Greek: Κρήτη Kríti; Turkish: Girit) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. ... Akrotiri is a peninsula in Crete, east of Chania. ... Chania (IPA , Greek: Χανιά, also transliterated as Hania, older form Chanea and Venetian: Canea, Godart and Olivier abbreviation: KH) is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania Prefecture. ...

Near the mouth of Souda bay, between the Akrotiri and the town of Kalives, are a set of small islands with Venetian fortifications. The largest island is 'Souda', giving its name to the bay. The Venetians held on to these strategic islands for over thirty years after the fall of Crete to the Ottomans. There have been ports on the bay since ancient times, previously serving the city of Aptera. The Ottomans built fortresses at Aptera and Kalami. Much later they built the town of Souda at the head of the bay, as the port of the nearby city of Chania. Souda is now an important port for freight and ferries to Pireaus, and a strategic NATO base particularly suitable for submarines. Kalives (Kalyves, Καλύβες) is a large village in Crete, Greece. ... Country Italy Region Veneto Province Venice (VE) Mayor Massimo Cacciari (since April 18, 2005) Elevation m Area 412 km² Population  - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 271,251  - Density 646/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Veneziani Dialing code 041 Postal code 30100 Frazioni Chirignago, Favaro Veneto, Mestre... now. ... Souda (Greek: Σούδα) is a town and municipality of the Greek island of Crete, in the prefecture of Chania. ... Piraeus, or Peiraeus (Modern Greek: Πειραιά(ς) Pireá(s), Ancient Greek / Katharevousa: Πειραιεύς Pireéfs) is a city in the prefecture of Attica, Greece, located south of Athens. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[1] (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ... German UC-1 class World War I submarine A model of Gunter Priens Unterseeboot 47 (U-47), German WWII Type VII diesel-electric hunter-killer (SSK) submarine Inside of the Argonaute, showing the typical obstructed, tiny space of a post-WWII diesel attack submarine. ...

During World War II British and Commonwealth troops withdrew from Greece in April 1941 and 25,000 men, mainly from New Zealand and Australia, disembarked there. In May, during the German attack named "Operation Merkur", Allied troops retreated from the Souda area to Sfakia in the south of the island. The principal Allied War Cemetery of the island is at Souda. This article is becoming very long. ... This article is about the year. ... The Battle of Crete began on the morning of May 20, 1941, during World War II, when Germany launched an airborne invasion under the code name Operation Merkur, or Operation Mercury. ... The village of Hóra Sfakíon Sfakiá (Greek Σφακιά) is a beautiful, traditional, mountainous area to the South West of the island of Crete, in the Chania prefecture. ...

Souda Bay is now a popular tourist destination although there are no real public beaches due to the presence of the naval base. Villages such as Megala Chorafia and Kalives afford fine views of the bay, and house-building, particularly for foreigners and tourist companies, is spreading along the bay.

References

• http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/fall_of_crete.htm