Hellenic Shipyards S.A. is a large shipyard in Skaramagas near Athens, Greece. Its origins are connected with the Royal Hellenic Naval Shipyard created in 1937 in order to build warships. Despite heavy investment and an order of 12 destroyers and a number of submarines (of which 2 destroyers were in initial stages of construction), development ceased due to the Second World War while in 1944 the facilities were virtually destroyed by Allied bombing. Operation started in 1957 when Greek business tycoon Stavros Niarchos purchased the ruined shipyard and rebuilt and expanded its facilities; since then the company has built a large number of ships (both civilian and military).