The murderous moment came during the late-afternoon languor, the time for a last cool drink before dinner or a final stretch of sun on the ship's upper deck. Suddenly, the holiday mood aboard the City of Poros, a day cruiser plying the islands in the Saronic Gulf, was shattered by grenade blasts and a fusillade of automatic-weapon fire. For about five minutes, several assailants, possibly as many as four, raked the deck of the 688-ton vessel. They then escaped, apparently by jumping overboard. The hit squad left nine people dead and 47 injured.
"We thought it was children playing with firecrackers,"...