NMS Grivița was a gunboat of the Romanian Navy, built in 1880. It was the first warship acquired by the Kingdom of Romania after gaining independence in 1878 and the first military ship of the Romanian Black Sea Fleet. Throughout her career, she saw service on both the Black Sea and the Danube during the Second Balkan War and the First World War.
Description Grivița was the first warship acquired by Romania after its 1877-1878 war of independence. She was built in 1880 by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in Austria-Hungary, being the last warship purchased by Romania before the country's conversion to a Kingdom in 1881. She measured 60.5 meters in length, with a beam of 5.2 meters and a draught of 1.8 meters. She displaced 110 tons standard and 128 tons with a full load of coal, had a crew of 30 men and a top speed of 9 knots, generated by a 180 hp steam engine. She was armed with two 57 mm Nordenfelt guns, two 37 mm 1-pounder guns and two machine guns.Roger Chesneau, N. J. M. Campbell, Conway's All the world Fighting Ships 1906-1921, Mayflower Books, 1979, p. 421John Evelyn Moore, Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I, Military Press, 1990, p. 295
Career
Grivița was ordered in 1880, with the main purpose of enforcing Romanian interests at the newly-established Danube Commission, headquartered in the Romanian port town of Sulina.Ştefan Negrea, Pe urmele lui Grigore Antipa, p. 132 (in Romanian) In 1885-1886, she conducted topographic research off Sulina and the northern half of the Romanian coast.Revista muzeelor și monumentelor, Volume 26, p. 47 (in Romanian) Grivița was brought in Romania by the fleet commander itself.
Between 1886 and 1888, NMS Grivița was commanded by commander Eustațiu Sebastian.
The 1913 Second Balkan War found her on the Danube, where she provided artillery support for the Romanian troops crossing into Bulgaria from Corabia.Raymond Stănescu, Cristian Crăciunoiu, Marina română în primul război mondial, p. 35 (in Romanian)
When Romania entered the First World War on the side of the Allies in late 1916, she was put at the disposal of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, acting as a liaison ship between the Russian and Romanian forcesMarea revoluție socialistă din octombrie și mișcarea revoluționară și democratică din România, p. 331 (in Romanian) under the command of Captain Vlădescu Constantin.Raymond Stănescu, Cristian Crăciunoiu, Marina română în primul război mondial, p. 271 (in Romanian) She was later transferred to the Romanian Danube fleet. In the autumn of 1916, she along with a tug and two barges evacuated the Romanian 37 mm and 57 mm coastal artillery guns from Cinghineaua Island, after the latter ended up behind enemy lines.Raymond Stănescu, Cristian Crăciunoiu, Marina română în primul război mondial, p. 93 (in Romanian) A few months later, she collided with a Russian ship, but was successfully repaired.Raymond Stănescu, Cristian Crăciunoiu, Marina română în primul război mondial, p. 222 (in Romanian) After Romania resumed hostilities against the Central Powers in the autumn of 1918, she captured a German cargo ship sailing for Odessa.Codreanu Săvoiu, Curierul judiciar 1923, p. 553 She was mentioned for the last time in March 1919,Raymond Stănescu, Cristian Crăciunoiu, Marina română în primul război mondial, p. 271 (in Romanian) her ultimate fate being unknown.Roger Chesneau, N. J. M. Campbell, Conway's All the world Fighting Ships 1906-1921, Mayflower Books, 1979, p. 421
See also Grivitsa, the location of the Battle of Grivița the ship is named for
References
External links Gunboat Grivița (in Romanian)