Warships of the Romanian Navyduring the Second World WarNumber of unitsDestroyers4Frigates1Sea-going ironclads5Sea-going torpedo boats3Coastguard cruisers3Submarines8Other~50
The Romanian Navy during World War II was the main Axis naval force in the Black Sea campaigns and fought against the Soviet Union's Black Sea Fleet from 1941 to 1944. Operations consisted mainly of mine warfare, but there were also escort missions and localized naval engagements. The largest naval action fought by the Romanian Navy was the 26 June 1941 Raid on Constanța, and its most extensive operation was the 1944 evacuation of the Crimea.
The Romanian Black Sea Fleet in June 1941
VesselOriginTypeNotesMain surface warships Regele Carol I Seaplane tender/Minelayer Built in the United Kingdom in 1898, sunk in October 1941 Mărăști Flotilla leader Built in Italy for the Romanian Navy, entered service in 1920 Mărășești Regele Ferdinand Destroyer Built in Italy for the Romanian Navy, entered service in 1930 Regina Maria Amiral Murgescu Minelayer-frigate Built at the Galați shipyard in Romania between 1938 and 1941; sizable (1,000+ tons) well-armed multi-purpose warship Sborul Sea-going torpedo boat Built in Austria-Hungary during World War I, acquired by Romania after the end of the war Bistrița Coastguard cruiser Built in London in 1888 Oltul SiretulSea-going ironclads Mihail Kogălniceanu Monitor Built in Austria-Hungary, assembled and launched in Romania in 1907; served as anti-submarine escort fitted with two depth charge throwers Ion Brătianu Alexandru Lahovari Lascăr Catargiu Bucovina Built in Austria-Hungary in 1915, acquired by Romania after World War I; fitted for service at sea with one depth charge throwerEscort corvettes Sublocotenent Ghiculescu Escort gunboat Built in France during World War I, acquired by Romania after the end of the war Eugen Stihi Căpitan Dumitrescu Smeul Escort gunboat (ex-torpedo boat) Built in Austria-Hungary during World War I as torpedo boat, acquired by Romania after the end of the war and converted to escort gunboat Năluca Built in Austria-Hungary during World War I as torpedo boat, acquired by Romania after the end of the war and converted to escort gunboat; sunk August 1944Fast attack craft Viscolul Motor torpedo boat Built in the United Kingdom in the late 1930s, acquired by Romania in 1940 Viforul Built in the United Kingdom in the late 1930s, acquired by Romania in 1940; sunk November 1941 Vijelia Căpitan Romano Mihail Armored motor launch Built in the United Kingdom in 1906-1907 Locotenent Dimitrie Călinescu Maior Gheorghe ȘonțuFloating batteries K-2 Floating battery Built in Russia during World War I as landing craft; converted to floating battery armed with two 152 mm guns and acquired by Romania in February 1918 K-7Submarines Delfinul Submarine Built in Italy for the Romanian Navy, entered service in 1936
Operations in the Black Sea
Beginning and main engagement
The naval war in the Black Sea commenced with the Raid on Constanța on 26 June 1941, the only encounter between major warships during the entire campaign.Spencer C. Tucker, World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia, p. 113 The Romanian flotilla leader Mărăști and the destroyer Regina Maria together with the minelayer Amiral Murgescu defended the port against the Soviet cruiser Voroshilov and the Leningrad-class destroyer leaders Kharkov and Moskva. The Romanian warships were supported by coastal artillery, including the German coastal battery Tirpitz (nominally under Romanian command) and the Soviet warships by Tupolev SB bombers. The raid was a Soviet failure, only amounting to several fuel tanks set on fire. No Romanian warship was sunk while the Soviet destroyer leader Moskva was lost to a Romanian minefield as she was avoiding fire from the Romanian warships and coastal artillery.Robert Forczyk, Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44, p. 39David T. Zabecki, World War II in Europe: An Encyclopedia, p. 1468Richard L. DiNardo, Germany and the Axis Powers from Coalition to Collapse, p. 109John Jordan, Stephen Dent, Warship 2008, p. 112
Other engagements
On 9 July 1941, near the Romanian Black Sea port of Mangalia, the Romanian gunboat Stihi informed the Romanian 250t-class torpedo boat Năluca (converted to gunboat) and motor torpedo boats Viscolul and Vijelia that the periscope of an enemy submarine was sighted near the harbor. In the ensuing battle, the Soviet Shchuka-class submarine Shch-206 was attacked by Năluca, at first with 20 mm rounds and then with depth charges, eventually being sunk with all hands.Antony Preston, Warship 2001–2002, p. 72Cristian Crăciunoiu, Romanian navy torpedo boats, p. 135Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, p. 134
On 17 December 1941, near the Bessarabian coast, the Romanian destroyer Regele Ferdinand, while escorting a convoy of Bulgarian and Hungarian cargo ships, depth-charged and sank the Soviet M-class submarine M-59, after the latter unsuccessfully attacked the convoy with torpedoes.Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940–1945, p. 67 (in Romanian)Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 5: Air Raid Pearl Harbor. This Is Not a Drill, p. 63Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1944–1945, p. 361 (in Romanian) According to other sources however submarine M-59 was lost due to mines earlier that date.M-59 on uboat.netJurgen Rohwer, Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs, 1935-53, 2012, p. 265
On 1 October, the Soviet submarine M-118 attacked and sank the German transport ship Salzburg. After attacking, the submarine was located by a German BV 138C flying boat, and the Romanian gunboats Sublocotenent Ghiculescu and Stihi Eugen were sent to the scene. The two Romanian warships attacked the submarine with depth charges, sinking her with all hands.Antony Preston, Warship 2001–2002, pp. 79–80Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 7: The Allies Strike Back p. 179Mikhail Monakov, Jurgen Rohwer, Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs 1935–1953, p. 266 Recent surveys in the area failed to find the wreck in the alleged sinking location and it has been raised the alternative version that M-118 was lost due German seaplane attack http://www.sovboat.ru/ship/m118.php3 M-118 on sovboat.ru (Russian) or a Romanian field from barrage "S-30".http://docplayer.ru/amp/27819615-Tragediya-transporta-zalcburg-i-gibel-podvodnoy-lodki-m-118.html Tragedy of transport "Salzburg" and the loss of submarine "M-118" (Russian)
Evacuation of the Crimea
The evacuation of the Crimea in April–May 1944 was the most complex and extensive operation of the Romanian Navy during the Second World War. From 15 April to 14 May, numerous German and Romanian warships escorted many convoys between Constanța and Sevastopol. The scale and importance of the operation can be attested by the usage in combat of all four warships of the Romanian Destroyer Squadron, the largest Axis warships in the Black Sea. The last phase of the evacuation (10-14 May) saw the fiercest combat, as Axis ships transported, under constant attacks from Soviet aircraft and shore artillery, over 30,000 troops. Of these, 18,000 were transported by Romanian ships. In total, Romanian and German convoys evacuated over 113,000 Axis troops from the Crimea, most of them (over 63,000) during the first phase of the evacuation (15-25 April). This achievement earned the Romanian naval commander, Rear-Admiral Horia Macellariu, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Crucea de Cavaler a Crucii de Fier, in Romanian). No Romanian Navy warships were lost during the evacuation, however the destroyer Regele Ferdinand was close to being sunk. She was struck by a large aerial bomb, which fell in her fuel tanks, but failed to detonate. The bomb was extracted several days after the end of the operation. Two naval actions involving the Romanian Navy took place during the second phase of the evacuation (25 April-10 May), near Sevastopol. On 18 April, the Soviet Leninets-class submarine L-6 was twice attacked with depth charges and damaged by the Romanian gunboat Ghiculescu, numerous bubbles emerged from the depths after each attack, before being finished off by the German submarine hunter UJ-104. During the night of 27 April, a convoy escorted by the Romanian gunboat Ghiculescu, the German submarine hunter UJ-115, one R-boat, two KFK naval trawlers and 19 MFPs (including the Romanian PTA-404 and PTA-406) engaged the Soviet G-5-class motor torpedo boats TKA-332, TKA-343 and TKA-344, after the three attacked and damaged the German submarine hunter UJ-104 (never recovered). Ghiculescu opened fire with tracer rounds, enabling the entire escort group to locate the two Soviet MTBs and open fire. TKA-332 was hit and sunk.Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, pp. 132-157 (in Romanian)Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1942–1944, Făt Frumos Publishing, 1997 (in Romanian)Robert Forczyk, Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014, Chapter 9
Mine warfare
The majority of naval losses, both inflicted and suffered by the Romanian Navy, were caused by naval mines.
Days before Operation Barbarossa, between 16 and 19 June 1941, the Romanian minelayer Amiral Murgescu along with two auxiliary minelayers laid a barrage of 1,000 mines off Constanța, and it was these mines that would sink Moskva one week later.Antony Preston, Warship 2001–2002, pp. 70 and 71 Throughout the war, the mines laid off Constanța also sank four Soviet submarines (Shch-213, M-58, M-34 and Shch-208).Mikhail Monakov, Jurgen Rohwer, Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs 1935–1953, pp. 265–266
Between 7 and 16 October 1941, Amiral Murgescu along with two auxiliary minelayers, all three escorted by the Romanian 250t-class torpedo boats Năluca, Sborul and Smeul, the Romanian gunboats Sublocotenent Ghiculescu and Căpitan Dumitrescu and the Bulgarian torpedo boats Drazki, Smeli and Hrabri, laid four full minefields and one partial minefield along the Bulgarian coast.Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, p. 323 These mines later sank three-four Soviet submarines (the S-class S-34 (claimed also by Bulgarian mines ), L-24, Shch-210 and Shch-211).
On 9 November 1941, the Romanian motor torpedo boats Viforul and Vijelia were sunk near Odessa by Soviet mines.Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, p. 390
On 24 June 1942, Amiral Murgescu along with one auxiliary minelayer laid mines off Odessa, while being escorted by the Romanian destroyers Regele Ferdinand and Regina Maria, the Romanian flotilla leader Mărășești, the Romanian gunboats Ghiculescu, Stihi and Dumitrescu and the Romanian gunboat Smeul (ex-torpedo boat), as well as German motor minesweepers of the Donau Flotilla.Donald A. Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell World War II Sea War, Volume 6: The Allies Halt the Axis Advance, p. 268 The mines laid near Odessa later sank the Soviet submarines M-33 and M-60 and the motor gunboats YA-26 and YA-27 in 1944.Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1944–1945, p. 365 (in Romanian)