Between 1941 and 1944, Romania held control over much of the Black Sea coast in modern Ukraine east of Crimea. This was acquired during Operation Barbarossa. The Romanian capture of the Soviet-controlled western Black Sea coast started in July 1941 during Operation München and ended in October that year, after the Siege of Odessa. In the aftermath of these actions, Romania acquired two sectors of coastline: the Bessarabian coast, which had been part of Romanian waters prior to the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina; and the Transnistrian Coast. The latter was lost in April 1944, but the former was successfully defended until August 1944.

Actions in Bessarabian waters On 17 December 1941, the Soviet M-class submarine M-59 carried out an attack against an Axis convoy near the coastal town of Jibrieni in December 1941. The convoy consisted of the Hungarian cargo ships Kassa and KolozsvárAntony Preston, Warship 2001-2002, pp. 77 and the Bulgarian cargo ship Tzar Ferdinand.Antony Preston, Warship 2001-2002, pp. 80 The three ships were escorted by the Romanian destroyers Regele Ferdinand and Regina Maria, the Romanian gunboats Stihi and Ghiculescu and the Romanian torpedo boats Sborul and Smeul. The two torpedoes launched by the Soviet submarine missed the aft and bow respectively of the Romanian destroyer by about 30 feet each. With 25 knots, Regele Ferdinand rushed to the place the torpedoes were launched from and dropped three series of depth charges. Between the second and third series, fuel and bubbles emerged from the water. Regele Ferdinand subsequently circled the area and dropped four more depth charges, followed by more fuel emerging from the depths as well as pieces of wood. Regele Ferdinand reported the sinking of the submarine, which was confirmed by the Romanian Naval Command. Post-war sources revealed the identity of the submarine as M-59.Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1941-1942, Făt-Frumos, 1996, pp. 274-275Jipa 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. 63Paul E. Fontenoy, Submarines: an illustrated history of their impact, ABC-CLIO, 31 March 2017, p. 275

On 1 October 1942, near the Burnas Lagoon, the Soviet M-class 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

On 14 October 1942, the Soviet submarine M-32 unsuccessfully attacked the Romanian destroyer Regele Ferdinand near the Burnas Lagoon, the submarine being subsequently depth charged and damaged by the Romanian torpedo boat Smeul.Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 7: The Allies Strike Back, p. 179Antony Preston, Warship 2001-2002, pp. 79-80

Actions in Transnistrian waters 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 13 June 1942, the Soviet submarine A-5 was damaged by Romanian depth charges near Odessa.Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Vol 6: The Allies Halt the Axis Advance, Bertke Publications, 2014, p. 267

On 24 June 1942, the Romanian minelayer 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 M-class submarines M-33 and M-60 on 24 August and 26 September that year.Mikhail Monakov, Jurgen Rohwer, Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs 1935–1953, Routledge Publishing, 2012, p. 266Donald A. Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell World War II Sea War, Volume 6: The Allies Halt the Axis Advance, Bertke Publications, 2014, p. 268

Also sunk by the Romanian-laid mines near Odessa were the motor gunboats YA-26 and YA-27 on 18 April 1944,Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1944–1945, p. 365 (in Romanian) a few days after Transnistria was re-captured by Soviet forces.

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