Romania - Navy History - World War II
In 1940 the Vosper-class torpedo patrol boats Vijelia, Viforul and Viscolul, built in England, were commissioned. Together with other units purchased or built after 1940, such as the six Power-class torpedo patrol boats from the Netherlands and the two submarines Rechinul and Marsuinul, fitted in the Galatzi Shipyard, those ships were used to accomplish the complex missions assigned to the Royal Navy during the Second World War.
Taking into consideration the type of these missions, one can distinguish among seven important stages in our Navy’s participation in WWII. The first stage ranges from June 28, 1940 to June 22, 1941. During this campaign, the missions of the Naval Forces were as follows: making the Soviet troops retreat from the South of Basarabia, thus freeing the Chilia distributary and opening the navigation on the Danube; crossing of the Romanian troops to the right bank of the Danube; beating off the Soviet troops away from the border area; defending Sulina and Constanza ports.
The period between June 22 and August 4, 1941 was regarded as the second stage. During those days, the main missions of the Royal Navy were to support the offensive of the land forces and ensure the navigation on the Danube River, as well as to defend the coast and harbors by countering attempts of enemy attacks and landing. Such actions are well reflected by the military operation of June 26, 1941, when two Soviet destroyers, i.e. Moskva and Harkov turned up in the outer basin of the Black Sea by Constanta and opened fire against the city’s harbor area. In response, the artillery of destroyers Marasti and Regina Maria together with the coastal artillery batteries began firing at the enemy ships. The beaten off Soviet ships retreated, whereas Moskva, the flotilla leader, sank and Harkov was severely damaged.
The third stage covers the period of August 4th, 1941 to July 28th, 1942. During this time, the Romanian naval forces provided protection mainly for transports on the western coast of the Black Sea between Odessa and the Bosporus, as well as accomplished their mine-laying missions. The Royal Navy had its share of success by achieving its goals, but also of defeat by losing patrol boats Viforul and Vijelia, auxiliary cruiser Carol I and tug Stoicescu.
During the fourth stage - from July 28th, 1942 to April 5th, 1944, the maritime forces carried out support missions of the land forces and supply transports and ensured an open route to support the frontline, i.e. "Crimea Route".
During the fifth stage, from April 5th to May 14th, 1944, the maritime naval forces participated in the evacuation of the Romanian and German troops from the surroundings of Odessa and Sevastopol, as part of the largest Black Sea naval operation, code-named "Operation 60.000". From a military perspective, this naval operation was one of the most dramatic episodes of the Second World War. "The operation was carried out under the pressure of enemy land and air forces, submarines included and originally initiated in the harbor, then in its outer basin area and finally directly along the coastline," stated the Commander-in-Chief of the Maritime Naval Forces at the time, Rear-admiral Horia Macellariu, who coordinated the activity of the Romanian ships throughout the aforementioned operations.
During the sixth stage, from May 14th to August 23rd, 1944, the missions of the naval forces together with the land forces in Dobrudja focused on the defense of the coastline, the Danube Delta and harbors. To achieve their mission some ships belonging to Romanian Maritime State-owned Company and of some private shipping companies were requisitioned, modified and subordinated to the Navy Headquarters.
The seventh stage covers the period from August 23 to September 5, 1944, when the river forces carried out their missions to capture the German ships retreating on the Danube, as well as minesweeping until they successfully cleared the river rendering it safe for navigation. The 23rd of August and the 5th of September 1944 had dramatic consequences for the Romanian Royal Navy due to the twofold assault of the German forces and the allied Soviet forces, as well as to the disarmament of the warships; Constanta harbor with its battle ships and warfare installations, remained under the total control of the Soviet Naval Headquarters.
Thus, the navy fleet was abusively deprived of many of its ships, later deployed in the Caucasian harbors as follows: five monitors (Bratianu, Lahovari, Ardealul, Basarabia and Bucovina), six patrol boats, two command ships, two tug boats, 38 motor boats, 15 barges, 12 tankers, and as for maritime ships: the destroyers (Regina Maria, Regele Ferdinand Marasti and Marasesti), two torpedo boats (Zborul and Zmeul), three gunboats (Ghiculescu, Dumitrescu and Stihi), the minelayer Admiral Murgescu, three submarines (Delfinul, Rechinul, and Marsuinul), the submarine depot ship Constanta, seven torpedo patrol boats, six motor boats, three submarines hunters, a tug, the training ship "Mircea" and 11 auxiliary vessels. The Merchant Marine fleet, comprising 608 river cargo-ships and 5 sea-going vessels, was made available to the Soviet Headquarters.
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