| Action of 9 July 1941 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Black Sea Campaigns (1941-44) | |||||||
 Romanian torpedo boat Năluca | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Romania |  Soviet Union | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Horia Popovici |  S.A. Karakai † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 3 torpedo boats | 1 submarine | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 38 killed 1 submarine sunk | ||||||
The action of 9 July 1941 was a naval engagement between the Soviet and Romanian navies during World War II, taking place near the Romanian port-city of Mangalia.
When the Axis Powers launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, Romania joined the invasion with the aims of recovering the provinces of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which were occupied by the Soviet Union the previous year. On 26 June, the Soviet Black Sea Fleet unsuccessfully attacked the Romanian port of Constanța, resulting in the loss of the destroyer leader Moskva to Romanian mines. [1] [2] [3] [4] The loss of Moskva caused Soviet Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky to be much more cautious in his use of surface warships. [5]
On 9 July 1941, one week after Romania launched Operation München , the Romanian Navy's 250t-class torpedo boat Năluca (Captain Horia Popovici) and motor torpedo boats Viscolul and Vijelia were informed by the Romanian gunboat Stihi that the periscope of an enemy submarine was sighted near Mangalia. Năluca was the first to arrive at the scene and subsequently spotted and engaged the Soviet Shchuka-class submarine Shch-206 (Captain S. A. Karakai). In the first part of the battle, Năluca attacked the submarine with 20 mm rounds, but the latter submerged in order to escape. The Romanian torpedo boat subsequently used depth charges, being soon joined by the two motor torpedo boats. At 2:56 pm, the Soviet submarine was confirmed sunk by Viscolul, none of her crew of 38 survived. [6] [7] [8] [9]
The result of this engagement secured Mangalia for the rest of the Second World War, as no other Soviet warships were subsequently sighted near the port. It also discouraged the Soviet Navy from using the medium-sized Shchuka-class submarines for operations near the Romanian coast, relying instead on the much smaller submarines of the M-class, as shown during the engagements of 17 December 1941 [10] and 1 October 1942. [11]
The Romanian Naval Forces is the principal naval branch of the Romanian Armed Forces and operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860.
The M-class submarines, also Malyutka class, were a class of small, single-, or 1½-hulled coastal submarines built in the Soviet Union and used during World War II. The submarines were built in sections so they could easily be transported by rail. The production was centered in the Gorky Shipyard on the Volga River, after which the sections were transported by railway to Leningrad for assembly and fitting out. This was the first use of welding on Soviet submarines.
NMS Smeul was a torpedo boat of the Royal Romanian Navy. She was commissioned in 1920, after initially serving as Tb 83 F in the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. She and six more sister ships were awarded to Romania as reparations after the war ended.
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NMS Sublocotenent Ghiculescu was a specialized ASW gunboat of the Romanian Navy. Initially built as a French warship in late World War I, she was purchased by Romania in 1920 and fought during World War II, sinking two submarines and one motor torpedo boat. After 1 year of Soviet service, she was returned to Romania and served as a survey vessel until 2002.
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NMS Năluca was a torpedo boat of the Royal Romanian Navy. She was commissioned in 1920, after initially serving as Tb 82 F in the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. She and six more sister ships were awarded to Romania as reparations after the war ended.
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NMS Regele Carol I was a passenger ship of the Romanian Maritime Service and later a warship of the Romanian Navy, serving as both minelayer and seaplane tender. She was completed and commissioned in 1898 and sunk in 1941, during World War II.