The Kriegsmarine was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war Reichsmarine (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches, along with the Heer and the Luftwaffe, of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945.
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 Baltic Sea campaigns were conducted by Axis and Allied naval forces in the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the connected lakes Ladoga and Onega on the Eastern Front of World War II. After early fighting between Polish and German forces, the main combatants were the Kriegsmarine and the Soviet Navy, with Finland supporting the Germans until 1944 and the Soviets thereafter. The Swedish Navy and merchant fleet played important roles, and the British Royal Navy planned Operation Catherine for control of the Baltic Sea and its exit choke point into the North Sea.
The Crimean offensive, known in German sources as the Battle of the Crimea, was a series of offensives by the Red Army directed at the German-held Crimea. The Red Army's 4th Ukrainian Front engaged the German 17th Army of Army Group South Ukraine, which consisted of Wehrmacht and Romanian formations. The battles ended with the evacuation of the Crimea by the Germans. German and Romanian forces suffered considerable losses during the evacuation.
HMS Abdiel was an Abdiel-class minelayer that served with the Royal Navy during World War II. She served with the Mediterranean Fleet (1941), Eastern Fleet (1942), Home Fleet (1942–43), and the Mediterranean Fleet (1943). Abdiel was sunk by German mines in Italy's Taranto harbour in 1943. Although designed as a fast minelayer her speed and capacity made her suitable for employment as a fast transport.
Horia Macellariu was a Romanian rear admiral, commander of the Royal Romanian Navy's Black Sea Fleet during the Second World War.
The Vifor class was a group of four destroyers ordered by Romania in 1913 and built in Italy during the First World War. The four ships were however requisitioned by Italy in 1915 and rearmed as scout cruisers (esploratori), subsequently seeing service in World War I. Two were re-purchased by Romania in 1920 and saw service in World War II. The other two were eventually transferred by Italy to the Spanish Nationalists and saw service during the Spanish Civil War.
The Regele Ferdinand class was a pair of destroyers built in Italy for the Romanian Navy during the late 1920s. The sister ships were the most modern and powerful warships of the Axis powers in the Black Sea during World War II. During the war they participated in the 1941 Raid on Constanța and the 1944 evacuation of the Crimea, although they spent the vast majority of the war escorting convoys in the Black Sea. The Romanians claimed that they sank two submarines during the war, but Soviet records do not confirm their claims. Following King Michael's Coup, where Romania switched sides and joined the Allies in late 1944, the two ships were seized and incorporated into the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. They were returned to Romania in 1951 and served until 1961 when they were scrapped.
NMS Amiral Murgescu was a minelayer and convoy escort of the Romanian Navy, the first sea-going warship built in Romania and the largest Romanian-built warship of World War II. She laid numerous minefields, from the Bulgarian port of Burgas to the Crimean port of Sevastopol, which inflicted significant losses to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. She also carried out numerous convoy escort missions and took part in the Axis evacuation of the Crimea in May 1944. Due to her success in combat, she was decorated twice by May 1944. She was captured by the Soviet Union in September 1944 and served until 1988, when she was scrapped.
Submarine warfare in the Black Sea in World War II during 1941 primarily involved engagements between submarines of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet attacking Axis merchantmen defended by Romanian and Bulgarian warships. These engagements were a part of the naval Black Sea campaigns between Axis and Soviet naval forces.
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.
NMS Mărăști was one of four Vifor-class destroyers ordered from Italy by Romania shortly before the beginning of the World War I. All four sister ships were requisitioned when Italy joined the war in 1915. Originally named Vijelie by the Romanians, she was renamed Sparviero in Italian service. Not completed until mid-1917, the ship took part in the later stages of the Adriatc campaign but engaged Austro-Hungarian Navy ships in the Adriatic Sea only twice before the war ended in November 1918. She was renamed Mărăști when the Romanians re-purchased her in 1920.
NMS Mărășești was one of four Vifor-class destroyers ordered by Romania shortly before the beginning of the First World War from Italy. All four sister ships were requisitioned when Italy joined the war in 1915. Originally named Vârtej by the Romanians, she was renamed Nibbio and classified as a scout cruiser in Italian service. Not completed until mid-1918, the ship took part in the Adriatic campaign of World War I but engaged Austro-Hungarian Navy ships in the Adriatic Sea only once before the war ended in November 1918. She was renamed Mărășești when she was re-purchased by the Romanians in 1920.
The Soviet Black Sea Fleet during the first years of the Black Sea campaigns (1941–44) conducted raiding operations along the Western coast of the Black Sea aimed to disrupt Axis communications and supplies by sea.
The Soviet submarine Baltic Sea campaign in 1943 was launched by the Soviet Navy to harass the strategic iron ore traffic from neutral Sweden to Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front during the WWII. Other operations were launched by Allies, especially by the Royal Navy. The offensive was a repetition of the previous campaign in 1942 but resulted in a failed outcome.
Submarine warfare in the Black Sea in World War II during 1942 involved engagements between primarily submarines of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet attacking Axis merchantmen defended by Romanian and German naval warships. These engagements were a part of the Black Sea campaigns between Axis and Soviet naval forces.
Submarine warfare in the Black Sea in World War II during 1944 involved engagements between submarines of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet attacking Axis merchantmen, defended by Romanian and German naval warships, as well as German U-boats and Romanian submarines attacking Soviet merchants on the eastern Black Sea. Before the conclusion of the campaign, Romania joined the Allies after King Michael's Coup. These engagements were a part of the naval Black Sea campaigns.
Between 1941 and 1944, Romania held control over much of the Ukrainian Black Sea coast East of the Crimea. This was acquired during Operation Barbarossa. The Romanian conquest of the Soviet 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 (re)acquired two new sectors of coastline: the Bessarabian coast and the Transnistrian Coast. The latter was lost in April 1944, but the former was successfully defended until August 1944.
NMS Regele Ferdinand was the lead ship of her class of two destroyers built in Italy for the Romanian Navy in the late 1920s. After the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, she was limited to escort duties in the western half of the Black Sea during the war by the powerful Soviet Black Sea Fleet which heavily outnumbered Axis naval forces in the Black Sea. The ship may have sunk two Soviet submarines during the war. In early 1944 the Soviets were able to cut off and surround the port of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. Regele Ferdinand covered convoys evacuating Axis troops from Sevastopol and was badly damaged in May when she rescued some troops herself.
NMS Regina Maria was the second and last of the two Regele Ferdinand-class destroyers built in Italy for the Romanian Navy in the late 1920s. After the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, she took part in the Raid on Constanța a few days later and may have damaged a Soviet destroyer leader during the battle. The powerful Soviet Black Sea Fleet heavily outnumbered Axis naval forces in the Black Sea and the Romanian destroyers were limited to escort duties in the western half of the Black Sea during the war. In early 1944 the Soviets were able to cut off and surround the port of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. Regina Maria covered convoys evacuating Axis troops from Sevastopol in May and rescued several hundred herself.
Romania 
Germany 
Italy 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Soviet Union 
Horia Macellariu 
Helmut Rosenbaum 
Filipp Oktyabrskiy 
