This is a list of main warships operated by the Romanian Navy during the Second World War. It includes major surface warships and submarines. Each surface warship in this list is armed with at least two main guns of a caliber greater than 4 inches (102 mm) or with torpedo tubes, and has a range of over 1,200 km (650 nautical miles). The fore-mentioned range is the minimum required for a journey along the maximum East-West extent of the Black Sea, which amounts to a distance of 1,175 km (730 miles or 635 nautical miles). The Black Sea was the naval front where the Royal Romanian Navy operated throughout the war.
Destroyers (4) Frigates (1) Torpedo boats (5) Monitors (7) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Class | Picture | Type | Origin | Ships | Displacement (standard) | Note |
Regele Carol I-class | ![]() | Seaplane tender/Minelayer | ![]() | Regele Carol I | 2,653 tons | Built in Glasgow as passenger steamer and commissioned in 1898, converted to seaplane tender and minelayer in 1916 and sunk in October 1941 |
Regele Ferdinand-class | ![]() | Destroyer | ![]() | Regele Ferdinand Regina Maria | 1,422 tons | Built in Italy in the early 1930s |
Vifor-class | ![]() | Mărăști Mărășești | 1,432 tons | Built in Italy during the First World War | ||
Amiral Murgescu-class | ![]() | Minelaying frigate | ![]() | Amiral Murgescu | 812 tons | Largest Romanian-built warship of the Second World War |
250t-class | ![]() | Torpedo boat | ![]() | Năluca Sborul Smeul | 262 tons | Built in Austria-Hungary during the First World War |
No. 10-class | ![]() | Fast attack craft | ![]() | No. 10 No. 11 No. 12 No. 13 | 65 tons | German motor torpedo boats with a range of 700-750 nautical miles, acquired on 14 August 1944 |
Brătianu-class | ![]() | Monitor | ![]() ![]() | Mihail Kogălniceanu Lascăr Catargiu Ion Brătianu Alexandru Lahovari | 650 tons | Built in sections in Austria-Hungary then assembled and launched in Romania between 1907 and 1908 |
Sava-class | ![]() | ![]() | Bucovina | 580 tons | Built in Austria-Hungary during the First World War | |
Enns-class | ![]() | Basarabia | 540 tons | Built in Austria-Hungary during the First World War | ||
Temes-class | ![]() | Ardeal | 442 tons | Built in Austria-Hungary during the First World War |
Source: [1]
Fleet submarines (3) Midget submarines (5) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Class | Picture | Type | Origin | Ships | Displacement (standard) | Note |
Delfinul-class | ![]() | Submarine | ![]() | Delfinul | 650 tons | Unique submarine built in Italy for the Romanian Navy, commissioned in 1936 |
Marsuinul-class | ![]() | ![]() | Marsuinul | 620 tons | Unique submarine built in Romania, laid down in 1938 and commissioned in 1943 | |
Rechinul-class | ![]() | Rechinul | 585 tons | Unique minelaying submarine built in Romania, laid down in 1938 and commissioned in 1943 | ||
CB-class | ![]() | Midget submarine | ![]() | CB-1 CB-2 CB-3 CB-4 CB-6 | 35 tons | Italian midget submarines captured in late 1943 |
Opytny was the only member of her class of destroyers built for the Soviet Navy during the 1930s. The Soviet designation for her class was Project 45. She was originally named Sergo Ordzhonikidze and was the first Soviet destroyer to be indigenously designed. Renamed Opytny in 1940, the ship was intended as a prototype for future Soviet destroyers.
German submarine U-23 was a Type IIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, built in Germaniawerft, Kiel. She was laid down on 11 April 1936 and commissioned on 24 September.
The Fidonisy class, also known as the Kerch class, were a group of eight destroyers built for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I. They participated in World War I, the Russian Civil War, and World War II.
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.
The Kasatka class was a class of submarines built for the Imperial Russian Navy. The six boats were built between 1904 and 1905. They were designed by I. G. Bubnov and were based on the Delfin. The first boat, Kasatka, experienced significant problems with stability on trials and had to have extra flotation added. In 1905, four of the class were transferred from Western Russia to Vladivostok with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. Initially powered by a kerosene/electrical system, the boats were re-built around 1910 with a diesel-electric power plant following the end of the war. The class remained in service throughout World War I. Two were captured by the German Empire in 1918 and handed over to the British following the German surrender. They were scuttled by the British in 1919 to prevent their capture by the Soviets. The remaining four were broken up for scrap in 1922.
NMS Delfinul was a Romanian submarine that served in the Black Sea during the Second World War. It was the first submarine of the Romanian Navy, built in Italy under Romanian supervision.
SM UB-45 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-45 operated in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, and was sunk by a mine in November 1916.
SM UB-44 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-44 operated in the Mediterranean and disappeared in August 1916.
SM UB-42 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-42 operated in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas during the war. She was broken up at Malta in 1920.
The Sava-class river monitors were built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the mid-1910s. The two ships of the class were assigned to the Danube Flotilla and participated in World War I. The ships survived the war and were transferred to Romania and the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as reparations.
The Enns-class river monitors were built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the mid-1910s. The two ships of the class were assigned to the Danube Flotilla and participated in World War I. The ships survived the war and were transferred to Romania and the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as reparations.
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 Kiev class was designed in 1939 for the Soviet Navy as a smaller class of destroyer leaders after the cancellation of the Tashkent-class ships that had been intended to be built in the Soviet Union. Only three ships were begun; one was cancelled and scrapped before the Axis invasion in mid-1941 and construction of the other two was suspended during the war. The navy considered completing them under a new Project 48-K configuration afterwards, but decided against that as they would have been competing against a more modern design that lacked the stability problems that the 48-K design would have had. The Soviets either scrapped them or used them as targets.
The Saphir-class submarines were a class of six submarines built in France between 1926 and 1935 for the French Navy. Most saw action during World War II for the Vichy French Navy or the Free French Naval Forces. Three were captured by Italian forces but not used.
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.
The Lagrange-class submarines were a class of four submarines built for the French Navy during World War I and the interwar period. Three ships of this type were built in the Arsenal de Toulon from 1913 to 1924, and one was built at the Arsenal de Rochefort shipyard. Entering the French Marine Nationale from 1918 to 1924, the submarines served until the mid-1930s.