River Gunboats
Page 46
Fulgerul without her turret. It has been replaced by what appears to be a 3-pounder QF. Note the spar attached to her starboard side, probably for mounting a spar torpedo head as in an illustration below. (Reproduced from an original coloured postcard produced by J V Socrçü, Bucharest, via Dan Sambra)
Builder’s model of Fulgerul in Constanţa Navy Museum, showing the original turret. Note the strange positioning of the foremast in a support which obviously runs down in the centre of the interior. (Photo posted by user ‘kno3’ on Website: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1248409-Gun-turret-of-Fulgerul)
Despite having removed the turret – one has to wonder whether that was actually for diplomatic reasons or because of the effect it could have on her margin of stability on the open sea – her delivery voyage took from October 1873 to April 1874, due to Turkish reticence to allow her to pass the Bosphorus. The Press in Turkey, Bulgaria and Vienna had hailed her as likely to upset the balance of power in the Balkans, but when the Turks finally saw Fulgerul they dismissed her as a mere ‘zarzavat caique’ or vegetable boat!
Despite her inauspicious start, Fulgerul took an active part in the War of Independence of 1877–8. She laid mines at Hirsovaz and Macin, and in July 1877 she mounted spar torpedoes for a planned attack on a Turkish river monitor at Silistra, but the operation was called off. She served as a transport in the closing stages of the war, and in 1880 underwent major repairs. More repairs were needed in 1893, and she survived as an auxiliary, ending her active service as a fuel depot for MTBs during the Second World War. This veteran finally went to the breakers in 1950.
Launched:
1873 by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne.
Dimensions:
Displ: 90 tons; L: 25m/82ft; B: 4.8m/18ft 9in; D: 1.3m/4ft 3in.
Crew:
35.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × steam engines, total 100ihp/7 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 90mm Krupp; spar torpedoes/Light armour protection (designed to be bulletproof) on the turret. Later: 2 × 57mm Nordenfelt QF + 2 × 11.34mm Nordenfelt MG.
Fate:
Broken up 1950.
Griviţa
Griviţa was built in the Austro-Hungarian shipyard in Trieste. She served as training ship, troop transport and Danube gunboat during the Second Balkan War of 1915 and during the First World War.
Launched:
1880 by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, Trieste.
Dimensions:
Displ: 110 tons; L: 23.8m/78ft; B: 5.4m/17ft 8½in; D: 1.8m/5ft 11in.
Crew:
48.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; compound steam engine. 110ihp/9 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 57mm QF; 2 × 37mm QF; 2 × 11.34mm Nordenfelt MG.
Fate:
Stricken 30 December 1919.
Griviţa. (Photo courtesy of Dan Sambra)
Rahova Class
Three small Danube gunboats, Rahova, Smărdan and Opanezul, were built by the Thames Iron Works in 1882. Because of the political situation in the Balkans, they may have been broken down into a kit of parts to be reassembled in Romania.
Launched:
1882 by Thames Iron Works, Blackwall.
Dimensions:
Displ: 54 tons; L: 16.9m/55ft 6in; B: 3.66m/12ft; D: 1.57m/5ft 2in.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; steam engine/8.5 knots.
Guns/Armour:
As per the profile drawing, 1 × MLR. Later: 1 × 37mm QF; 1 × MG.
Fate:
Stricken by 1919.
The blueprint of the Rahova class. Note the planned original armament of a single heavy gun, either an Armstrong BL or an MLR. (Drawing courtesy of Dan Sambra)
Plans of the Bistriţa class from The Engineer, 2 November 1888. (Photo & plan, courtesy of Dan Sambra)
Bistriţa Class
Six years later a further three Danube gunboats were built by the Thames Iron Works, named Oltul, Siretul and Bistriţa.
Launched:
1888 by Thames Iron Works, Blackwall.
Dimensions:
Displ: 116 tons; L: 30.5m/100ft; B: 4.1m/13ft 5½in; D: 1.7m/5ft 7in.
Crew:
30.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; compound steam engine, 380ihp/13 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 57mm Nordenfelt; 1 × 37mm QF.
Munteanu Class
Three river guardships were built in 1893 for the Danube, named Munteanu, Olteanu and Imeo. They displaced 95 tons, reached a speed of 13.5 knots, and were armed with one 57mm QF and two 37mm QF.
Argesul Class
Launched:
Arges, Yard No 536, Teleorman, No 537, Trotus, No 538, Vedea, No 539, 1894 by F Schichau, Elbing.
Dimensions:
Displ: 32 tons; L: 21m/68ft 10¾in; B: 3m/9ft 10in; D: 1.35m/4ft 5in.
Crew:
30.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; VTE steam engine 150ihp/10.8 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 37mm Hotchkiss revolver cannon or 1 × 11.43mm Nordenfelt MG; spar torpedoes.
Three small gunboats of the Argesul class probably photographed at the builders’ yard in 1894. Note the long poles for delivery of spar torpedoes. (Photo courtesy of Dan Sambra)
RIVER MONITORS
Ion C. Bratianu Class River Monitors
Romania turned to Austria-Hungary, the acknowledged leaders in river monitor design, for a class of four vessels which were intended to use the best of Austrian technical developments, but also be able to bring at least two main-armament guns to bear in any direction. Previously the Austro-Hungarian vessels had one gun up front and one aft, or both up front. Taking the latter configuration and adding a third gun aft was therefore a much more flexible disposition. The monitors were also to be well-protected.
Compared with their Austro-Hungarian contemporaries, the Romanian quartet were longer, wider, of greater displacement and more heavily armoured. Only the later Bosna and Sava approached them in size, and were also intended to bring one more main armament gun to train on the broadside, but the aft turret was not fitted to either when completed. Keen junior officers were responsible for placing two of the 47mm secondary armament QFs on HA mountings as anti-balloon/anti-aircraft guns.
The four Romanian monitors being constructed at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard. They would then be dismantled and transported in pieces by rail to Romania. The vessel nearest the camera is Alexandru Lahovary.
A bird’s-eye view of one of the Romanian quartet as originally built. (Drawing by Cristian Crãciunoiu)
Early on in their service career the Romanian monitors were fitted with two 47mm AA guns. Note the rangefinder at the left rear. (Romanian Army Photographic Service)
While the large team up on the bows are occupied with the serious matter of deploying the mine-catcher net, the seaman nearest the camera appears to be repainting a hatch cover. A steel net was deployed between the two poles held at right-angles to the bow and some 5–8m (16–26ft) ahead of it. Lowering this net half a metre (20in) below the surface was proven to be effective in safely detonating all mines in the path of the monitor. (Romanian Army Photographic Service)
Lascăr Catargiu wearing a three-tone camouflage scheme during the 1938 manoeuvres. Their superstructures were reduced by deleting the aft cabin, to save weight for increased AA weapons.
They were named I. C. Brătianu, Lascăr Catargiu, Mihail Kogălniceanu and Alexandru Lahovary. After being launched and tested in Trieste, all four were dismantled and transported to Romania, where they were reassembled at Galati, the last one, Lascăr Catargiu, being relaunched on 15 August 1907.
Modifications between the wars included changing to new oil-fired boilers, which greatly increased their range. The original L/45 main guns were replaced by longer, L/50 guns, also from Škoda. The after superstructures were removed to reduce weight and
allow for fitting a more powerful AA armament, typically a licence-built 37mm Rheinmetall automatic cannon on top of the conning tower and a twin 13.2mm Hotchkiss mounting on a pillar placed in front of the rear turret. By 1944 the AA armament had been increased by another two 37mm and four 20mm Oerlikons.
With the withdrawal of the Soviet Danube flotilla at the start of Operation ‘Barbarossa’, the Romanian ships enjoyed three years of relative quiet. Romania signed an armistice with the Soviet Union on 23/24 August 1944, but notwithstanding this, the following morning Soviet aircraft bombed and sank Catargiu and Kogălniceanu.
Lahovari and Bratianu were seized by the Soviets. Lahovari was renamed Mariupol and Bratianu became Azov, rearmed with Soviet 37mm AA guns. They remained under the Soviet flag until August 1951. In 1953 the sunken Catargiu and Kogalniceanu were raised and reconditioned. All four served on until 1959, when the entire monitor flotilla was withdrawn and scrapped.
Launched:
1907 by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino.
Dimensions:
Displ: 680 tons, 750 tons full load; L: 61m/200ft; B: 10.3m/33ft 9½in; D: 1.6m/5ft 3in.
Crew:
110.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 3 × VTE steam engines, 1,800ihp/13 knots.
Guns/Armour:
As built: 3 × 120mm L/45 Škoda; 2 × 12cm L/10 howitzers; 4 × 47mm QF; 2 × MG/Belt and turrets 50–75mm; Deck 30mm. For later armament, see the text.
Fate:
Scrapped 1959.
Basarabia’s new forward turret with the twin 120mm DP Bofors guns. Note also the MG mounted on the turret roof. One appears to be a ZB and the second possibly a Lewis?
A second bird’s eye view, this time of Basarabia with her new twin Bofors turrets and enhanced AA firepower. (Drawing by Cristian Crãciunoiu)
The last bird’s-eye view shows us Bucovino at last sporting the aft twin 120mm turret which she was originally designed to mount. (Drawing by Cristian Crãciunoiu)
Ex-Austro-Hungarian River Monitors
In 1920 Romania was allocated three of the former Austro-Hungariam monitors, Temes, which became Ardeal, Inn, renamed Basarabia, and Sava, renamed Bucovina. The Romanians therefore possessed by far the most powerful flotilla on the Danube.
Between the wars they were modernised in line with the changes carried out on the Romanian quartet. The last two were converted to oil burning, leaving Ardeal as the only coal-burner in the flotilla in the event of a shortage of fuel oil. Ardeal also retained her powerful secondary armament of two 90mm DP guns fitted following her salvage during the First World War.
During the Second World War, Basarabia, ex-Inn, was rearmed with new twin turrets fore and aft, with 120mm Bofors DP guns, becoming the most heavily-armed of the Danube monitors. By 1944 she carried six 37mm and four 20mm AA guns plus several MG.
Her old forward turret was fitted on the aft deck of Bucovina, the ex-Sava. Sava had originally been designed to take a second twin turret aft, but due to material shortages during the First World War it had never been fitted. Bucovina thus reverted to her original design, and became the second most powerful river monitor on the Danube, with similar low-angle firepower to Basarabia, but without the dual HA capability.
Căpitan Dumitrescu, ex-Impatiente, seen in 1941.
Basarabia, Bucovina and Ardeal were all seized by Soviet forces following the armistice of August 1944. Basarabia was renamed Kerch, Bucovina became Izmail, and Ardeal, Berdyansk. Like the two Romanian ships, they were rearmed with Soviet 37mm AA guns. All three were returned to Romania in 1951, and like the Romanian quartet, they were withdrawn and scrapped in 1959. For details as built, see AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
Ex-French Gunboats
In 1920 Romania purchased four French sub-chasers built in Lorient Dockyard during the First World War. Unlike virtually all of their sisters in the French Navy these four had a long career with the Romanian Navy. Their Romanian names were Locotenent Lepri Remus, Căpitan Dumitrescu, Locotenent-Comandor Stihi Eugen and Sublocotenent Ghiculescu. For details, see FRANCE.
Marinefährprahme
In February 1944 Germany transferred three MFP armed river barges to Romania. They were renumbered as PTA-404, 405 and 406. For details, see GERMANY.
Grivita
The appearance of Grivita in 1986 caused something of a sensation, as she combined a novel shape with significant firepower and armour protection. The problem of the vulnerability of river monitors to air attack was partly alleviated by the provision of A-94 surface-to-air missiles which can be fired from the shoulder or from a special holder containing four missiles. The A-94 was based on the Russian Strela 2M, and is manufactured in Romania. The main turret mechanism was derived from that of the T-55 tank, specially modified for shipboard use, and the 100mm gun is the same as on the T-55. Her main armament was a pair of forty-barrelled APRN rocket launchers, derived from the Soviet BM-21 Grad launcher. The APRN is manufactured in Romania, and the 122mm calibre rockets have a range of 40km (25 miles). The launchers retract into the armoured citadel for reloading. Close-in armament comprised a pair of small secondary turrets from the TAB-77 (a Romanian APC derived from the Soviet BTR-70), each mounting a single 14.5mm MG.
Grivita in a poor-quality photo but the best available, of this then-top secret project.
Profile, plan and bows-on views of Grivita, the prototype for the modern Romanian river gunboats. Her low profile seemed an advantage at the time she was completed, but in fact hampered navigation.
Despite her revolutionary design, Grivita was not considered to be a complete success, and she was withdrawn from service after only a few years. It may be that the positioning of the navigating bridge beneath the main turret caused severe problems in navigating the vessel, especially in the crowded shipping lanes of the Danube she was designed to patrol. A similar problem had arisen with the Hungarian PM armoured gunboats built during the Second World War, and the remedy was the same in both cases: the navigating position was raised in subsequent vessels of the series.
Launched:
May 1986 by Drobeta Turnu Naval DY, Severin.
Dimensions:
Displ: 320 tons; L: 45.7m/150ft; B: 8m/26ft 3in; D: 1.5m/4ft 11in.
Power/Speed:
Triple screws; 3 × 1,200bhp Resita diesel engines/16 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 100mm tank gun in main turret; 2 × 14.5mm MG in secondary armoured turrets; 2 × forty-barrelled 122mm APRN rocket launchers; 4 × A-94 manpad SAMs; mine rails/Modified T-55 tank turret; armoured secondary turrets from TAB-77; armoured citadel.
Fate:
Scrapped.
Smârdan Class
The problems posed by the low navigating position were resolved in the five monitors which followed Grivita. Their Romanian designation is the Smârdan class, whereas during the Cold War NATO gave them the codename of ‘Brutar’. The five vessels are: F-176 Rahova, commissioned on 14 April 1988; F-177 Opanez and class leader F-178 Smârdan, both commissioned on 24 July 1990, F-179 Posada, commissioned on 14 May 1992, and lastly F-180 Rovine, commissioned on 30 July 1993.
F179 is the pennant number of Posada. She has the same ‘wave form’ front hull introduced with Grivita.
Note that the main turret and the navigating bridge have changed places. Also, the class carries a much heavier secondary armament than the prototype Grivita.
Closeup of one of the bow MG turrets on a Smârdan class gunboat. This mounting was adapted from the TAB-77 APC, and has limited internal space. These are in the same place as on the prototype Grivita, but now each turret has a second MG, in 7.62mm calibre. Note the wooden handle on the main 14.5mm MG, for easier barrel changes.
Apart from the raised conning position, the class differed from the prototype in having a substantially increased secondary armament: a twin 30mm AA mount was fitted at the stern, a pair of quad 14.5mm MG mounts ware placed at the rear of the bridge superstructure, and the TAB-77 turrets each gained an additional MG, in 7.62mm calibre.
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Launched:
1988 to 1993 by Drobeta Turnu Naval DY, Severin.
Dimensions:
Displ: 370 tons; L: 50.7m/166ft 4in; B: 8m/26ft 3in; D: 1.5m/4ft 11in.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × diesel engines, total 2,700bhp/16 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 100mm tank gun in main turret; 1 × twin 30mm Model 80 AA; 2 × quad MR4N 14.5mm MG; 2 × 14.5mm MG + 2 × 7.62mm MG in subsidiary armoured turrets; 2 × forty-barrelled 122mm APRN rocket launchers; 4 × A-94 manpad SAMs; mine rails/Modified T-55 tank turret; armoured turrets from TAB-77; armoured citadel.
Fate:
All still in service at the time of writing.
Lascăr Catargiu showing her teeth, a true modern river dreadnought. Note the slightly raised bow line on the same level as the weather deck, compared with the previous Smârdan class and their lowered and widened bows.