NMS Mărășești

History
Italy
Name: Nibbio
Ordered: 1913
Builder: Pattison Shipyard, Naples
Commissioned: 1918
Out of service: 1920
Fate: Transferred to Romania, 1920
Romania
Name: Mărășești
Namesake: Battle of Mărășești
Commissioned: 1920
Out of service: 1944
Refit: 1925, Galați shipyard
Reinstated: 1945
Fate: Deleted, 1965
Soviet Union
Name: Lyogkiy
Commissioned: 1944
Out of service: 1945
Fate: Returned to Romania
Service record
Commanders: Pelimon Aurel (World War II)[1]
Operations:
Victories: 1 submarine sunk
General characteristics
Class and type: Vifor-class destroyer
Displacement:
  • 1,432 tons (standard; during World War II)
  • 1,460 tons (standard; as of 1939)
  • 1,751 tons (full load)
Length: 94.7 m (310 ft 8 in)
Beam: 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in)
Draft: 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in)
Propulsion: Tosi turbines, 5 Thornycroft boilers, 2 shafts, 39,500 horse power
Speed: 37.4 knots (69.3 km/h)
Range:
  • 1,700 nautical miles (3,100 km) (15 knots)
  • 380 nautical miles (700 km) (34 knots)
Complement: 146
Armament:

NMS Mărășești was a Vifor-class destroyer, ordered by Romania from Italy and built during the First World War. She spent most of her career in Romanian service, during World War II she and her sister being some of the most heavily-armed warships of the Romanian Navy and of the Axis Powers in the Black Sea. After one year in Soviet service, she was returned to Romania and continued to be used until 1965.

Construction and specifications

Nibbio in 1919
Scale model of Mărășești showing her intermediary armament, after two 76 mm guns were removed but before the midships single 120 mm gun was (one of the twin torpedo tubes is also visible on the broadside)

Like her three sister ships, she was ordered in 1913 by Romania from the Pattison Shipyard in Naples, with the name Vârtej. Designed by engineer Luigi Scaglia and based on Romanian specifications, she was to be a large destroyer armed with three 120 mm guns, four 75 mm guns, five torpedo tubes, and have a 10-hour endurance at full speed, as she was required to operate in the limited perimeter of the Black Sea. However, she was interned by Italy on 5 June 1916, when the country joined the First World War, and completed as scout cruiser (esploratori), being commissioned as Nibbio on 15 May 1918. She was transferred to Romania along with one of her sister ships, Sparviero, on 1 July 1920. She was renamed Mărășești and her sister was renamed Mărăști.[2]

The cruiser measured 94.7 meters in length, with a beam of 9.5 meters and a draught of 3.6 meters. She was powered by Tosi turbines and five Thornycroft boilers, generating an output of just over 39,500 hp powering two shafts, which gave her a top speed of 37.4 knots. She was armed with three 6-inch (152 mm) Armstrong naval guns, four 3-inch (76 mm) Ansaldo guns, two 6.5 mm machine guns and two twin 457 mm torpedo tubes. She had a crew of 146 and a range of 1,700 nautical miles at 15 knots, as well as 380 nautical miles at 34 knots.[3]

As of World War II, standard displacement amounted to 1,432 tons with a full load displacement of 1,751 tons.[4]

Mărăști and Mărășești were the most heavily-armed Axis warships in the Black Sea, and had the greatest standard displacement. Upon commissioning by Romania on 1 July 1920, Mărăști and Mărășești were re-classified as destroyers, reverting to their original designation.[5] However, English-language sources of the period refer to the two warships as flotilla leaders,[6] most likely on account of their three cruiser-typical 152 mm guns. Mărăști and Mărășești were refitted at the Galați shipyard in Romania in 1925, and sent back to Naples for rearming in 1926.[7] The two rearmed warships are also known as the Mărăști-class. As of 1939, when the Second World War started, their artillery approached cruiser standards, amounting to nine heavy naval guns (five of 120 mm and four of 76 mm). In addition, they retained their two twin 457 mm torpedo tubes as well as two machine guns, plus the capacity to carry up to 50 mines. They thus became the most heavily-armed warships in the history of the Royal Romanian Navy, apart from the battleship Potemkin, which was de facto under Romanian control for a brief time in July 1905. All these guns increased their standard displacement to 1,460 tons.[8] Three of these heavy guns (one 120 mm and two 76 mm) were removed in order to make room for two 37 mm and four 20 mm anti-aircraft guns plus two depth charge throwers (one of 900 mm and one of 330 mm).[9][10] Despite having their heavy armament reduced to destroyer standards, the two warships still presented some cruiser characteristics, such as retaining their torpedo tubes mounted on the broadsides instead of the centerline.

World War II

Mărășești in 1944

She carried out 26 escort missions in the Black Sea throughout the war. The convoys she was escorting were attacked several times by Soviet aircraft and submarines, two Axis transport ships being sunk.[11] On the opposite side, a Soviet submarine was depth-charged and sunk by Mărășești during an escort mission in 1943. The submarine was most likely M-31 of the M-class.[12][13]

Mărășești and her sister were captured by Soviet forces in August 1944 and were incorporated into the Black Sea Fleet as Lovkiy (Ловкий, ex-Mărăști) and Lyogkiy (Лёгкий, ex-Mărășești). They were returned to Romania in October 1945.[14] She continued to be used until being deleted in 1965.[15]

Legacy

The frigate Mărășești, currently the largest and most powerful warship of the Romanian Navy, is named after her.

References

  1. ↑ Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, p. 267 (in Romanian)
  2. ↑ Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921, Naval Institute Press, 1985, p. 266
  3. ↑ Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921, Naval Institute Press, 1985, p. 266
  4. ↑ M. J. Whitley, Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia, Naval Institute Press, 1988, p. 223
  5. ↑ Revista istorică, Volumul 15, Edițiile 1-2, Institutul, 2004, p. 221 (in Romanian)
  6. ↑ Defence Yearbook, Brassey's Naval and Shipping Annual, 1923, p. 357
  7. ↑ Frederick Thomas Jane, Jane's Fighting Ships, S. Low, Marston, 1962, p. 204
  8. ↑ Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year-book, Praeger Publishers, 1939, p. 276
  9. ↑ Janusz Piekałkiewicz, Sea War, 1939-1945, Historical Times, 1987, p. 350
  10. ↑ Е. Е. Шведе, Военные флоты 1939—1940 гг., Рипол Классик, 2013, p. 119 (in Russian)
  11. ↑ Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, pp. 267-274 (in Romanian)
  12. ↑ M. J. Whitley, Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia, Naval Institute Press, 1988, p. 224
  13. ↑ Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, p. 271 (in Romanian)
  14. ↑ Navypedia: LIOGKIY destroyers (1917-1918/1944)
  15. ↑ Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921, Naval Institute Press, 1985, p. 266
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