HISTORIC

The Mărăşeşti destroyer

The ace of clubs of the Romanian Royal Navy

In 1914, 4 counter-pilots were ordered in Italy from the Pattison shipyard in Naples, and a submarine from the Fiat shipyard in Spezzia. Following the outbreak of World War I, only two counter-pilots were built, named "Nubio" and "Sparviero", but they were not delivered under the contract, being used in the years of the Italian Navy conflagration, in actions against the Austrian fleet Hungarian. At the meeting of November 17, 1919 taking into account the report of General Rascanu, Minister of War, the government led by General Arthur Vaitoianul authorized the Ministry of War to continue negotiations with the Italian government to purchase ships ordered before the war and which they had already used. the Italians. On July 1, 1920, these two ships arrived in Constanţa and received the names "Mărăşeşti" (eg Nibbio) and "Mărăşti" (eg Sparviero), known after this date as destroyers of the Aquila class. For a start, those who served the electromechanical part were Italian officers. By Royal Decree no. 2156 bis, published in the Official Gazette no. 60 of June 18, 1920, starting with July 1, 1920, the two ships were organized in a division entitled "Counter-Pillar Division", under the command of Commander Pantazzi I. Vasile and subordinated to the Sea Division.
Starting with July 1, 1931, together with the destroyers "King Ferdinand", "Queen Maria" and "Mărăşti", he formed the Destroyer Squadron, under the command of which was Commander Schmidt S. Victor. In the years following the entry into service, some modifications were made to the original armament of the destroyers. Thus, in 1926, 152 mm guns were replaced by 120 mm guns in twin towers. The following year, centralized firearms were installed on destroyers, and in 1935 these ships were equipped with 37 mm Rheinmetall naval and anti-aircraft guns and 13.2 mm Hotchiss machine guns. After carrying out, in 1939, in the Galaţi shipyard, some general repairs, the M-type destroyers were also equipped with German-made anti-aircraft guns of the S.K.C. with a caliber of 37 mm. At the entry of Romania in the Second World War, only the destroyers "Regina Maria" and "Mărăşeşti" were operational. These ships participated on June 26, 1941, together with other Royal Navy forces, in the naval battle in the Tuzla area against two Soviet military ships, the cruisers "Moscow" and "Kharkov" with a displacement of 5900 t each. The fire of the artillery of the Romanian destroyers as well as of the German battery Tirpitz forced the Soviet ships to change course and to reach the situation of entering the minefield placed by the Romanian military sailors. As a result, the "Moscow" cruiser sank and the damaged "Kharkov" retreated. In the Second World War, the ships of the Destroyer Squadron were considered the ace square of the Royal Navy, with inscriptions on the side: "Mărăşeşti" - the ace of clubs, "Mărăşti" - the ace of chariots, "King Ferdinand" - the ace of cups and "Queen Mary" - the ace of spades. The missions of these ships consisted in ensuring the transport of troops and materials, in the protection of ships carrying out mining in the coastal areas of our country, but also in areas of the theater of operations in the north of the Black Sea, in defense of the Romanian coast. An important moment was the evacuation of the Romanian Forces from Crimea in April - May 1944. The action took place both by convoying ships and by taking on board Romanian troops and was the largest naval operation in the Black Sea. On August 29, 1944, the commander of the Maritime Naval Force and the territory of Dobrogea, Rear Admiral Macellariu Horia received an ultimatum from the commander of the Soviet Black Sea Forces, Admiral Oktiabriski, an ultimatum requesting that the entire Romanian war and auxiliary fleet be handed over to the Soviet Maritime Command. After consultations with the General Staff of the Navy and the General Staff of the Army, Rear Admiral Macellariu transmits to the Soviet Admiral the decision of the Romanian military authorities to accept the collaboration, not the surrender. On August 30, 1944, at 02:40, the first Soviet naval units entered the port of Constanta. On board the destroyers and other military ships in the port of Constanta, armed Soviet officers and soldiers entered on September 5 and disembarked the Romanian crews, the officers and foremen being interned in the Maritime Station building in the port. The four destroyers, along with other ships of the Royal Navy, with Soviet crew on board, left the Port of Constanta on October 12, 1944, at 16:00. In the Soviet Fleet, the destroyer "Mărăşeşti" was included in the category of light destroyers, while the destroyer "Mărăşti" entered the class of rapid destroyers.
On October 4, 1945, by Circular Order no. 6255 of the Minister of State for the Navy - Admiral Petre Bărbuneanu - it was made known to the naval personnel that: “The Soviet Government agreed to transmit to the Romanian Government the warship ships, as follows: two destroyers (“Mărăşti” and “Mărăşeşti”), two gunboats, two torpedo boats, a submarine, 6 fast stars, 3 guard stars, two hydrographic vessels. These ships will form the core of our future Navy.” The solemnity of the restitution by the USSR of the Romanian ships took place in Galaţi, on October 12, 1945. The ships "Mărăşeşti" and "Mărăşti" formed the Destroyer Section within the Sea Vessels Group, a unit subordinated to the Maritime Coast Defense Command within the Royal Navy Command. The destroyers underwent repairs, as did the other ships returned by the Soviet government. In the organizational structure of the Navy from October 1948, the two destroyers formed the Destroyer Section subordinated to the Maritime Force, a large unit in the composition of the Navy Command.
On May 11, 1951, by order of St. M. no. 00316 a new organization of the Commands, units and formations of the Navy was made, through which was built the Destroyer Division formed at the beginning of the ships "Mărăşti" and "Mărăşeşti", and from June 24, 1951 joined the destroyers type R - "King Ferdinand" and "Queen Mary" - returned by the Soviet Government. In 1952, through a new organization of the Navy, the 418th Destroyer Division was established, consisting of the 4 ships under the tactical name D11 - Mărăşti, D12 - Mărăşeşti, D21 - King Ferdinand and D22 - Queen Maria deployed in the port of Constanta. The activity on board the destroyers lasted until 1961 when in April the action of cutting them and other ships of the Romanian Navy began.
The ship was built in the Mangalia shipyard, according to a Romanian project, between March 1, 1978 and August 2, 1985 and is the largest warship ever built in Romania. Based on the order of the Ministry of National Defense no. PR 003513 of 13.12.1982 was established U.M. 02155. On August 2, 1985, in the presence of the President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu, the ship was launched, being classified as a light helicopter carrier and named "Muntenia". Based on the order of the General Staff no. S / B3 / 1045 of 02.05.1990, the name and class of the ship were changed, becoming the Destroyer "Timişoara".
Based on the order of the General Staff no. B3 / 2203 of 27.08.1990 took place the change of the name of the ship from "Timişoara" to "Mărăşeşti", name assigned in memory of the destroyer "Mărăşeşti" within the Destroyer Squadron of the Romanian Royal Navy.
From April 1, 2001, based on the order of the Chief of Staff with no. SG3 / 584 / 28.02.2001 the ship is classified in the frigate class