The action of 9 July 1941 was a naval engagement between the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

navies during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, taking place near the Romanian port-city of

Mangalia Mangalia (, tr, Mankalya), ancient Callatis ( el, Κάλλατις/Καλλατίς; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Northern ...

Background

When the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

launched ''

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

'' in June 1941, Romania joined the invasion with the aims of recovering the provinces of

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

and

Northern Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berger ...

, which were occupied by the Soviet Union the previous year. On 26 June, the Soviet

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

unsuccessfully attacked the Romanian port of

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

, resulting in the loss of the destroyer leader ''Moskva'' to Romanian mines. The loss of ''Moskva'' caused Soviet Admiral

Filipp Oktyabrsky Filipp Sergeyevich Oktyabrsky (russian: Филипп Серге́евич Октябрьский, real surname: Ivanov - Иванов; – 8 July 1969, Sevastopol) was a Soviet naval commander. He began service in the Baltic Fleet in 1918. Fro ...

to be much more cautious in his use of surface warships.

Action

On 9 July 1941, one week after Romania launched ''

Operation München Operation München ( ro, Operațiunea München) was the Romanian codename of a joint German-Romanian offensive during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, with the primary objective of recapturing Bessarabia, Northern Bukov ...

'', the

Romanian Navy The Romanian Navy ( ro, Forțele Navale Române) is the navy branch of the Romanian Armed Forces; it operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860. History The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flot ...

's 250t-class torpedo boat ''Năluca'' (Captain Horia Popovici) and motor torpedo boats '' Viscolul'' and ''Vijelia'' were informed by the Romanian gunboat ''Stihi'' that the periscope of an enemy submarine was sighted near

. ''Năluca'' was the first to arrive at the scene and subsequently spotted and engaged the Soviet ''Shchuka''-class submarine ''Shch-206'' (Captain S. A. Karakai). In the first part of the battle, ''Năluca'' attacked the submarine with 20 mm rounds, but the latter submerged in order to escape. The Romanian torpedo boat subsequently used depth charges, being soon joined by the two motor torpedo boats. At 2:56 pm, the Soviet submarine was confirmed sunk by ''Viscolul'', none of her crew of 38 survived.

Aftermath

The result of this engagement secured Mangalia for the rest of the Second World War, as no other Soviet warships were subsequently sighted near the port. It also discouraged the Soviet Navy from using the medium-sized ''Shchuka''-class submarines for operations near the Romanian coast, relying instead on the much smaller submarines of the M-class, as shown during the engagements of 17 December 1941 and 1 October 1942.Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, ''World War II Sea War, Volume 7: The Allies Strike Back'', Bertke Publications, 2014, p. 179

References

{{reflist Naval battles of World War II involving Romania Naval battles of World War II involving the Soviet Union Black Sea naval operations of World War II Conflicts in 1941 July 1941 events