The ''Căpitan Romano Mihail''-class was a group of three armored motor launches of the Romanian Navy which served during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Second World War 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 ...

Construction and specifications

The three boats were originally part of a larger class of eight vessels. The entire class was built at the Thames Iron Works in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

between 1906 and 1907. Each boat measured 30 meters in length, with a beam of 4 meters and a draught of 0.8 meters. Normal displacement amounted to 45 tons, growing to 51 tons for a full load. Power plant consisted of two compound engines powering two shafts, generating 550 hp which resulted in a top speed of 18 knots. Each vessel could carry up to 7.6 tons of fuel. With a full complement of 20, each of the boats was armed with one 47 mm Skoda gun, one 6.5 mm Maxim machine gun and two spar torpedoes, as well as torpedo dropping gear amidships. The sides and deck were protected by bulletproof armor. The thickness of their armor is not known, however it is known that during World War II the

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used 20 mm-thick plates of armor to proof their landing craft against British 0.303 inches (~8 mm) caliber machine gun rounds, meaning that the armor of the Romanian vessels must have been around the same thickness.

Career

Initially, the eight vessels were classed as river torpedo boats, and served as such during the First World War. One boat was mined and sunk at the end of 1916. Ultimately, only three boats survived the Second World War. During their service, they showed considerable seaworthiness, as shown by their inclusion in 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, ...

in August 1944, instead of the Danube Flotilla (they would be returned to Romania in September 1945). This seaworthiness was also exploited by the Romanians, who fitted each of the three boats with one 300 mm depth charge thrower after the start of the Second World War. The names of the three boats were ''Căpitan Romano Mihail'', ''Locotenent Călinescu Dimitrie'' and ''Maior Șonțu Ghoerghe''. Of the initial class of eight vessels, these three were numbers 1, 3 and 4. Their 6.5 mm machine guns were also replaced by 20 mm

autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...

s.Earl Thomas Allnutt Brassey, ''Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year-book, Volume 58'', Praeger Publishers, 1947, p. 255

References

{{reflist World War I naval ships of Romania World War II naval ships of Romania Ships built in London World War II naval ships of the Soviet Union Gunboats of the Romanian Naval Forces