NMS ''Alexandru cel Bun'' was the first minelayer of the Romanian Naval Forces. Built by 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 ...

in 1882, she served in the Romanian Navy for five decades, until being scrapped in the mid-1930s.

Construction and specifications

''Alexandru cel Bun'' was built in 1882 by Thames Iron Works. She was part of a larger Romanian order which included three small gunboats and the brig ''

Mircea Mircea is a Romanian masculine given name, a form of the South Slavic name Mirče (Мирче) that derives from the Slavic word ''mir'', meaning 'peace'. It may refer to: People Princes of Wallachia * Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418), a ...

''. It took 84 days to complete ''Alexandru cel Bun''. Serving as the only Romanian minelayer 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 ...

, she had a standard displacement of 104 tons. She measured 23 meters (75 feet and 6 inches) in length, with a beam of 4.57 meters (15 feet) and a draught of 1.73 meters (5 feet and 8 inches). She was powered by a 100 hp steam engine which gave her a top speed of 9 knots and carried 12 tons of coal. Crewed by 20 men, she was armed with two 1-pounder guns and two machine guns.

Service

''Alexandru cel Bun'' served mainly as a sea-going warship, but she also laid mines to protect the inland approaches to the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta ( ro, Delta Dunării, ; uk, Дельта Дунаю, Deľta Dunaju, ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Ro ...

. On 22 September 1917, Romania achieved its greatest naval success of the war, when the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

river monitor SMS ''Inn'' struck a Romanian mine and sank near

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 180,302 pe ...

. She was later salvaged, but was still undergoing repairs when the war ended. ''Alexandru cel Bun'' was scrapped in the mid-1930s, a few years prior to the launching of the much larger, much more powerful, modern and Romanian-built minelayer-escort '' Amiral Murgescu''.''The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-builder, Volume 46'', Shipbuilder Press, 1939, p. 449.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandru cel Bun 1882 ships Minelayers of the Romanian Naval Forces Ships built on the River Thames World War I naval ships of Romania