''Delfinul'' ('The dolphin') is a of the
Romanian Naval Forces.
It was
commissioned in August 1985 and is currently the only
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n submarine in service. Due to a lack of funding the submarine has been inactive since 1995; it is kept
in reserve docked in the military sector of the
Port of Constanța
The Port of Constanța is located in Constanța, Romania, on the western coast of the Black Sea, from the Bosphorus Strait and from the Sulina Branch, through which the Danube river flows into the sea. It covers , of which is land and the rest, ...
.
History
In the early 1980s, the
Romanian Naval Forces expressed the need for a submarine to train the anti-submarine vessels of the fleet. The Chinese government made an offer for six
Type 33 submarines, two built in China (one with Romanian workers) and four in Romania.
However, the Type 33 was an obsolete design and the Romanian government decided to purchase Soviet equipment. A was acquired in 1984 for $61.5 million from USSR. The submarine was built by
Krasnoye Sormovo Factory No. 112
Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard No. 112 named after Andrei Zhdanov (russian: Судостроительное предприятие "Кра́сное Со́рмово" имени А. А. Жданова) is one of the oldest shipbuilding factories ...
in
Gorki Gorki may refer to:
* Gorki Águila (b. 1968), Cuban rock musician
*Gorki (band), a Belgian band of Luc De Vos
* Gorki (Kazan Metro), a station of the Kazan Metro, Kazan, Russia
* Gorki Ridge, a ridge in Antarctica
* Gorki, Russia, several inha ...
. The Romanian crew of the submarine was trained in the USSR.
The submarine, christened ''Delfinul'', was delivered in 1985. Another two Kilo-class submarines were planned for purchase, but due to financial reasons, the orders were cancelled.
Service
The submarine successfully accomplished 67 missions, with 2,000 hours of immersion.
[''Almanahul Forțelor Navale 2007'', p. 86] During these missions, ''Delfinul'' launched 23
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
es and 2
naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
s.
In 1996, the submarine exhausted the resources of the initial batteries and is kept in reserve since then. After 2001, the submarine was transferred to the
"Mircea cel Bătrân" Naval Academy, being used as a
training ship
A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...
.
Numerous overhauling plans have been proposed since 1996, yet none were implemented.
See also
* , a World War II-era namesake
Notes
References
* ***, ''Almanahul Forțelor Navale 2007'', Statul Major al Forțelor Navale, Editura CTEA, București, 2006,
Submarines of the Romanian Naval Forces
Attack submarines
Romania–Soviet Union relations
Kilo-class submarines
1985 ships
Ships built in the Soviet Union
{{submarine-stub