NMS ''Sublocotenent Ghiculescu'' was a specialized ASW gunboat of 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 flo ...

. Initially built as a French warship in late

World War I 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 was purchased by Romania in 1920 and fought 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 opposing ...

, sinking two submarines and one motor torpedo boat. After 1 year of Soviet service, she was returned to Romania and served as a survey vessel until 2002.

Construction and specifications

''Sublocotenent Ghiculescu'' was a gunboat of the French ''Friponne'' class. She was built at Arsenal de Brest, being launched in 1917 and commissioned by the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

as ''Mignonne'' in 1918. She was sold to Romania in January 1920. Like her sisters, the gunboat displaced between 344 and 443 tons, measuring 62.1 meters in length, with a beam of 7 meters and a deep-load draught of 2.9 meters. Power plant consisted of two Sulzer diesel engines powering two shafts, resulting in an output of 900 hp which gave her a top speed of 15 knots. She had a range of 3,000 nautical miles at 10 knots and 1,600 nautical miles at 15 knots. She was armed with two 100 mm naval guns and two 400 mm depth-charge throwers, her crew amounting to 50.

Service

During World War II, her armament was increased. Her two 100 mm naval guns were supplemented by four 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. She also retained her two 400 mm depth charge throwers. She had 3 identical sisters which also served during the war: ''Dumitrescu'', ''Stihi'' and ''Lepri Remus''. ''Lepri Remus'' was fitted with mine rails and converted to minelayer. She escorted a total of 17 Axis convoys in the Black Sea. On 1 October 1942, the

Soviet M-class submarine The M-class submarines, also ''Malyutka'' class (russian: Малютка; ''baby'' or ''little one''), were a class of small, single-, or 1½-hulled submarines built in the Soviet Union and used during World War II. The submarines were built in ...

''M-118'' attacked and sank the German transport ship ''Salzburg'', which was carrying on board 2,000 Soviet prisoners of war. After attacking, the submarine was located by a German BV138C flying boat, and ''Sublocotenent Ghiculescu'' together with sister ship ''Stihi Eugen'' were sent to the scene. The two Romanian gunboats attacked the Soviet submarine with depth-charges, sinking her with all hands. On 18 April 1944, during the evacuation of the Crimea, the Soviet ''Leninets''-class submarine ''L-6'' was sunk with depth charges near

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

by the ''Sublocotenent Ghiculescu'', aided by the German submarine chaser ''UJ-104''. During the night of 27 April, a convoy escorted by the Romanian gunboat ''Sublocotenent Ghiculescu'', the German submarine hunter ''UJ-115'', one

R-boat The R boats (''Räumboote'' in German, meaning ''minesweeper'') were a group of small naval vessels built as minesweepers for the ''Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) before and during the Second World War. They were used for several purposes during t ...

, two KFK

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built ...

s and 19 MFPs (including the Romanian ''PTA-404'' and ''PTA-406'') engaged the Soviet G-5-class motor torpedo boats ''TKA-332'', ''TKA-343'' and ''TKA-344'', after the three attacked and damaged the German submarine hunter ''UJ-104''. ''Ghiculescu'' opened fire with tracer rounds, enabling the entire escort group to locate the two Soviet MTBs and open fire. ''TKA-332'' was hit and sunk.Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, ''Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1942–1944'', Făt Frumos Publishing, 1997 She was captured by Soviet forces in September 1944 and was commissioned as ''Angara''. In October 1945, she was returned to Romania and served as a survey vessel until 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sublocotenent Ghiculescu World War I naval ships of France World War II naval ships of Romania Ships built in France 1917 ships World War II naval ships of the Soviet Union Gunboats of the Romanian Naval Forces Captured ships