NMS ''Vedenia'' was a

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 ...

motor torpedo boat 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 flot ...

. She was the lead ship of a class of six vessels and saw service during the second half of the war.

Construction and specifications

In 1940, Romania acquired a class of three

Vospers Vosper & Company, often referred to simply as Vospers, was a British shipbuilding company based in Portsmouth, England. History The Company was established in 1871 by Herbert Edward Vosper, concentrating on ship repair and refitting work. By t ...

type motor torpedo boats, led by

NMS Viscolul NMS ''Viscolul'' was the most successful and the longest-serving motor torpedo boat of the Romanian Navy during the Second World War. She supported the Siege of Odessa and took part in the action of 9 July 1941. Construction and specifications ...

. During the Second World War, Romania built six Dutch-designed torpedo boats. Numbered 4 to 9, the six boats were launched in 1939 and were fitted out to largely emulate the Vospers boats, having the same length (70 feet/21.33 meters), the same displacement (30 tons), the same top speed (41 knots) and the same torpedo armament (two 21 inch/533 mm torpedo tubes). They differed in terms of artillery, each boat having two 20 mm autocannons as opposed to eight machine guns. The names of the six boats, in order of their numbering, were: ''Vedenia'', ''Vântul'', ''Vijelia'', ''Viforul'', ''Vârtejul'' and ''Vulcanul''. Built at the Galați shipyard, ''Vedenia'' and her sisters were commissioned in 1943.

Service

Along with one surviving Vospers boat, ''Vedenia'' and her five sisters formed the ''Escadrila de vedete torpiloare'' (The motor torpedo boat squadron), part of the ''Grupul submarine și vedete torpiloare'' (The submarines and motor torpedo boats group). The captain of ''Vedenia'', Ion Zaharia, was also the leader of the entire squadron. ''Vedenia'' was the only boat of her class to be fitted for escort service. On 25–26 May 1944, ''Vedenia'' and the surviving Vospers boat, along with two Romanian torpedo boats and two destroyers, escorted the Romanian minelayers '' Amiral Murgescu'' and ''Dacia'', as the two laid a barrage of mines off

Sulina Sulina () is a town and free port in Tulcea County, Northern Dobruja, Romania, at the mouth of the Sulina branch of the Danube. It is the easternmost point of Romania. History During the mid-Byzantine period, Sulina was a small cove, and in t ...

to reinforce the existing one. The mines laid off Sulina sank the German S-boat ''S-148'' on 22 August 1944. ''Vedenia'' and her sisters were last mentioned in 1949.Earl Thomas Allnutt Brassey, ''Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year-book, Volume 60'', Praeger Publishers, 1949, p. 167

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vedenia World War II torpedo boats of Romania Ships built in Romania 1943 ships