NMS ''Năluca'' was a

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

of the Royal Romanian Navy. She was commissioned in 1920, after initially serving as ''Tb 82 F'' in the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', ) was the navy, naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were designated ''SMS'', for ''Seiner Majestät Schiff'' (His Majes ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. She and six more sister ships were awarded to Romania as reparations after the war ended.

Construction and specifications

A vessel of the F-group of the 250t-class, ''Năluca'' was built by Ganz & Danubius at

Fiume Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and in 2021 had a po ...

and nearby Porto Re, along with the rest of her group, between October 1913 and December 1916. Under the designation ''Tb 82 F'', she was laid down at Porto Re on 30 October 1913 and launched on 11 August 1914. The Italian declaration of war against Austria in May 1915 resulted in ''Tb 82 F'' being towed to the more secure port of

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

, and she was not completed until 16 August 1916. She had a waterline length of , a beam of , and a normal draught of . While her designed displacement was , she displaced about fully loaded. The crew consisted of 38 officers and enlisted men. Her AEG-Curtiss turbines were rated at with a maximum output of , enabling her to reach a top speed of . She carried of coal and of fuel oil, which gave her a range of at . Under the provisions of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, she was given as reparations to Romania in 1920, along with six more boats of the same class.Jane's Information Group, ''Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II'', London, England: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 313 During World War II, she had no torpedo tubes. These were replaced by depth charges, her artillery consisting of two 66 mm naval guns and two 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. The depth charges were deployed using one 400 mm thrower.

Career

Austro-Hungarian service

On the night of 28/29 November 1916, ''Tb 82 F'', together with sister ships ''Tb 86 F'', ''Tb 89 F'', ''Tb 90 F'' and ''Tb 91 F'' sortied towards Valona. On 23 March 1917, ''Tb 82 F'' was part of the 15th Torpedo-boat Group of the 9th Torpedo craft division. On 21 May 1917, the designations of Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats was revised, with the prefix letter indicating the ship's constructor being omitted, and ''Tb 82 F'' becoming ''Tb 82''. On 19 October 1917, ''Tb 82'' was one of a number of destroyers and torpedo boats supporting air attacks against

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

, and on 19 November, took part in minelaying operations between

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and Ancona with the destroyers and and the torpedo boats ''Tb 72'', ''Tb 86'', ''Tb 87'', ''Tb 89'', ''Tb 90'', ''Tb 91'' and ''Tb 95''. On 28 November, ''Tb 82'' formed part of a force of six destroyers and eight torpedo boats that bombarded targets on the Italian coast between

Porto Corsini Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

(near the

Port of Ravenna The Port of Ravenna () is an Italian seaport on the North Adriatic Sea in Ravenna, Italy. It is one of the top twenty Italian ports and top forty European ports. Overview The port of Ravenna is the main port of Emilia-Romagna. The European Comm ...

) and

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

Romanian service

While fighting on the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

side during World War II, she was involved in the minelaying operation of the Bulgarian coast in October 1941. On 9 July 1941, ''Năluca'', aided by the motor torpedo boats '' Viscolul'' and ''Vijelia'', sank the Soviet ''Shchuka''-class submarine ''Shch-206'' near

Mangalia Mangalia (, ), ancient Callatis (; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. The municipality of Mangalia als ...

. On 28 September 1942, ''Năluca'' was unsuccessfully attacked by the

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

''M-120'' near the Southern coast of the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. Between 26 July and 17 September 1943, ''Năluca'' carried out 12 escort missions, between

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

and

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

. On 27 August, during the 8th escort, her convoy was unsuccessfully attacked by seven Soviet torpedo bombers. On 20 August 1944, Soviet aircraft carried out a large air attack on the main Romanian port of

, involving 62 bombers and 80 escorting fighters and ground attack aircraft. ''Năluca'' was sunk, along with the German submarine , three German motor torpedo boats and a motor minesweeper, along with many smaller vessels.

Sources

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * *

External links