NMS ''Trotușul'' was a small torpedo boat of the Romanian Navy. Along with her three sister ships, she saw service 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 ...

and World War II, being the most successful vessel in her class.

Construction and specifications

''Trotușul'' was a vessel of the ''Vedea''-class, a group of small torpedo boats built in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for the Romanian Navy in 1894. The class consisted of four boats: ''Vedea'', ''Argeșul'', ''Trotușul'' and ''Teleorman''. They were referred to as ''șalupe torpiloare'' (torpedo motorboats) by their Romanian owners. Along with her sisters, ''Trotușul'' was built at

Schichau-Werke The Schichau-Werke (F. Schichau, Maschinen- und Lokomotivfabrik, Schiffswerft und Eisengießerei GmbH) was a German engineering works and shipyard based in Elbing, Germany (now Elbląg, Poland) on the Frisches Haff (Vistula Lagoon) of then-East ...

, having a displacement of 30 tons, measuring 20 meters in length, with a beam of 3 meters and a draught of 1.5 meters. Each boat had a crew of 16 and a top speed of 10 knots, generated by a 150 horse power engine. Armament consisted of one 37 mm Hotchkiss revolving gun, one machine gun and two spar torpedoes. The range of these vessels was remarkable. Each could carry up to 8 tons of fuel, which is slightly more than the seaworthy ''Căpitan Nicolae Lascăr Bogdan'' class (7.6 tons) and even more than the three boats of the '' Smeul'' class (7 tons), which were founding warships of the Romanian Black Sea Fleet.

Service

''Trotușul'' during

was commanded by

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Aschinger Bruno. Along with the Romanian

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

Mihail Kogălniceanu Mihail Kogălniceanu (; also known as Mihail Cogâlniceanu, Michel de Kogalnitchan; September 6, 1817 – July 1, 1891) was a Romanian Liberalism, liberal statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became Prime Minister of Romania on Octo ...

'', she carried out the last action of the Romanian Navy during the war, which took place after Romania re-declared war on the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

on 10 November 1918. In the morning of 11 November, three hours before the Allied Armistice with Germany was signed, the monitor and the torpedo boat occupied the port of

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

, after the Germans retreated from the city. The two Romanian warships captured 77 assorted German vessels abandoned in the city's port (barges, tankers, tugs, floating cranes, motorboats). The entire class survived to see service during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and subsequently as late as 1949, being part of the 10 Romanian Navy armed motor launches with displacements ranging from 9 to 30 tons.Earl Thomas Allnutt Brassey, ''Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year-book, Volume 60'', Praeger Publishers, 1949, p. 167

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trotușul World War I naval ships of Romania 1894 ships Ships built by Schichau Ships built in Elbing Torpedo boats of Germany