| NMS Vedenia | |
|---|---|
 Sister ship Vântul | |
| Career (Romania) |  |
| Name: | Vedenia |
| Builder: |
|
| Laid down: | 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 1943 |
| Out of service: | 1944 |
| Fate: | Captured by the Soviet Union |
| Career (Soviet Union) |  |
| Name: | TK-951 |
| Commissioned: | 1944 |
| Out of service: | 1945 |
| Fate: | Returned to Romania, later scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Vedenia-class motor torpedo boat |
| Type: | Motor torpedo boat |
| Displacement: |
|
| Length: |
|
| Beam: |
|
| Draft: | 1.14 m (3 ft 9 in) |
| Propulsion: | 3 Rolls-Royce Merlin petrol engines, 3 shafts, 2,850 horse power |
| Speed: | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Complement: | 14 |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Commanders: | Ion Zaharia |
| Victories: | Contribution to the sinking of 1 S-boat |
NMS Vedenia was a Second World War motor torpedo boat of the Romanian Navy. She was the lead ship of a class of six vessels and saw service in the second half of the war.
Construction and specifications[]
Vedenia was the first vessel of her class. She along with her five sisters were British MTBs of the Power type, but their hulls were built under licence in the Netherlands. After the Germans occupied the country, they also captured the six incomplete boats and subsequently sold them to Romania. The Romanians completed the boats at the Galați shipyard, fitting them with their engines, electronics and armament. The first three boats (Vedenia, Vântul and Vijelia) were completed in late 1943, while the other three (Viforul, Vârtejul, and Vulcanul) were only completed in April–May 1944. The boats displaced 31 tons standard and 38 tons fully loaded, had a length of 21.4 meters, a beam of 6.05 meters and a draught of 1.14 meters. They were each powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin petrol engine, generating 2,850 hp powering three shafts, resulting in a top speed of 35 knots. Each MTB was armed with two 20 mm Hispano-Suiza anti-aircraft guns, two 533 mm torpedo tubes and two depth charge racks, each rack carrying three depth charges. Each boat had a crew of 14.[1][2][3][4]
Service[]
The six boats were numbered 4 to 9, in order of their completion. Along with the Vospers-built Romanian motor torpedo boat Viscolul, 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.[4][5] On 25–26 May 1944, Vedenia and Viscoul, 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 to reinforce the existing one.[6] The mines laid off Sulina sank the German S-boat S-148 on 22 August 1944.[7]
Generally, Vedenia and her sisters saw little service, due to a lack of spare parts. All six boats were captured by the Soviet Union after the King Michael's Coup on 23 August 1944, but were returned to Romania after the end of the war, in October 1945. However, due to their bad technical condition and a lack of spare parts, they were never commissioned again and later scrapped.[2]
References[]
- ↑ Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, Naval Institute Press, 1980, p. 362
- ↑ Cornel I. Scafeș, Armata Română 1941-1945, RAI Publishing, 1996, p. 174.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cristian Crăciunoiu, Romanian navy torpedo boats, Modelism Publishing, 2003, p. 145.
- ↑ Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1942-1944, Făt-Frumos Publishing, 1996, pp. 18 and 88.
- ↑ Antony Preston, Warship 2001-2002, Conway Maritime Press, 2001, p. 84.
- ↑ Lawrence Paterson, Schnellboote: A Complete Operational History, Seaforth Publishing, 2015, p. 261.
The original article can be found at NMS Vedenia and the edit history here.