Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

Discussions on all aspects of the smaller Axis nations in Europe and Asia. Hosted by G. Trifkovic.
Sid Guttridge
Member
Posts: 10158
Joined: 12 Jun 2008, 12:19

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#16

Post by Sid Guttridge » 02 Feb 2016, 13:26

Hi Guys,

For English language readers:

The final chapter of Third Axis, Fourth Ally by Axworthy is entirely devoted to the Romanian naval effort in the Black Sea.

The journal Warship also contains articles on the Romanian Navy in WWII in its 1991, 1992 and 2001-2002 editions..

The Romanian language work is the three part work "Marina romana in al II-lea razboi mondial" by N. Koslinski and R. Stanescu, published in the late 1990s. The authors were naval veterans of WWII.

Cheers,

Sid.

User avatar
tigre
Member
Posts: 10550
Joined: 20 Mar 2005, 12:48
Location: Argentina

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#17

Post by tigre » 06 Feb 2016, 17:00

Thank you very much for sharing that info Sid :wink:. Cheers. Raúl M 8-).


User avatar
tigre
Member
Posts: 10550
Joined: 20 Mar 2005, 12:48
Location: Argentina

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#18

Post by tigre » 13 Feb 2016, 17:17

Hello to all :D; a little more...............................

Soviet air attack on Yalta on September 9th, 1942.

9th September 1942, just after the official visit by Admiral Erich Johann Albert Raeder at the "Italian" base of Yalta, this base was violently attacked by a squadron of Soviet fighter-bombers, which hit and sank M.A.S. 571 and 573 and a barge, succeeding also in seriously damaging M.A.S. 567, 569 and 572.

Source: http://www.morskivestnik.com/mor_kolekc ... arina.html
http://www.icsm.it/regiamarina/blacksea.htm

Cheers. Raul M 8-).
Attachments
image053.jpg
M.A.S. (Motoscafo Armato Silurante) Nº 571 sunk after an air attack on Yalta on September 9th, 1942............................
image053.jpg (29.63 KiB) Viewed 4897 times

CNE503
Member
Posts: 2395
Joined: 23 Aug 2010, 13:01
Location: Dijon, Bourgogne, France

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#19

Post by CNE503 » 06 Mar 2016, 17:08

Hello,

Could someone provide some information about this "Tovaris" captured from the Soviet navy and used by the Croatian naval Legion from 1942 and on?
What was its type, class, armament, combat record?

Thanks.
Cheers,

CNE503
"Sicut Aquila" / "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre" / "par l'exemple, le coeur et la raison" / "Labor Omnia Vincit"

User avatar
carius
Member
Posts: 19633
Joined: 14 Apr 2007, 21:15
Location: Bulgaria

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#20

Post by carius » 08 Mar 2016, 13:36

tigre wrote:Hello to all :D; well not exactly in 1941, but surely Axis naval units in the Black Sea.........................

Meeting in the Black Sea!

AFAIK in May 1942 the Flotilla Commander, Korvettenkapitän Birnbacher, had on hand the first 4 boats (S-26, 28, 72 and 102) ready to sail in Constanza.

Source: http://www.delcampe.net/page/item/id,35 ... age,F.html

Cheers. Raúl M 8-).
Quad MG on the boat!Hotchkiss???

Regards
George

bertamingo
Member
Posts: 374
Joined: 19 Apr 2014, 09:49
Location: earth

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#21

Post by bertamingo » 09 Mar 2016, 08:41

CNE503 wrote:Hello,

Could someone provide some information about this "Tovaris" captured from the Soviet navy and used by the Croatian naval Legion from 1942 and on?
What was its type, class, armament, combat record?

Thanks.
Cheers,

CNE503
check this link:
http://laststandonzombieisland.com/tag/ ... -tovarish/

CNE503
Member
Posts: 2395
Joined: 23 Aug 2010, 13:01
Location: Dijon, Bourgogne, France

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#22

Post by CNE503 » 10 Mar 2016, 23:19

Excellent! Thank you!
Cheers,

CNE503
"Sicut Aquila" / "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre" / "par l'exemple, le coeur et la raison" / "Labor Omnia Vincit"

Nautilus
Member
Posts: 261
Joined: 12 Jul 2006, 23:13
Location: Romania

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#23

Post by Nautilus » 06 May 2019, 10:49

tigre wrote:
13 Jan 2016, 22:51
The NMS Delfinul. Brief synopsis.

Ordered by Contract No. 15,276 of December 7, 1926 to the shipyard Cantieri Navali del Quarnaro, Fiume - Italy. Work began in 1927. Launched on June 6, 1930, but due to technical problems, delivery was delayed until May 9, 1936. On June 27, 1936 reached Constanta and was commissioned on August 15, 1936 under căpitanul Victor (Niţă) Voinescu.
The technical problems of the Delfinul were actually so serious to greatly hamper her combat value, to the point she became "barely some Axis naval presence, with a bit of luck" :D

First and foremost, she had been designed with WWI submarine warfare in mind. Which is natural, being designed in the mid-1920s.

But the Italian Government awarded the design work and shipbuilding work to Quarnaro, a company with barely any experience in submarine work. Someone in the company had some friends in Rome and some money and favors exchanged themselves under the table, otherwise it made no sense.

Time of construction in original contract was 2 years. Prolonging the shipbuilding work over 10 damn years meant she was already outdated when commissioned in 1936. State of the art submarine as of 1936 was a Type VIIB, not WWI design. Construction was unstable and overweight, needed "a hump" (a saddle tank) added after first sea trials, to keep longitudinal stability. Plus, the integrity of the hull was junk. Veterans who served during 1940-1942 reminisced when interviewed in the 2000s of permanent water ingress, which grew mould on everything, including their bread, even as it was tightly wrapped in 2 layers of rubber fabric. It was so dangerous that ever since 1936 they were under strict orders to never sleep in the boat unless on war patrol. Everyone slept on the tender ship. The naval command knew ever since the boat was delivered there was a serious risk she may sink unexpectedly with all hands. Also, war patrols were limited to 15 days. A U-Boat patrol took up to 90 days by comparison.

Rechinul and Marsuinul were much different and much better designs and could sustain 45 days war patrols, but they came too late to be meaningful.

At least one veteran of the Delfinul should be living today - Vice-Admiral (ret.) Petre Zamfir, October 3, 1923 - ?, served as ordinary seaman during at least 2 war patrols, one of which was June 25 - July 3, 1942.

User avatar
tigre
Member
Posts: 10550
Joined: 20 Mar 2005, 12:48
Location: Argentina

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#24

Post by tigre » 06 May 2019, 23:22

Thanks for this complement :wink:. Chers. Raúl M 8-).

Nautilus
Member
Posts: 261
Joined: 12 Jul 2006, 23:13
Location: Romania

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#25

Post by Nautilus » 07 May 2019, 09:13

According to post-war stories of Dr. Ion Neculai Agiu (1913-1999) and V-Adm. Petre Zamfir (1923-present):

"The hardest job in the Navy and the hardest arm in combat. The submarine was an iron coffin. When we left port, nobody could be sure we were going back. Usually the priest came and gave us the Last Rites before each patrol, and the submariner said farewell to family and country, for only God knew if the poor guy came back."

"Seamen were always cut and bruised all over from the metal parts and stairways they hit all the time in that small space. It was always humid, mold everywhere, even in our eyes and mouth. After 16 hours underwater, we could barely breathe. The air in the tanks was going out. After 18 hours, we had to surface, no matter what. There was strictly forbidden to move freely bow to stern or back, only if the Captain ordered and water ballast was shifted you could move from one compartment to the other. Delfinul was unbalanced by construction, heavier at the stern, they had to weld a saddle tank to float properly, we called it "a hump". For days or weeks, we were confined to our compartments and didn't see each other, talked only by intercom. Fresh water was like gold. We could wash hands or faces with seawater, but no bathing or shaving. This was not heroism, was hellish. Heroes were people on the Russian front, we just endured and did our duty."

lupodimare89
Member
Posts: 594
Joined: 07 Mar 2013, 02:32

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#26

Post by lupodimare89 » 30 Jul 2019, 11:21

On November 5, 1941 under the command of căpitanul Constantin Costăchescu south of Crimea she torpedoed a Soviet ship, the freighter "Uraleţ" (1,975 t.), but was detected and heavy attacked with depth charges forced the submarine to dive down to 80 meters and after eight hours she escaped towards the coast of Asia Minor where she could emerge to recharge batteries.
Just for information, but i think it is pretty much widespread by now the info on how Delfinul likely attacked and missed a minelayer (and for what has been told me, all the attacks reported during the last capaigns were not done by Soviet forces, but likely distant explosions by German aircrafts against soviet ships).

Nautilus
Member
Posts: 261
Joined: 12 Jul 2006, 23:13
Location: Romania

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#27

Post by Nautilus » 04 Sep 2019, 15:18

Plan of Delfinul, as she appeared back in 1936 upon commission.

Source: Modelism no. 2/1990
Attachments
Delfinul-.jpg

Nautilus
Member
Posts: 261
Joined: 12 Jul 2006, 23:13
Location: Romania

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#28

Post by Nautilus » 07 Sep 2019, 23:09

Plan of Delfinul conning tower and deck gun, as it appeared during WWII.

Source: Modelism no. 1/1998.
Attachments
Delfinul-conning-tower.jpg

Nautilus
Member
Posts: 261
Joined: 12 Jul 2006, 23:13
Location: Romania

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#29

Post by Nautilus » 07 Sep 2019, 23:21

Plan of Delfinul as she appeared during early WWII.

Saddle tank fitted on deck towards stern, deck heavily modified.

Source: Modelism no. 1/1998, author Teodor Liviu Moroșanu.
Attachments
Delfinul-early-WWII.jpg

Nautilus
Member
Posts: 261
Joined: 12 Jul 2006, 23:13
Location: Romania

Re: Axis naval presence in Black sea in the summer of 1941

#30

Post by Nautilus » 07 Sep 2019, 23:31

The internal arrangement of Delfinul as originally built.

Source: Modelism no. 1/1998.

This is an excerpt from original construction designs form Quarnaro.
Attachments
Delfinul-interior.jpg

Post Reply

Return to “Minor Axis Nations”