Searching info about Romanian industrial might in WW2.

[Mait]

Hello.

I am interested about the economical might of Romania during WW2. Can anyone point out some material available in internet about the subject? Or answer some of my questions here?

The topics I am interested about are:

1. Did Romania have heavy industry (factories producing steel for instance) in 1941-43? Was this heavy industry able to produce parts for AFV (could they produce T-60 chassis analogues for instance)?

2. Was Romania able to build engines in quantity (say more than 500 truck engines a year)?

3. How much ammunition (from rifles to large caliber howitzers) could Romania produce?

4. How much oil was produced in Romania in 1941 to 1943? How much could be refined in Romania (for airplane engines for instance)?

I will ask more questions, if it seems that there is someone in the forum who could enlighten me in that subject.

Best Regards,

Mait.

[Andy H]

Hi Mait

I hopefully post more on Sunday but an important by-product of the Romanian Artillery programme was a major expansion in the Romanian Optical Industry (IOR), WHICH ALLOWED INCREASED LOCAL PRODUCTION OF GUN SIGHTS AND THE INTRODUCTION OF A FIELD PERISCOPE CALLED THE SEPTILICI

Andy from the Shire

[Ovidius]

1. Did Romania have heavy industry (factories producing steel for instance) in 1941-43? Was this heavy industry able to produce parts for AFV (could they produce T-60 chassis analogues for instance)?

YES. There had been steel mills built years before WWII, and also locomotive works able to build tank components. Smaller armored vehicles, like a licensed copy of the UE Carrier, were built entirely in Romania.

2. Was Romania able to build engines in quantity (say more than 500 truck engines a year)?

Apparently YES.

3. How much ammunition (from rifles to large caliber howitzers) could Romania produce?

Hard to say, but the quantities(especially for heavy 100mm, 120mm and 150mm shells) not always fulfilled the needs.

( On a side note, the Romanian Army had captured in 1916 two giant rail-carried "bunker-buster" howitzers(one 380mm and one 420mm) to be fired from fixed positions after being assembled. Apparently these were not used in combat due to the lack of suitable ammo. Nowadays they are on display in the Romanian National Military Museum. )

4. How much oil was produced in Romania in 1941 to 1943? How much could be refined in Romania (for airplane engines for instance)?

Hard to give an accurate figure(ask Victor), but in the late 1930s the oil production had been about 5 million tonnes/year.


~Regards,

Ovidius

[Mait]

Thanks so far. Some more to come:

1. Which natural resources were industrially used in Romania during WW2? I know You had oil drilled that time. What about coal, iron, other metals?

2. Could Romanian industry provide all necessary ammo to its armed forces during 1942? I mean, did You have need to buy ammunition from Germany?

3. Do You have any data about industrial output? (cars produced/oil drilled/steel melted/etc.)

Best Regards,

Mait.

[Andy H]

Oil Production and Exports to Germany

1939: 6,240,000t of which 1,556,000t to Germany
1940: 5,815,000t of which 1,304,000t to Germany
1941: 5,577,000t of which 3,173,700t to Germany
1942; 5,665,000t of which 2,302,400t to Germany
1943: 5,330,000t of which 2,472,700t to Germany
1944: 3,525,000t of which 1,078,900t to Germany

Between 1941-42 Romanian also export +1,000,000t to other Axis countries & Neutrals, falling to 600,000t in '43.

Romanian output had peaked in 1936 at 8,701,000t

Andy from the Shire

[Andy H]

Another area in which Romania played a key part was as a means to import Chrome from Turkey for shipment on to Germany.

Also Agricultural exports to Germany were of viatl importance to Germany, especially during 1940-41.

Andy from the Shire

[Mait]

Where could I get the map of Romanian railroads during WW2?

Best Regards,

Mait.

[Andy H]

Iwould imagine that like most countries the main rail lines remain from there inception. So you can't go far wrong by looking at a modern rail map of Romania

Andy from the Shire

[Victor]

OIL: the oil production peaked in 1936: 8.8 million tones and then started to decrease.
About 3 million tones were exported each year to Germany between 1941-43 and 1.4 million in 1944. The internal consumption increased from 1.7 million in 1941 to 2.5 million in 1944. So you can say that the oil production was about 5 million tones/year (I do not know the quantity exported to Italy yet).

The oil processing capabilities:
Ploesti refineries:
Romano-Americana refinery: 1.25 million tones/year
Concordia-Vega refinery: 1.5 million tones/year
Standard-Petrol refinery and Unirea-Speranta refinery: 1.3 million tones/year
Astra Romana refinery: 2 million tones/year
Columbia-Aquila refinery: 0.3 million tones/year

Creditul Minier refinery at Brazi: 0.6 million tones/year of high octane aviation fuel

Steaua Romana refinery at Campina: 1.75 million tones/year (third largest in Europe)

Grand total: 8.7 million tones/year

STEEL: Unfortunately my figures are only from 1937: the value of the metallurgical production for the entire year was 10.5 billion lei (about 105 million USD-1934 value).

AIRPLANES (late 1940-1945):
IAR-80 & 81: 450
Bf-109G: 75
JRS-79B & B1: 72
IAR-39: 255
Nardi FN-305: 124
Fi-156C: at least 92

AFVs:
Malaxa UE: 126
TACAM T-60: 34
TACAM R-2: 21
R-35/45: 30 (modernization of the R-35)
Maresal: 6 prototypes + a production batch

Artillery pieces:
Vickers-Resita 75 mm AA gun: 210 (??)
Resita 75 mm AT gun: ??
Brandt/Voina 81.4 mm mortar: ??
Resita 120 mm mortar: ??
Schneider/Concordia 47 mm AT gun: ??

Infantry weapons:
Orita SMG: ??
ZB vz 30: 5000
MAN grenades, mines etc: ??


As you can see I do not know too much on the wartime production. These data was gathered from many sources. Unfortunately there aren't any serious studies on the Romanian war time economy, that I know of. I will try to find more, since this is a subject that interests me too a lot.

[Victor]

Iwould imagine that like most countries the main rail lines remain from there inception. So you can't go far wrong by looking at a modern rail map of Romania

Andy from the Shire

Look at http://www.cfr.ro

[Victor]

Oil Production and Exports to Germany

1939: 6,240,000t of which 1,556,000t to Germany
1940: 5,815,000t of which 1,304,000t to Germany
1941: 5,577,000t of which 3,173,700t to Germany
1942; 5,665,000t of which 2,302,400t to Germany
1943: 5,330,000t of which 2,472,700t to Germany
1944: 3,525,000t of which 1,078,900t to Germany

Between 1941-42 Romanian also export +1,000,000t to other Axis countries & Neutrals, falling to 600,000t in '43.

Romanian output had peaked in 1936 at 8,701,000t

Andy from the Shire

Looks like your figures are more accurate than mine. Where are they from?

[Ovidius]

Artillery pieces:
Vickers-Resita 75 mm AA gun: 210 (??)
Resita 75 mm AT gun: ??
Brandt/Voina 81.4 mm mortar: ??
Resita 120 mm mortar: ??
Schneider/Concordia 47 mm AT gun: ??

There were 216 examples of the Resita DT-UDR 75mm AT gun built, but how many of these were built before August 23, 1944, I can't say.

~Ovidius

[Victor]

The war didn't end on 23 August 1944. It ended on 12 May 1945.

[Ovidius]

The war didn't end on 23 August 1944. It ended on 12 May 1945.

Too bad. After August 23, 1944, there was no longer war for us - just slaughter.

After routing the Magyars from Transylvania and pushing the Germans beyond the border it was no longer our business and everything should have stopped. But the Soviets had imposed their military administration in Northwestern Transylvania, and without their consent we would have never got it back - so we had to pay with Romanian and German blood for it. An interesting lesson of history nevertheless.

~Ovidius

[Victor]

According to Guns of the Reich (Firearms of the German Forces, 1939-1945) at least 25,000 Orita SMGs were produced. However I do not know how many were built during and after WWII.