Regele Ferdinand-class destroyer

Regele Ferdinand destroyer
Class overview
Name: Regele Ferdinand class
Operators:  Romanian Naval Forces
 Soviet Navy
Preceded by: Mărăști class
Completed: 2
Cancelled: 2
Retired: 2
General characteristics
Type:Destroyer
Displacement:1,400 long tons (1,400 t) standard
1,850 long tons (1,880 t) full load
Length:101.9 m (334 ft 4 in)
Beam:9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught:3.51 m (11 ft 6 in)
Propulsion:2 shaft Parsons type geared turbines, 4 Thornycroft type boilers, 52,000 hp (39,000 kW)
Speed:37 knots (43 mph; 69 km/h)
Range:3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:212
Armament:5 x 1 - 120mm guns
4 x 1 - 76mm AA gun
2 x 40mm AA guns
2 x 13mm machine guns
3 x 2 - 21 in torpedo tubes

The Regele Ferdinand class was two destroyers built in Italy for the Romanian Navy, which fought in World War II.

History

Following the end of World War I and the re-purchase of two Mărăști-class destroyers from Italy, the Romanian Government decided to order two more modern destroyers from the Pattison Yard in Naples. The design was based on the British Shakespeare-class destroyer leaders . The guns were supplied by Bofors and the fire control equipment by Siemens. The Romanians wished to order two more vessels but could not afford to do so due to economic problems.

Letuchiy (Regina Maria) destroyer while in Soviet service

The ships were the most powerful surface units available to the Axis powers during the Naval war in the Black Sea but were mostly used for convoy escort and in 1944 were used in the evacuation of the Crimea by the Axis. On the capitulation of Romania in August 1944, the two ships were incorporated into the Soviet Black Sea Fleet as Likhoy (Лихой, ex-Regele Ferdinand) and Letuchiy (Летучий, ex-Regina Maria). They were returned in 1951 and served under the numbers D21 and D22 in Naval Forces of Romanian People's Republic until the end of 1950s.

Ships

Ship Launched Commissioned Fate
Regele Ferdinand (RF) 1 December 1928 7 September 1930 Decommissioned in 1960s
Regina Maria (RM) 2 March 1929 7 September 1930 Decommissioned in 1960s

See also

References

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