Raid on Constanța

Raid on Constanța
Part of the Black Sea Campaigns of the Eastern Front of World War II
Romanian destroyer Regina Maria
Date 26 June 1941 Location Constanța, Romania Result Axis victory
Belligerents
Romania  Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Horia Macellariu	Filipp Oktyabrskiy
Strength
Defences of Constanța: 2 destroyers 1 minelayer 2 motor torpedo boats 1 anti-aircraft battery 1 coastal battery In the Danube Delta: 2 marine battalions 2 river monitors 4 patrol boats 4 armed barges	Voroshilov Task Force: 1 cruiser 6 destroyers Unknown aircraft In the Danube Delta: Unknown number of troops 3 river monitors ~20 armored patrol boats 2 troopships
Casualties and losses
Port facilities damaged In the Danube Delta: 358+ casualties (mostly POWs)	1 cruiser damaged 1 destroyer sunk 1 destroyer damaged 9 aircraft destroyed 268+ killed 69 captured 4 submarines sunk after the raid In the Danube Delta: Unknown human losses 3 river monitors damaged 6 armored patrol boats sunk and 3 damaged (including 1 captured)

The Raid on Constanța was an attack of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet on the Romanian port of Constanța on 26 June 1941, resulting in the only encounter between major warships during the naval war in the Black Sea in World War II.

Background

Romanian minelayer Amiral Murgescu

After Romania joined the Tripartite Pact in November 1940, the Germans agreed to construct five coastal batteries to bolster obsolete Romanian coastal defences,^[1] including the Tirpitz battery south of Constanța, armed with three spare World War I-vintage model 28 cm SK L/45 guns and protected by 75 mm and 20 mm AA guns. The battery was completed and tested in April 1941 and was operated by 700 Kriegsmarine personnel, although it was nominally under Romanian control like all Axis forces in Romania.^[2]

Between 16 and 19 June 1941, in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Aurora laid 1,000 mines between Cape Midia and Tuzla to protect Constanța.^[3]

On 22 June 1941, as part of Operation Barbarossa, Romania launched attacks against Soviet airfields in Bessarabia, destroying many Soviet aircraft on the ground. A retaliatory Soviet bombing raid on Constanța, probably in an attempt to damage the port, was repelled by Horia Agarici and the Romanian Air Force. With the failure of the initial air attacks, Soviet Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky decided to launch a combined aerial and naval attack on Constanța and a seaborne assault on the Danube Delta.^[4]

Bombardment

Soviet destroyer leader Moskva

Two Soviet destroyer leaders of the Leningrad class, Moskva and Kharkov, supported by the cruiser Voroshilov,^{[3][5][6][7][8]} the Soobrazitelnyy-class destroyers Soobrazitel'ny and Smyshlyonyi,^[9] and two other destroyers, were organized into a task force for the attack. The Soviets also had the battleship Pariskaya Komuna kept 100 miles (160 km) offshore to exploit any initial success, and surviving Soviet bombers also joined in the attack.^[4]

The Voroshilov task force approached and shelled Constanța in the early hours of 26 June 1941, setting ablaze some fuel tanks and warehouses,^[4] and damaging port infrastructure.^{[3][5][6][7][8]} A Romanian submarine had spotted the Voroshilov task force before it reached its target,^[4] and so the Romanian defences, comprising the destroyers Regina Maria and Mărăști, the minelayer Amiral Murgescu, and the German coastal battery Tirpitz,^{[3][5][6][7][8]} were prepared to quickly retaliate by firing on the Soviet ships. For ten minutes, starting 03:58, Moskva and Kharkov had fired no less than 350 shells from their 130 mm guns. The two Romanian destroyers opened fire with their 120 mm guns from a distance of 14 miles (22 km) at 04:12, and at 04:20, Kharkov was hit. The Tirpitz battery also opened fire at 04:22. Moskva was also damaged by the Romanian destroyers, her main mast being brought down by a 120 mm shell while Kharkov was further damaged by Tirpitz.^[10][11][12] The surprised Soviets began to retreat, but sailed into a defensive minefield. Moskva was sunk during the retreat, with 268 sailors killed and 69 survivors captured by Romanians.^[13] According to most sources, she was sunk by Romanian mines,^{[14][15][16][17]} although shells from Regina Maria and the Tirpitz coastal battery^[18] or an unintentional friendly fire torpedo attack by Soviet submarine Shch-206 have also been suggested as causes.^[19] Voroshilov was also damaged by a mine that exploded when Soobrazitel'ny's paravanes triggered it.^[20] The Romanian motor torpedo boats Viforul and Vijelia also tried to attack Kharkov, but were driven off by the rest of the Voroshilov task force.^[21] The Soviets also lost nine Tupolev SB bombers to anti-aircraft fire during the battle,^{[22][4][5][6][7][8]} two of them claimed by Amiral Murgescu and one by Mărăşti.^[23][3] The remaining six aircraft were shot down by a Romanian AA battery of 102 mm Ansaldo guns.^[24]

Assault on the Danube Delta

Soviet armored patrol boat

In coordination with the bombardment of Constanța, Soviet forces also launched an amphibious attack on Romanian marines in the Danube Delta. Ten Soviet armored patrol boats and two troopships landed troops at Chilia Veche and captured most of the Romanian 15th Marine Battalion, total Romanian casualties amounting to 358 marines. The battalion's lack of artillery contributed significantly to its defeat.^[25][26]

A further Soviet attack was carried out against the Romanian 17th Marine Battalion at Periprava. However, this battalion did possess artillery, including a riverine artillery group consisting of two sections of 152 mm guns (SP1 and SP2), one section of 47 mm guns (Mărăcineanu) and one section of 40 mm guns (Rândunica), each section having two guns mounted on a barge. The Soviet attack was thus successfully repulsed, four Soviet armored patrol boats being sunk by the 47 mm Škoda guns of the Mărăcineanu section.^{[27][28][29][30]}

Preceding naval engagements in the Danube Delta

Technical drawing of Romanian monitor Mihail Kogălniceanu

Zheleznyakov, one of the Soviet Danube monitors (2 x 102 mm guns)

In the days prior to the raid on Constanța and the simultaneous assault on the Danube Delta, several battles were fought between river warships of the Soviet and Romanian Navies.

The first Soviet-Romanian naval engagement took place on 22 June 1941, the first day of Operation Barbarossa, when one Soviet monitor and one armored patrol boat attacked the port-city of Tulcea. The Romanian river monitors Basarabia and the Brătianu-class Mihail Kogălniceanu repulsed the attack, sinking the patrol boat.^[31][32] Romanian shore artillery opened fire on the three Soviet monitors of the Reni Group (Zheleznyakov, Rostovtsev and Zhemchuzhin).^[33]

The main engagement took place on the following day, when the Romanian Tulcea Tactical Group (Basarabia, Mihail Kogălniceanu and four patrol boats) repulsed another attack of the Soviet Danube Flotilla's Reni Group, damaging two monitors and two armored patrol boats. The Romanian monitors then counterattacked at Reni, sinking one armored patrol boat and damaging another Soviet monitor.^[31][32] On 24 June, the Reni Group switched to defensive.^[33]

During the night of 25–26 June, the Romanian patrol boats V1 and V3 (or just V2, depending on source), engaged three Soviet armored patrol boats, setting one of them on fire and forcing all three to retreat. Later, the damaged patrol boat was captured by Romanian forces.^[34][35]

Aftermath

The failure of the raid on Constanța together with the damage suffered by the Black Sea Fleet caused Soviet Admiral Filipp Oktyabrskiy to be much more cautious in his use of surface warships.^[36] The next engagement between surface units of the Soviet and Romanian Navies would only take place on 18 August, during the Siege of Odessa. Soviet submarines would continue operations near Constanța throughout the war, but Shch-213 and three more submarines (M-58, M-34 and Shch-208) were sunk by Romanian mines near the port.^[37]

In the Danube Delta, Soviet forces would continue fighting against the Axis until the end of Operation München.

See also

• Operation München

References

External links

• The static war (22 June - 3 July 1941)