The Căpitan Nicolae Lascăr Bogdan-class was a group of eight riverine torpedo gunboats of the Romanian Navy which served during the First World War and the Second World War.

Construction and specifications Twelve boats were planned as part of the 1899 naval programme, but this was reduced to 8. The boats were built at the Thames Iron Works in the United Kingdom from 1906 to 1907 and delivered through inland rivers. Each boat measured 30 meters in length, with a beam of 4 meters and a draught of 0.8 meters. Normal displacement amounted to 45 tons, growing to 51 tons for a full load. Power plant consisted of two compound engines powering two shafts, generating 550 hp which resulted in a top speed of 18 knots. Each vessel could carry up to 7.6 tons of fuel. With a full complement of 20, each of the boats was armed with one 47 mm Skoda gun, one 6.5 mm Maxim machine gun and two spar torpedoes, as well as torpedo dropping gear amidships. The sides and deck were protected by bulletproof armor.Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921, Naval Institute Press, 1985, p. 422

Career The eight vessels were classed as river torpedo boats, and served as such during the First World War as part of the Danube Division. Căpitan Mărăcineaunu was mined and sunk at the end of 1916. By 1940 three boats remained, Căpitan Romano Mihail, Locotenent Dimitrie Călinescu and Maior Gheorghe Șonțu.Е. Е. Шведе, Военные флоты 1939–1940 гг., Рипол Классик, 2013, pp. 120–121 (in Russian) Before the war the three were fitted with a 300 mm depth charge thrower. Their 6.5 mm machine gun was also replaced by a German 20 mm autocannon.Earl Thomas Allnutt Brassey, Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year-book, Volume 58, Praeger Publishers, 1947, p. 255

The three remaining ships were captured by the Soviet Union in 1944 and incorporated into the Danube Flotilla as SKA-754, SKA-755, and SKA-756, and were used to guard the port of Izmail. They would be returned to Romania in September 1945.

Ships

+ Ships in classNumberNameImageBuilderLaid downFate1Maior Constantin EneThames Iron Works, London1906 Scrapped in 1959-19602Căpitan Nicolae Lascăr BogdanThames Iron Works, London19063Căpitan Mihail RomanoThames Iron Works, London19064Maior Dimitrie GiurescuThames Iron Works, London19065Maior Gheorge ȘonțuThames Iron Works, London19066Maior Nicolae Grigore IoanThames Iron Works, London19067Locotenent Dimitrie CălinescuThames Iron Works, London19068Căpitan Valter MărăcineanuThames Iron Works, London1906Sunk by mine, 1916

References