NMS Regina Maria was the second and last of the two s built in Italy for the Romanian Navy in the late 1920s. After the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 (Operation Barbarossa), she took part in the Raid on Constanța a few days later and may have damaged a Soviet destroyer leader during the battle. The powerful Soviet Black Sea Fleet heavily outnumbered Axis naval forces in the Black Sea and the Romanian destroyers were limited to escort duties in the western half of the Black Sea during the war. In early 1944 the Soviets were able to cut off and surround the port of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. Regina Maria covered convoys evacuating Axis troops from Sevastopol in May and rescued several hundred herself.
Later that year Romania switched sides, but despite that the Soviets seized the Romanian ships and incorporated them into the Soviet Navy. Renamed Letuchiy, the ship served until she was struck from the navy list in 1951 when she was returned to the Romanians who renamed her D22 in 1952. The ship was discarded in 1961 and subsequently scrapped.
Background and design
Following the end of World War I and the re-purchase of two s from Italy, the Romanian Government decided to order also two modern destroyers from the Pattison Yard in Italy, as part of the 1927 Naval Programme. The design was based on the British Shakespeare-class destroyer leaders, but differed in the arrangement of their propulsion machinery. The guns were imported from Sweden and the fire-control system from Germany. Four destroyers were intended to be ordered, but only two were actually built.
The Regele Ferdinand-class ships had an overall length of , a beam of , and a mean draught of . They displaced at standard load and at deep load. Their crew numbered 212 officers and sailors. The ships were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving a single propeller, using steam provided by four Thornycroft boilers. The turbines were designed to produce for a speed of , although the Regele Ferdinands reached during their sea trials. They could carry of fuel oil which gave them a range of at a speed of .
The main armament of the Regele Ferdinand-class ships consisted of five 50-calibre Bofors guns in single mounts, two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure and one gun aft of the rear funnel. For anti-aircraft defense, they were equipped with one Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) gun between the funnels and a pair of AA guns. The ships were fitted with two triple mounts for torpedo tubes and could carry 50 mines and 40 depth charges. They were equipped with a Siemens fire-control system which included a pair of rangefinders, one each for the fore and aft guns.
Modifications
The 40-millimetre guns were replaced by two German AA guns and a pair of French M1929 Hotchkiss machineguns were added in 1939. Two Italian depth charge throwers were later installed. During World War II, the 76-millimetre gun was replaced by four AA guns. In 1943, the two ships were equipped with a German S-Gerät sonar. The following year, the upper forward 120-millimetre gun was replaced by a German AA gun. German 88-millimetre guns in Romanian service were themselves modified by being fitted with Romanian-produced barrel liners.
Construction and career
Regina Maria, named after Queen Marie of Romania, was ordered on 13 November 1926 and was laid down by Pattison in 1927 at their shipyard in Naples, Italy. She was launched on 2 March 1929 and commissioned on 7 September 1930 after arriving in Romania. The ship was assigned to the Destroyer Squadron, which was visited by King Carol II of Romania and the Prime Minister, Nicolae Iorga, on 27 May 1931. Queen Marie visited her namesake on 22 June 1932 which made a short cruise to Balchik, Bulgaria, that same day. Regina Maria participated in the Coronation Fleet review for King George VI on 19 May 1937 at Spithead.