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Brutar-I-class, Grivița (VB94) - A New Design Emerges
As it stands right now, this is the only photograph of Grivița I have been able to find. If any more are found I will add them.
This is part of the Romanian Coastal Sub-Tree which you can check out in full here!
History:
I’d like to preface this by saying that the amount of information available about this vessel is extremely minimal. I have tried to piece together what I can, and hopefully it is enough to get a rough idea of the background, but it isn’t as detailed as I’d like. If I find more information, I’ll add it later.
By the late 1970s, the Romanian Navy was falling behind in their relevance. Ever since the end of WWII they had been using old Soviet hand-me-downs, never able to own anything of the newest generation. It had been good enough, but President Nicolae Ceaușescu had already made it clear that relying on the Soviets was not something that could last. Domestic military production of small arms, tanks, and armored vehicles soon began, with attention then turning to the navy. Romania’s primary concerns lie in the Black Sea and the Danube River, with both historically seeing the peak of Romanian naval power. In fact, at one point, Romania had the most powerful fleet on the Danube, in part thanks to its mighty riverine monitors. After appraising the historical success of this type of vessels, most notably the Brătianu-class, it was decided that a class of modern, up-to-date river monitors would be a good thing to have.
Work on designing this new class of river monitors began in the early 1980s, with the Santierul 2 Mai shipyard at Mangalia being contracted for its construction. The concept was simple: create a heavily armed and armored monitor which could patrol the Danube and destroy any enemy river craft while also providing fire support for troops on the riverbanks and further inland, almost like a floating tank. It was decided that a single vessel would be built to test the design and domestic industry capabilities before moving on to full production. That test monitor would be completed on November 21, 1986, christened as Grivița, the first and only member of her class (though some analysts group her in with the later Smârdan-class as it was based on Grivița). NATO would label it as the Brutar-class, retroactively becoming Brutar-I to distinguish it from the subsequent Smârdan-class, known as Brutar-II. Once complete, she was attached to the 145th Tulcea Armored Vessel Division to begin her life.
This life was, however, uneventful. Being essentially a test case to see what a modern river monitor for Romania would look like, she was never really considered fit for combat and was thus never placed in any combat role. The Smârdan-class, developed from the knowledge gained by building Grivița, overshadowed her almost immediately, leaving her in the secondary role when she never even entered the primary. The Romanian Revolution in 1989 and subsequent ouster of Ceaușescu further complicated things, with priorities shifting within the military. She remained in limbo until she was retired and stricken in 2002, eventually being scrapped in 2011.
Description:
Grivița has an extremely peculiar layout, being long, wide, and extremely flat. She is flatter than her successors as she has no bridge structure. It is instead almost inline with the deck of the boat itself, with the main gun, a 100mm cannon derived from the domestic M1977 anti-tank gun, situated directly on top, making it the highest point on the vessel. Flanking the low-slung bridge are two TAB-77 APC turrets, essentially copies of the BPU-1 turret. These each carry a 14.5mm KPVT and a coaxial 7.62mm PKT, providing the only secondary defense and air cover for the entire boat. This was a notable issue that would be addressed on future models. It does also carry a set of A-94 MANPADS, which are Romanian derivatives of the Strela-2M, but with the only photo of Grivița being so grainy, it is difficult to pinpoint if she has a fixed quadruple launcher as some sources claim or if they are simply carried loose. This is similar to the Smârdan and Mihail Kogălniceanu classes, where sources and actual photos seem to differ on the presence of these MANPADS. As such, like with the other two classes, they will not be included here.
What will be included are the two APRN MLRS at the center of the boat. These two massive rocket launchers are essentially navalized BM-21 Grads, using the same 122mm rockets and having the same number of launch tubes. This gives Grivița a whopping 80 rocket salvo that she can use to provide long-range fire support for naval infantry. These are retracted when not in use or when reloading, with likely at least one more salvo carried onboard.
The boat is propelled by a pair of 1,200 horsepower M-50 marine diesel engines driving two shafts for a combined 2,400 hp. As she is slightly smaller and lighter than her daughters in the Smârdan-class, she is slightly faster at 18 knots, or 21 mph. Unfortunately her armor protection is not known, but it is likely to be similar to if not identical to Smârdan. Overall, Grivița would play similarly to her daughter class, having fewer weapons while being lower and faster. Being the progenitor of all current Romanian monitors, she deserves her time in the spotlight of War Thunder!
Specifications:
Spoiler
General Specifications:
Displacement: 320 tons
Length: 45.7m
Beam: 8m
Draft: 1.5m
Armor: Unknown, but likely quite heavy and comprehensive
Engines: 2x 1200 hp M-50 diesel engines (2,400 total hp), 2 shafts
Speed: 18 kts (21 mph)
Complement: 47
Armament:
Primary: 1x 100mm A430 Cannon
Secondary: 2x TAB-77 turrets (1x 14.5mm KPVT and 1x 7.62mm PKT each)
Additional Weapons: 2x Retractable 40-tube APRN MLRS (80 rockets per reload, at least one reload carried)
If there is anything I have missed or gotten incorrect, please let me know! I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I hope you will also check out my other suggestions! Thanks, and have a great day.
Sources:
Spoiler
VB94 river monitor (1986)
https://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/thread.php?threadid=14909
Overview — BRUTAR-I (94) class ** — Small Combatants — Ships — Weapons — Military Periscope
Marin Tănase: ȘANTIERUL NAVAL MANGALIA în anii marilor realizări, episodul 7 - VEDETELE FLUVIALE
Smârdan-class river monitor - Wikipedia