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NMS Vedenia: Refreshing the Fleet
(Note: This is her sister NMS Vântul. It is the only full image of any ship of this class I can actually find, but I am suggesting Vedenia as she was the leader of the class. If any more images can be found, I will add them.)
History:
Despite the success of the previous Viforul-class torpedo boats, they were somewhat weakly armed and by 1941 had become outmoded by newer designs. It was unlikely that they would be able to approach the UK again directly for a new class, given Romania’s alliance with Nazi Germany, but as fate would have it, they didn’t need to. When Germany invaded and conquered the Netherlands in May of 1940, they also took all the Dutch military equipment in the process. The Gusto Shipyard in Schiedam had been building motor torpedo boats under license from the British Power Boat Company, and six of these, TM-62 through TM-67 were captured half-finished by the Germans. Enlisted into the Kriegsmarine as S203 through S208 but not considered to be of much use, the decision was made to sell them to Romania.
The vessels began their journey to Galați, Romania by way of the Danube in late 1941, arriving on March 20, 1942. Having suffered some ice damage to their hulls in transit, not all were available right away. Those which were able to be outfitted right away had their engines and armament installed, while the rest were repaired and then completed. Further delays came from a shortage of spare parts at the Damen Shipyards Galați where they were being constructed. As a result, the first three, Vedenia, Vantul, and Vijelia, were launched at the end of 1943, with the last three, Viforul (no relation to the previous class), Vartejul, and Vulcanul, were not put into service until April-May 1944. They were given pennant numbers 4-9.
Little is known about their service, and what can be found is conflicting between sources. They were reportedly combined into the Escadrila de vedete torpiloare (The motor torpedo boat squadron), part of the Grupul submarine și vedete torpiloare (The submarines and motor torpedo boats group). The captain of Vedenia, Ion Zaharia, was also the leader of the entire squadron. Here is where sources begin to differ, however. In some sources, NMS Vedenia was part of the escort for the minelayers NMS Amiral Murgescu and NMS Dacia as they laid a minefield off the coast of Sulina on May 25-26, 1944. Other sources, however, state that due to difficulty with maintenance, the entire class of boats saw no service at all.
Either way, once Romania fell to the USSR in August 1944, the Vedenia-class was incorporated into the Soviet fleet, just like all other Romanian vessels. Now taking the designations ТК-951 through ТК-957, they were briefly held by Russia before being returned to Romania on October 12, 1945. After this they were broken up, with their last mention coming in 1949.
Description:
The Vedenia-class is built in the classic British Vospers style, similar to the Viforul-class they were designed to replace. Like other British-style torpedo boats, they feature a wide and tall prow with a low wheelhouse. The class has a standard displacement of 30 tons and a maximum displacement of 38 tons. The dimensions are 21.4m (70 ft 2.55 in) long, 6.05m (19 ft 10.1 in) wide, and 1.2m (3 ft 11.2 in) deep. NMS Vedenia has a crew of 14.
Set behind the wheelhouse are two glazed turrets each housing a single 20mm Hispano HS.404 autocannon. These are the boat’s primary defense against aircraft and other small vessels, being a vast improvement over the 7.7mm machine guns on their predecessor. Behind and beside these are a pair of 533mm torpedo tubes, delivering a potent punch against enemy capital ships. Being a Vospers-type torpedo boat, there is no armor protection and she is made primarily of wood. At the rear are two depth charge rails holding a total of 6 depth charges.
She is propelled by three 950 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin gasoline engines driving three propeller shafts for a total of 2,850 hp. This gave the Vedenia-class a top speed of 35 kts (40 mph/64 km/h).
Specifications:
Spoiler
General Characteristics:
Displacement: 30 tons
Length: 21.4m
Beam: 6.05m
Draft: 1.2m
Armor: None
Engines: 3x 950 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin gasoline engines, 3 shafts
Speed: 35 kts (40 mph/64 km/h)
Complement: 14
Armament:
Primary: 2x1 20mm Hispano HS.404 Autocannons
Secondary: 2x 533mm Torpedo tubes, 2x3 Depth charge rails
