page_title: Romanian Navy during World War II
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Romanian Navy during World War II / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: The Romanian minelayer Aurora in the port of Constanța
context_page_description: The Romanian Navy during World War II was the main Axis naval force in the Black Sea campaigns and fought against the Soviet Union's Black Sea Fleet from 1941 to 1944. Operations consisted mainly of mine warfare, but there were also escort missions and localized naval engagements. The largest naval action fought by the Romanian Navy was the 26 June 1941 Raid on Constanța, and its most extensive operation was the 1944 evacuation of the Crimea.
context_section_description: Romania capitulated on 23 August 1944, in the aftermath of a successful Soviet land offensive. On 20 August, the Soviet Air Force carried out a large air raid against Constanța, sinking the Romanian torpedo boat Năluca (she was converted to gunboat before the war). Also sunk by Soviet aircraft was the minelayer Aurora, on 15 July 1941, near Sulina. She was the only minelayer of the Romanian Navy that was purpose-built and not used for anything else (Amiral Murgescu was also employed as a destroyer escort). The old brig Mircea was also sunk during a Soviet air raid on 17 April 1944. Seven 25-ton Italian MAS motor torpedo boats, each armed with two 350 mm torpedoes, were also acquired in 1943.
  Uniquely, in the Second World War, the Romanian Navy was the only navy to fight for over three years without losing a single unit of its main force of destroyers and submarines.
  Starting September 1944, the Soviet Navy moved all Romanian warships to Caucasian ports. They were not returned until after the war. The older vessels were received in September 1945, while the more modern ones (such as the Regele Ferdinand-class) were kept by the Soviet Black Sea Fleet until the early 1950s. A number of warships (such as Amiral Murgescu) were never returned.
caption: NMS Aurora
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