The ''Bistrița'' class was a group of three small coastguard cruisers of the

Romanian Navy The Romanian Naval Forces () is the principal naval branch of the Romanian Armed Forces and operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860. History The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flotilla on ...

. They served from 1888 until at least 1949.

Construction and specifications

The three cruisers were built by the

Thames Iron Works The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cannin ...

in London during 1888. Named ''Bistrița'', ''Oltul'' and ''Siretul'', each displaced 96 tons standard. They measured 30.48 meters (100 feet) in length, with a beam of 4.11 meters (13 feet and 6 inches) and a draught of 1.75 meters (5 feet and 9 inches). Power plant produced an output of 380 hp resulting a top speed of 12 knots. Up to 12 tons of coal could be carried. Main armament consisted of one 57 mm (6-pounder gun) and secondary armament of one 37 mm (1-pounder) gun. Complement amounted to 30.

Career

Along with the rest of the Romanian Navy, the class saw service during the

Romanian Campaign The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before reentering the war on 10 ...

of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The three vessels survived the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and were still in service as of 1947, mentioned as 100-ton river gunboats (top speed and armament remained the same). They were last mentioned in 1949.

Comparable cruisers

When commissioned, the three cruisers were comparable to the Italian torpedo cruisers of the . Both classes were armed with 57 mm and 37 mm guns (although the Italian warships had two of the former and four of the latter) as well as both being classes of cruisers with a displacement under 400 tons. Another somewhat comparable cruiser was ,Eric W. Osborne, ''Cruisers and Battle Cruisers: An Illustrated History of Their Impact'', ABC-CLIO, 2004, pp. 36-37 another Italian torpedo cruiser. Displacing nearly 600 tons, this vessel was launched a whole decade before the Romanian vessels, armed only with two machine guns as artillery.

References

{{reflist Cruisers of the Romanian Naval Forces World War I naval ships of Romania World War II naval ships of Romania Ships built in London 1888 ships