Romanian Monitor Basarabia

NMS ''Basarabia'', originally named SMS ''Inn'', was an ''Enns''-class river monitor built by Ganz-Danubius in Budapest between 1913 and 1915. While in Austro-Hungarian Navy service, she struck a Romanian mine and sank in 1917. She was then refloated and repaired, being transferred to the Romanian Navy as war reparations. She continued service with Romania until 1944 when she was taken by the Soviet Union. In 1951, she was returned to Romania and continued service until 1958. She was scrapped in 1960.

Description and construction

The ''Enns''-class monitors were designed as a development of the previous ''Temes''-class under a 1912 Austro-Hungarian Naval Program. SMS ''Inn'' and her sister ship SMS ''Enns'' were laid down in November 1913, with ''Enns'' constructed by Schiffswerft Linz in Linz and ''Inn'' constructed by Ganz-Danubius in Budapest.

Similar to her sister ship, ''Inn'' had a length of , a width of , and a draught of . Her armor was for the belt, for the conning tower and turrets, and for the deck. Propulsion consisted of two triple-expansion steam engines supplied by two Yarrow boilers which produced . The engines used fuel oil and provided a range of at with 76 tons of fuel carried.

Armament consisted of two /L45 guns mounted in a single turret in front of the ship, three aft mounted /L10 howitzers installed in three hemispherical domes with thick armor, and two / L50 BAG cannons located on the upper deck in semi-open turrets. Six Schwarzlose machine guns were also installed.

Unlike her sister ship, ''Inn'' had a different hull design as she was intended to serve as a command ship. As such, additional cabins for staff officers were added. As the Budapest shipyard was busy converting civilian ships for military use, construction proceeded slowly and was completed on 25 February 1915, the ship entering service on 11 April of the same year.

Service

World War I

After the ship was assigned to the Austro-Hungarian Danube Flotilla, her first deployment was at Belgrade on 7 October 1915 when, together with '' Temes'' and ''Enns'', she replaced the monitors ''Sava'', ''Körös'', and ''Leitha''. The group managed to silence the Serbian artillery battery from Vračar. The monitors returned to their base in the evening of the same day.

After the Fall of Belgrade, ''Inn'' moved to Zemun forming the first monitor division with ''Bodrog'' and ''Maros''. Following Romania's entry into the war, ''Inn'' and ''Sava'' participated in the Battle of Cinghinarele Island, aiding the German units in the bombardment and landed troops which eventually captured of the island. Continuing the campaign, ''Inn'' and ''Sava'', along with the patrol boat ''Fogas'' and the armed steamers ''Helene'' and ''Vág'' secured the Danube crossing at Svishtov.

In September 1917, ''Inn'' participated in the reception of Kaiser Wilhelm II at Cernavodă. On 22 September 1917, while returning from Cernavodă, ''Inn'' broke off from the monitor formation to investigate a distress signal from a barge and struck a Romanian mine from Brăila. The explosion killed ''Korvettenkapitän'' Max von Förster, the Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Flotilla. Another officer died in the explosion and eight other crewmen were injured. The salvage operation started immediately afterwards, the ship being refloated between 6 October and 28 November. She was towed to Budapest and repair works started at Ganz-Danubius on 18 February 1918. During the repairs, the hull was lengthened to . By October 1918, she was still undergoing repairs in Budapest. Through a decision of the Allied Commission on 8 December, she was to be confiscated and enter service with the newly created British Danube Flotilla. While still under repair, she was transferred to the Hungarian People's Republic and renamed ''Újvidék''. She was then taken by the Hungarian Soviet Republic and launched with the name ''Marx''.

On 6 August 1919, she was captured by the Romanian Army after the Hungarian–Romanian War. In November, she was towed to Novi Sad and interned by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. On 15 April 1920, ''Inn'' was transferred to Romania after the final decision for the distribution of the Austro-Hungarian river monitors was taken by the Naval Allied Commission for Disposal of Enemy Vessels (NACDEV). She was renamed to NMS ''Basarabia'' after the province Bessarabia which united into Greater Romania. The other two monitors transferred to Romania received similar names: NMS ''Ardeal'' (ex-SMS ''Temes'') and NMS ''Bucovina'' (ex-SMS ''Sava'').

Interwar and World War II

On 9 December 1920, ''Basarabia'' was assigned to the Danube Division of the Romanian Navy. While in Romanian service, the ship went through a series of modifications. Between 1937 and 1939, she received new anti-aircraft armament: one SK C/30, two C38 guns, and one Hotchkiss heavy machine gun.

At the beginning of the Romanian campaign in World War II, ''Basarabia'' was in Galați, undergoing modernization works at the Galați shipyard. The extensive upgrade works were completed in 1942. These upgrades included replacing the previous heavy armament with four /L50 Škoda-Bofors Mk.4 cannons mounted in two twin square turrets, the displacement was increased to standard and full, the draught increased to , and the complement was also increased to 133 crew. As a result of these changes, the maximum speed decreased to .

After reentering active service, ''Basarabia'' was assigned to the Vâlcov Tactical Detachment which maintained control over the Black Sea access point to the Chilia arm of the Danube. At the time of the 23 August 1944 coup, the monitor was stationed on the Valciu branch repairing some problems with the wireless telegraphy station. Shortly after, the monitors were called to Hârșova where the 3rd River Group was established. Under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Eustațiu Nicolau, ''Basarabia'' led the group of monitors comprising ''Ardeal'', ''Bucovina'', and '. Tasked with preventing German troops from crossing the Danube from Bulgaria and capturing or destroying any German ships they encountered, the ships departed for Giurgiu on the night of 26/27 August with ''Basarabia'' and ''Bucovina'' sailing on the main course of the river, while the others took the Borcea branch. On 28 August, ''Basarabia'' and ''Bucovina'' entered the Măcin/Old Danube arm where they captured 76 ships: 14 tugboats, 60 barges, and two other ships. After disarming them, the ships were sent to with an escort.

Continuing to Cernavodă, the two monitors captured a medical convoy of one tugboat and three barges, one of which was transporting the wounded. On 29 August, the monitors were further ordered to move to the border with Yugoslavia and continued towards Turnu Măgurele. The monitors reached Giurgiu on 30 August. After resupplying, the monitors continued their march with the patrol ship ''MR 31''. The group began tracking a convoy and was attacked by a German airplane which warned the convoy of their presence. After reaching Zimnicea, ''Basarabia'' captured another six boats which were then taken to Turnu Măgurele. On 31 August, the monitors were called to Brăila, then to Reni. On the way, ''Bucovina'' got stranded on a sand bank near Ostrovul Ciocănești on 1 September. ''Basarabia'', having reached the Borcea branch, turned back to aid ''Bucovina'' together with the tugboat ''Basarab''. Unsuccessful in getting ''Bucovina'', the monitor departed for Călărași. On the way, ''Basarabia'' encountered two Soviet patrol boats and received orders to continue towards Isaccea. Moving to Izmail on 5 September, ''Basarabia'' was confiscated by the Soviets and pressed into service with the name ''Kerch'' on 30 October.

On 20 November, ''Kerch'' was brought to Galați along with ' (ex-''Brătianu''). From there, the ships continued the campaign on the Danube as part of the Soviet Danube Flotilla. The two ships participated in the battles near the mouth of the Drava River and aided in the liberation of Vukovar and Osijek. The ships continued fighting as far as Budapest, and ''Kerch'' also took part in the Vienna offensive between April and March 1945.

Post-war

The German and French armament was removed while in Soviet service. These anti-aircraft guns were replaced with five / 63 70-K installed on the upper deck and on the roof of the aft turret, two / Oerlikon Mk4 installed on the main deck, and four DShK heavy machine guns on the upper deck.

On 28 February 1948, she was placed in reserve and mothballed at . She was removed from service in June 1951 and returned to Romania in July. Along with the other returned monitors, she entered service with the Romanian Danube Flotilla on 12 August 1951. She received the designation M.11, which was later changed to M.206 in 1952. She served until 1958, when she was moved to reserve. She was scrapped in 1960.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Basarabia
1915 ships
Ships built in Austria-Hungary
Enns-class river monitors
Riverine warfare
Maritime incidents in 1917
World War I monitors
World War II monitors
World War I naval ships of Austria-Hungary
World War II naval ships of Romania
Monitors of the Romanian Navy
Monitors of the Soviet Navy