NMS Smeul
{{Short description|Romanian torpedo boat}}
{{about|the World War II torpedo boat|the World War I torpedo boat|NMS Smeul (1888)}}
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{{Infobox ship image | Ship image= Image:Smeul1920-1944.jpg | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = Austria-Hungary | Ship flag = 40px | Ship name = Tb 83 F | Ship namesake = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Ganz & Danubius | Ship laid down = 1913 | Ship launched = 1914 | Ship commissioned = 1915 | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = Given to Romania as reparations, 1920 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header =title | Ship country = Romania | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Romania|naval}} | Ship name = Smeul | Ship namesake = Romanian mythological creature | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship commissioned = 1920 | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = 1944 | Ship reinstated = 1946 | Ship struck = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = Broken up, 1960 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header =title |Ship country=Soviet Union |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}} |Ship name=Toros |Ship namesake= |Ship completed= |Ship builder= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=1944 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Returned to Romania, 1945 |Ship refit= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = 250t-class torpedo boat | Ship displacement =*266 tons (standard)
| Ship length = {{convert|58.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|5.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship draft = {{convert|1.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship propulsion = 2 Yarrow boilers, 2 AEG turbines, 2 shafts, 5,000 horse power | Ship speed = {{convert|28|kn|km/h}} | Ship range = {{convert|1,200|nmi|km}} | Ship complement = 38 | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament =*World War II: | Ship armor = | Ship notes = }} |
NMS Smeul was a torpedo boat of the Royal Romanian Navy. She was commissioned in 1920, after initially serving as Tb 83 F in the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. She and six more sister ships were awarded to Romania as reparations after the war ended.S. V. Patyanin, M. S. Barabanov. Korabli Vtoroy mirovoy voyny. VMS Balkanskih gosudarstv i stran Vostochnogo Sredizemnomorya (World War II ships. Ships of Balkan and East Mediterranean countries), p. 21–22 (in Russian)
Construction and specifications
A vessel of the F-group of the {{sclass2|250t|torpedo boat|4}}, Smeul was built by Ganz & Danubius at Fiume and nearby Porto Re, along with the rest of her group, between October 1913 and December 1916. Under the designation 83 F, she was laid down in 1913, launched in 1914 and completed in 1915. She had a waterline length of {{convert|58.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, a beam of {{convert|5.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, and a normal draught of {{convert|1.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. While her designed displacement was {{convert|266|t|LT|0|lk=on}}, she displaced about {{convert|330|t|LT}} fully loaded. The crew consisted of 38 officers and enlisted men. Her AEG-Curtiss turbines were rated at {{convert|5000|shp|abbr=on|lk=in}} with a maximum output of {{convert|6000|shp|abbr=on}}, enabling her to reach a top speed of {{convert|28|kn|lk=in}}. She carried {{convert|20|LT|sigfig=3}} of coal and {{convert|34|LT|sigfig=3}} of fuel oil, which gave her a range of {{convert|1200|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|16|kn}}. Under the provisions of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, she was awarded as reparations to Romania in 1920, along with six more boats of the same class.René Greger, Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I, London, England: Ian Allan, 1976, pp. 58 and 60Jane's Information Group, Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II, London, England: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 313 During World War II, she had no torpedo tubes.Antony Preston, Warship 2001–2002, Conway Maritime Press, 2001, p. 70 These were replaced by depth charges, her artillery consisting of two 66 mm naval guns and two 20 mm anti-aircraft guns.Janusz Piekałkiewicz, Sea War, 1939–1945, Historical Times, 1987, p. 350 The depth charges were deployed using one 400 mm thrower.Е. Е. Шведе, Военные флоты 1939–1940 гг., Рипол Классик, 2013, p. 119 (in Russian)
Career
While fighting on the Axis side during World War II, she was involved in the minelaying operation of the Bulgarian coast in October 1941Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, p. 323 and escorted the Romanian minelayers {{ship|NMS|Amiral Murgescu||2}} and Dacia when they laid mines near Odessa in June 1942.Donald A. Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell World War II Sea War, Volume 6: The Allies Halt the Axis Advance, p. 268
On 14 October 1942, the Soviet M-class submarine M-32 unsuccessfully attacked the Romanian destroyer Regele Ferdinand near Cape Burnas, the submarine being subsequently depth-charged and damaged by Smeul.Antony Preston, Warship 2001–2002, Conway Maritime Press, 2001, pp. 79–80Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 7: The Allies Strike Back, Bertke Publications, 2014, p. 179
On 11–13 December 1942, under the command of Captain Dumitru Mitescu, Smeul escorted the Axis transport ships Tzar Ferdinand and Oituz along the Romanian coast, along with four German R-boats. In the morning of 13 December, the convoy was attacked by the Soviet destroyer Soobrazitelny and four Fugas-class minesweepers. The exchange of fire lasted for two hours, until Smeul launched a smokescreen which enabled the four R-boats to simulate a torpedo attack, causing the Soviet warships to retreat. None of the Axis or Soviet warships were damaged.Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940–1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, p. 94 (in Romanian)Timothy C. Dowling, Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond, ABC-CLIO Publishing, 2014, p. 128Spencer C. Tucker, World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO Publishing, 2011, p. 114Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 8: Guadalcanal Secured, Bertke Publications, 2015, p. 77
After the 23 August 1944 coup, she was commissioned by the Soviet Navy as Toros. In October 1945, she was returned to Romania. After being refitted at the Galați shipyard, she was recommissioned in 1946 and finally broken up in 1960.M. J. Whitley, Destroyers of World War II, Naval Institute Press, 1988, p. 226