NMS Viscolul
{{Short description|Torpedo boat}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Romanian MTB Viscolul.jpg |Ship caption=Viscolul arriving in the port of Constanța, 1940 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = United Kingdom | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} | Ship name =MTB-23 | Ship namesake = | Ship builder = Vospers, Portsmouth | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = 1939 | Ship launched = 1939 | Ship ordered = | Ship christened = | Ship completed = 1939 | Ship commissioned = 1939 | Ship recommissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = 1940 | Ship refit = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship fate =Sold to Romania }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header =title |Ship country=Romania |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Romania|naval}} |Ship name=Viscolul |Ship namesake= |Ship completed= |Ship builder= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=1940 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service=1944 |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Captured by the Soviet Union |Ship refit= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header =title |Ship country=Soviet Union |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}} |Ship name=TK-955 |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=1945 |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Returned to Romania, later scrapped |Ship refit= }} {{Infobox service record |is_ship=yes |is_multi= |partof= |commanders=Ion Zaharia |operations=*Action of 9 July 1941 |victories=*1 destroyer damaged
|awards= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Vospers type motor torpedo boat |Ship type=Motor torpedo boat/Escort vessel |Ship displacement=*32 tons |Ship length=*{{convert|21.95|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship beam=*{{convert|5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draft= {{convert|1.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship propulsion=3 Isotta-Fraschini petrol engines, 2 shafts, 3,450 horse power |Ship speed={{convert|40|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range= |Ship test depth= |Ship complement=12 |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*2 x quadruple 7.7 mm machine guns
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NMS Viscolul was the most successful and the longest-serving motor torpedo boat of the Romanian Navy during the Second World War. She supported the Siege of Odessa and took part in the action of 9 July 1941.
Construction and specifications
Viscolul was a Vospers-type motor torpedo boat, one of three purchased by Romania from the United Kingdom. The three boats were originally launched and completed in 1939 as MTB-20 (Viforul), MTB-21 (Vijelia) and MTB-23 (Viscolul). They were acquired by Romania in 1940. Along with her sister ships, Viscolul had a displacement of 32 tons, measuring {{cvt|21.95|m}} in length, with a beam of {{cvt|5|m}} and a draught of {{cvt|1.1|m}}. She was armed with two quadruple 7.7 mm machine guns, two torpedo tubes and could carry up to eight depth charges or four mines. Power plant consisted of three Isotta Fraschini petrol engines powering two shafts, generating 3,450 hp which gave her a top speed of {{cvt|40|knots}}. She had a crew of up to 12.Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, Naval Institute Press, 1980, p. 362
Service
File:Romanian quadruple naval machine gun.jpg
During World War II, she was commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Ion Zaharia, who would later command the motor torpedo boat Vedenia and the entire Romanian MTB squadron, consisting of 7 boats.Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, p. 258
On 9 July 1941, one week after Romania launched Operation München as part of Operation Barbarossa, Viscolul and Vijelia, together with the 250t-class torpedo boat Năluca, engaged an enemy submarine near Mangalia. Năluca was the first to arrive at the scene and subsequently located and engaged the Soviet Shchuka-class submarine Shch-206. In the first part of the battle, Năluca attacked the submarine with 20 mm rounds, but the latter submerged in order to escape. The Romanian torpedo boat subsequently used depth charges, being soon joined by the two motor torpedo boats. At 2:56 pm, the Soviet submarine was confirmed sunk by Viscolul, none of her crew of 38 survived.Antony Preston, Warship 2001-2002, Conway Maritime Press, 2001, p. 72Cristian Crăciunoiu, Romanian navy torpedo boats, Modelism, 2003, p. 135Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, Bertke Publications, 2012, p. 134Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, pp. 34, 50 and 51
On the night of 18 September, during the Siege of Odessa, Viscolul and Vijelia attacked a Soviet convoy south of Odessa, each boat launching her two torpedoes at the closest enemy destroyer. Three of the four torpedoes missed. The fourth torpedo struck and damaged the Soviet destroyer, but failed to detonate.Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, pp. 74-75Jipa Rotaru, Octavian Burcin, Vladimir Zodian, Mareșalul Ion Antonescu: Am făcut "războiul sfânt" împotriva bolșevismului: Campania anului 1941, p. 180
On 9 November 1941, her sisters Viforul and Vijelia were sunk near Odessa by Soviet mines.Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, Bertke Publications, 2012, p. 390
Thus, Viscolul remained the sole MTB of the Romanian Navy for almost two years, until 7 MAS boats were acquired in August 1943.Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, Naval Institute Press, 1980, p. 314 By 1944, Viscolul was fitted for escort service. In this capacity, she carried out multiple escort missions in May 1944.Antony Preston, Warship 2001-2002, Conway Maritime Press, 2001, p. 84
Viscolul was captured by Soviet forces in September 1944 and commissioned as TK-955. She was returned 1 year later, but never commissioned again due to her bad condition.