Editing Romanian Naval Forces (section)

===The 1937 naval program and subsequent developments===
[[File:Amiral Murgescu (side).jpg|thumb|Anti-aircraft escort minelayer ''Amiral Murgescu'', the largest Romanian-built warship of World War II]] 
[[File:Rechinul and Marsuinul.jpg|thumb|Submarines ''Rechinul'' (left) and ''Marsuinul'' (right)]]
[[File:Romanian MTB Vântul.jpg|thumb|''Vedenia''-class MTB ''Vântul'']]

In 1937, a new rearmament program was proposed. The new plan envisioned a cruiser, four small destroyers, three submarines, two minelayers and ten motor torpedo boats.<ref>Robert Gardiner, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946'', Naval Institute Press, 1980, p. 360</ref> These warships were to be built locally at the [[Galați shipyard]], where a new dry dock was developed.<ref name="Axworthy328">Axworthy, p. 328</ref>

The anti-aircraft escort minelayer {{NMS|Amiral Murgescu||2}} was laid down at the [[Galați shipyard]] in August 1938, launched in June 1939 and commissioned during the first half of 1941. She replaced the planned cruiser as the largest warship yielded by the 1937 program. She was employed in minelaying operations as well as convoy escort missions. Her main armament consisted of [[10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun]]s, much like the German anti-aircraft cruisers {{SMS|Arcona|1902|2}} and {{ship|German anti-aircraft cruiser|Niobe||2}}. Her sister ship, ''Cetatea Albă'', was laid down in 1939, but abandoned at an early stage.<ref>''Naval Institute Proceedings, Volume 65'', United States Naval Institute, 1939, p. 1364</ref><ref>Robert Gardiner, ''Warship 1991'', Conway Maritime Press, 1991, p. 147</ref> Her construction was transferred to [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] and in 1940 she was completed by the [[Blohm & Voss]] shipyard in [[Hamburg]].<ref name="Earl Thomas Allnutt Brassey 1947, p. 259">Earl Thomas Allnutt Brassey, ''Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year-book, Volume 58'', Praeger Publishers, 1947, p. 259</ref> ''Cetatea Albă'' had the same standard displacement and top speed as her sister. It is not known, however, if her armament consisted of more than two 102&nbsp;mm dual-purpose main guns, two 37&nbsp;mm anti-aircraft guns and 135 mines.<ref name="Earl Thomas Allnutt Brassey 1947, p. 259"/> ''Cetatea Albă'' was likely never commissioned.

The four planned destroyers were replaced by four German [[M-class minesweeper (Germany)|M-class]] minesweepers. These were built locally from German materials in 1943. They were 500-ton vessels armed each with two 88&nbsp;mm main guns, five anti-aircraft guns (two 37&nbsp;mm and three 20&nbsp;mm) and two depth-charge throwers.<ref>Frederick Thomas Jane, ''Jane's Fighting Ships'', Sampson Low, Marston and Company, 1974, p. 275</ref>

Two of the three planned submarines were laid down at the Galați shipyard in 1938, launched in May 1941 and commissioned in May 1943. The first one was {{NMS|Marsuinul||2}}, a 620-ton attack submarine armed with one 105&nbsp;mm deck gun, one 37&nbsp;mm anti-aircraft gun and six 533&nbsp;mm torpedo tubes (4 bow and 2 stern). Her smaller sister ship, ''Rechinul'', was a 585-ton minelaying submarine armed with one 20&nbsp;mm anti-aircraft gun, four 533&nbsp;mm torpedo tubes and 40 mines. The third planned submarine was replaced by five Italian [[CB-class midget submarine|CB]] midget submarines, commissioned in late 1943.<ref>Robert Gardiner, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946'', Naval Institute Press, 1980, p. 361</ref> The [[OMm35-class minelayer|two minelayers]] were acquired in 1941.

Three of the ten planned motor torpedo boats were built by [[Vospers]] in the United Kingdom and acquired in 1940. They were named ''Viforul'', {{NMS|Viscolul||2}} and ''Vijelia''.<ref name="Robert Gardiner 1980, p. 362">Robert Gardiner, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946'', Naval Institute Press, 1980, p. 362</ref> Six more MTBs, of the [[British Power Boat Company|Power type]], were built locally as the {{NMS|Vedenia||2}} class. They were laid down in 1939 and commissioned in 1943. The planned number of MTBs was exceeded in August 1943, when seven Italian [[MAS (motorboat)|MAS]] were also commissioned.<ref>''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946'', Conway Maritime Press, 1980, pp. 313–314</ref> These were followed by four 65-ton German [[E-boat|S-boat]]s in August 1944, each armed with two 500&nbsp;mm torpedo tubes.<ref>Crăciunoiu, Cristian. ''Romanian navy torpedo boats'' (Modelism Publishing, 2003), pp. 154–155.</ref><ref>''Jane's fighting ships: 1953–1954'', Sampson Low, Marston, 1955, p. 294</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-

!Warships envisioned by the 1937 program
!Warships acquired until [[King Michael's Coup|23 August 1944]]
|-
|1 cruiser || 1 minelayer/escort ship
|-
|4 destroyers || 4 escort minesweepers (commissioned postwar)
|-
|3 submarines || 2 submarines (plus 5 midget submarines)
|-
|2 minelayers || 2 minelayers
|-
|10 MTBs || 20 MTBs
|}