NMS Năluca

NMS Năluca was a torpedo boat of the Royal Romanian Navy. She was commissioned in 1920, after initially serving as Tb 82 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.

Construction and specifications
The lead ship of her class (which in turn was a subgroup of the 250t-class), Năluca displaced between 266 and 330 tons and measured 58.8 meters in length, with a beam of 5.8 meters and a draught of 1.5 meters. She had a crew of 41. Her power plant consisted of two Yarrow boilers and two AEG turbines powering two shafts, generating an output of 5,000 hp which gave her a top speed of 28 knots and a range of 1,200 nautical miles at a speed of 16 knots. In 1939, one of her two 66 mm guns was replaced by a 37 mm anti-aircraft gun and a further 20 mm anti-aircraft gun was also added amidships. Between late 1943 and early 1944, she and her sister Smeul were converted to gunboats, being rearmed with two 88 mm dual-purpose naval/AA guns and two 20 mm anti-aircraft guns while having their two twin 450 mm torpedo tubes removed. Năluca was sunk by Soviet aircraft on 20 August 1944 at the port of Constanța.

Career
While fighting on the Axis side during World War II, she was involved in the minelaying operation of the Bulgarian coast in October 1941.

On 9 July 1941, Năluca, aided by the motor torpedo boats Viscolul and Vijelia, sank the Soviet Shchuka-class submarine Shch-206 near Mangalia.

On 28 September 1942, Năluca was unsuccessfully attacked by the Soviet M-class submarine M-120 near the Southern coast of the Crimea.

Between 26 July and 17 September 1943, Năluca carried out 12 escort missions, between Constanța and Odessa. On 27 August, during the 8th escort, her convoy was unsuccessfully attacked by seven Soviet torpedo bombers.