NMS Amiral Murgescu

Amiral Murgescu at sea
Class overview
Name	Amiral Murgescu-class escort minelayer
Builders	Galați shipyard, Romania (Amiral Murgescu) Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (Cetatea Albă)
Operators	Romanian Naval Forces  Soviet Navy
Preceded by	Alexandru cel Bun-class minelayer
Built	1938–1941
In commission	1941–1988
Planned	4
Completed	2
Retired	2
History
Romania
Name	Amiral Murgescu
Namesake	Admiral Ioan Murgescu [ro]
Builder	Galați shipyard, Romania
Laid down	1 August 1938
Launched	14 June 1939
Commissioned	2 March 1941
Captured	By the Soviet Union, 1944
Soviet Union
Name	Don
Namesake	River Don
Acquired	1944
Commissioned	1944
Stricken	27 May 1988
Fate	Sold for scrap, 4 July 1988
Service record
Commanders:	Alexandru Dumbravă (1941–1942) Ovidiu Mărgineanu (1942–1943) Gheorghe Harting (1943) Anton Foca (1943–1944)
Operations:	Black Sea campaigns (1941–44) Raid on Constanța Evacuation of the Crimea Snake Island Campaign Romanian Navy during the Second World War
Victories:	1 cruiser damaged 1 destroyer leader, 1 R-boat, 1 S-boat, 2 motor gunboats and up to 12 submarines sunk 12 aircraft destroyed
Awards:	Order of the Crown (Romania) Order of the Star of Romania
General characteristics
Type	Minelayer/Escort vessel
Displacement	812 tons (standard) 1,068 tons (full load)
Length	76.9 m (252 ft 4 in)
Beam	9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)
Draught	2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Propulsion	2 Krupp diesel engines 1,600 kW (2,100 hp), 2 shafts
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range	3,400 nautical miles (6,300 km; 3,900 mi)
Complement	135
Armament	2 x 105 mm SK C/32 naval/AA guns 2 x 37 mm Rheinmetall AA guns 4 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns 2 × 13 mm M1929 twin machine guns 2 x depth charge throwers 65 x depth charges 135 x mines 1 x motor launch armed with: 1 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA gun 1 x 8 mm machine gun 6 x depth charges

NMS Amiral Murgescu was a minelayer and convoy escort of the Romanian Navy, the first sea-going warship built in Romania and the largest Romanian-built warship of World War II. She laid numerous minefields, from the Bulgarian port of Burgas to the Crimean port of Sevastopol, which inflicted significant losses to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. She also carried out numerous convoy escort missions and took part in the Axis evacuation of the Crimea in May 1944. Due to her success in combat, she was decorated twice by May 1944. She was captured by the Soviet Union in September 1944 and served until 1988, when she was scrapped.