Name Mărășești Commissioned 1992 Fate In service Launched 1985 Weight 5,883 tons Draft 4.9 m | Laid down 1984 Identification Pennant number F-111 Construction started 1984 Length 145 m Displacement 5.253 million kg Range 2.778 million m | |
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Builder Mangalia Shipyard (now DMHI) | ||
Mărășești is a frigate currently serving with the Romanian Navy, named after Mărășești, the site of a Romanian victory in World War I. Mărășești served as the flagship of the navy between 1985 and 2004, when Regele Ferdinand (formerly HMS Coventry) became the new flagship. She is the largest warship of the Romanian Navy ever built in Romania.
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History
The construction of the warship began on 1 March 1978 at the 2 Mai military shipyard from Mangalia. In 1984, she began sea trials. The warship was initially classified as a light cruiser by the Communist government and was named Muntenia, after the historical province of Romania. Nicolae Ceaușescu christened the ship himself on 2 August 1986. The cruiser was entirely a Romanian project, with the exception of the armament which was licensed built or of Soviet origin. The warship had an excessive topweight that caused stability problems even in calm waters. As a result, in June 1988 Muntenia returned to the shipyard where she underwent a major reconstruction program that lasted until August 1992.
On 2 May 1990, Muntenia was renamed Timișoara in honor of the city where the Romanian Revolution of 1989 first started. The warship was also reclassified as a destroyer. However, on 27 August 1990, the destroyer was renamed Mărășești, after the Battle of Mărășești in World War I. On 1 April 2001, Mărășești was classified as a frigate by the Romanian General Staff.
Historical counterpart
Mărășești was also the name of a Romanian destroyer that served during World War II. She was a ship of the Mărăști-class, built in Italy under Romanian order, and commissioned in 1920. She was refitted in 1925-1926 at the Galați shipyard and re-armed in Naples. She escorted the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu and Dacia when they laid mines near Odessa in 1942. On 7 July 1943, she depth-charged and sank the Soviet submarine M-31. She was captured by Soviet forces in 1944, later returned to Romania and scrapped in the 1960's.