Name Fulgerul gunboat Completed 1 Ordered 1873 Construction started 1873 Length 25 m Displacement 81,650 kg | Operators Romanian Naval Forces Retired 1 Cost 130,000 lei Launched 1873 Weight 91.4 tons Draft 1.3 m | |
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Builders Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, France, Galați shipyard, Romania | ||
The gunboat Fulgerul was the first seagoing warship of the Romanian Navy. She was built as an unarmed vessel in Toulon, France in 1873 and fitted with her armament in Romania, after her arrival, in April 1874. This was done in order to allow her passage through the Turkish straits, as the Ottoman Empire refused to allow passage for any foreign armed warship. Initially, her armament consisted of one 90 mm Krupp gun in a cylindrical mild steel turret. However, after the turret was pierced by a bullet during a training exercise, it was decided to leave the gun uncovered. Eventually, her armament was replaced by two 57 mm Nordenfelt guns and two 11.43 mm machine guns. She was christened Fulgerul and took part in the Romanian War of Independence, fighting alongside other Romanian gunboats against Ottoman ships on the Danube. During World War I, she was used as an oil tanker. After the war, she was handed over to the Galați shipyard, where she would remain until 1968, when she was scrapped.