Delfinul (1985)

Delfinul (1985) Story

Like other Soviet-aligned Cold War nations, Romania is committed to building Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines. About 70 ships of this type were built in Soviet shipyards, the first being commissioned in December 1980.

Very traditional at the time, these ships found global operators (except Romania) in Algeria, China, India, Poland, Iran and Vietnam (the former Soviet ships fell into the new Russian Navy).

Romania received only one ship, commissioned it as "Delfinul". It is specifically designed to train sailors in the art of anti-submarine warfare (ASW). Two more ships were planned for the series, but the Romanian Navy budget excluded them from the future. The ship was procured by the Romanian government in 1984 and trained in the Soviet Union before the official handover.

It was subsequently delivered in 1985.

Her qualities are similar to the existing Kilo-class ships of the Soviet Navy. Displacement was 2,460 tons when surfaced and 3,200 tons when submerged. The overall length is 239.1 feet, the beam is 42 feet, and the draft is 47.6 feet.

Diesel-electric thrusters (must surface to charge batteries) allow a maximum speed of 20 knots underwater (12 knots surface). There are 54 crew members on board. The armament is centered on 6 x 533 mm (21") torpedo tubes. Torpedoes can be replaced by up to 28 x mines.

Crew also have access to 8 x SA-16 (9K38) "Igla" (NATO: "Gimlet") shoulder-mounted Surface-to-air missile launcher for close range defense (when surfaced).

This ship has completed over 65 training missions and has never been used in combat. She quit useful services between 2005 and 2006 and will continue until 2018 - her future is still up in the air, mostly for budgetary reasons.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing