Years ago I found an account of a battle between Bolshevik naval forces and the Romanian river flotilla on the Romanian Military Forum. I have not seen reference to this action anywhere else but sources on this period and theater are thin on the ground.
I saved it as boards like that tend to vanish (case in point- The Warships Project Forum) and here it is:
"On 20 January 1918, the Romanian 13th Infantry Division started to cross the river Prut into Bessarabia at Cahul. Its mission was to occupy the southern part of the province. This action was part of the response to the request for aid forwarded by the Romanian Assembly in Chisinau (Sfatul Tarii). In this action was also involved the Romanian Danube fleet, stationed initially at Chilia Veche.
On 26 January, Soviet Russia declared war on Romania and the two former allied fleets were now enemies. To prevent any offensive action from the Soviet side, the Marine Battalion had occupied Periprava and dug in, while the 1st Monitor Division positioned itself on the Tataru Channel and the 2nd Division on the Babina Channel.
The Soviet side initiated the provocations. On 26 January, two destroyers anchored at Sulina and started spreading leaflets to the Romanian sailors, encouraging them to join the Revolution. They arrested 3 Romanian officers at Ismail, but they managed to escape during the night. On 29 January the Revolutionary Committee of the Russian Danube Fleet met with cdor. Scodrea, the CO of the Romanian Danube Fleet, and expressed their desire to leave for Russia, preferably without having to fight.
The Russian Fleet had two gunboats (the Donetsk and Teretz) at Ismail and one gunboat (Kubanetz) and four lighters armed with 150 mm guns at Chilia Noua. At Valcov were the rest 11 armed lighters and tugs.
Elements of the 13th Infantry Division (Col. Dragu Detachment) closed in on Ismail on 3 February. The Romanian scouts and patrols were attacked by Russian soldiers. Three monitors (NMS Bratianu, NMS Catargiu and NMS Lahovari), the command ship Macin and a patrol boat were positioned 2 km after Copana Balka, ready to open fire on the Soviet ships at Ismail. The NMS Kogalniceanu, three patrol boats and a floating battery (armed lighter) were at Chilia Veche, prepared to stop any reinforcements coming from Valcov. Three Oltul class gunboats were deployed at Periprava as a forward position against the Bolshevik ships at Valcov. The two Russian gunboats were obviously outnumbered and isolated, so the Russians announced that they wish to retreat to the sea, without fighting and they were allowed to. At 16:40 the Ismail harbor had been occupied and any resistance ceased.
The occupation of Chilia Noua was decided for 7 February. For this action, to support the Col. Dragu Detachment advancing along the river, the Romanian Danube Fleet was deployed in the following manner: the monitors at Chilia Veche, two patrol boats, lighters with 47 mm guns and 120 mm howitzers at the mouth of the Tataru Channel, the Oltul class gunboats plus the second lighter with 120 mm howitzers in front of Chilia Veche to prevent a Soviet attack. A mine-laying pontoon was a km 36, protected by patrol boat no. 6. This deployment made the Soviet fleet rethink its plan to bombard the ships at Chilia Veche and retreat to Valcov, abandoning Chilia Noua, which was occupied by Romanian sailors.
Thus Valcov remained the only port in Soviet possession. The entire Soviet fleet was gathered there: three gunboats, 9 artillery lighters, two armed tugs, auxiliary ships. There were also two infantry regiments entrenched around the city in the villages Galilesti, Jibrieni and Ghibarteni.
The Romanian plan called for a combined assault from land and Danube. The Col. Dragu Detachment (3 infantry battalions, two artillery batteries and one section, one cavalry squadron) had to attack from the north on the direction of Jibrieni, while the Navy had to land a battalion near Valcov and attack from the west. The action was planned for 10 February.
The Russian fleet had deployed the Donetsk and the Kubanetz at the mouth of the Oceakov Channel, on the right bank and the Teretz and the K15 artillery lighter on the left bank. The K5 and K6 lighters were positioned upstream from Valcov, while six other lighters (K1, K3, K7, K8, K13, K14) were on the Oceakov Channel, downstream from Valcov. K2 and K12 were at the mouth of the Polunozhnoe Channel. The command ship Provornii was anchored in front of Valcov.
However, the Soviets started the battle on 9 February. They had already shelled Periprava and the Letea forest the previous day. Early in the morning, the monitors took up their positions on the Cernofen Channel. The observer was set up in the church tower in Periprava. The Mihai Viteazul tug with two lighters was standing by, ready to transport two companies over the river. At 8:00 Soviet boats approached Periprava as if preparing to land. The marines in Periprava opened fire on the attackers. The howitzer battery in Periprava started to shell Valcoiv and the Soviets responded opening fire. By 9:30 the communications with the observation post in the Periprava church tower had been established and the monitors also opened fire, but the observation post was hit by a Soviet shell and the accuracy of the monitors' fire decreased. In the meantime, the Soviets managed to establish communications with their observatory in the church tower in Valcov and started firing on the Romanian monitors. At 10:00 the 1st Monitor Division was targeted very accurately. The NMS Bratianu was hit in the spardek. The two monitors retreated 2 km upstream. At 11:00, the 2nd Division was also targeted very accurately and had to retreat upstream. Bratianu fired 41 rounds at the K15 lighter, Catargiu fired 46 rounds on the church in Valcov. From the 2nd Division, Lahovari fired 32 rounds on the Teret gunboat and on ground positions, while Kogalniceanu fired 6 on Vālcov. The Soviets had also suffered losses, especially from to the 75mm battery east of Periprava. The K1 lighter suffered damage to the engines and retreated with K3, K5 and K6 on The Ocheakov Channel. The K3 was also hit below the floating line and had to be parked on the Polunozhnoe Channel for repairs. The Dragu Detachment had occupied Galilesti, Ghibarteni and Jibrieni, but could not keep latter, because of the intense artillery fire from the Soviet ships off the coastline. The 1st Monitor Division was deployed at Km. 37, to support a marine company, while the 2nd Monitor Division guarded the mine field on the Babina Channel at Km. 34.
The Soviets received help from Sevastopol, some 50 gunners brought by the Jarkii destroyer the same day. Thus on 11 February the Kubanetz and the Teretz bombarded the Romanian troops of the coast from Jibrieni and the following day the lighters bombarded Periprava.
During 13 February, the Donetsk and the K15 lighter bombarded Periprava and at 23:00, 200 Soviet soldiers tried to take the village, but they were repulsed with heavy losses. There were 3 Marine companies, one engineer company, one machine-gun company, one infantry company from the 47th Regiment, one 37mm battery, one 75 mm battery, two 127mm howitzer batteries and an artillery lighter near Periprava. The Dragu Detachment also held its positions in front of the Bolshevik assaults. The 13th Infantry Division had already intercepted the communication line with Cetatea Alba, thus Valcov was completely isolated.
On 14 February commenced the Romanian offensive. During the morning, the Soviet batteries near Valcov and a lighter fired on Romanian positions. The very powerful response was unexpected for the Soviets. The Romanian observers were positioned in the Nebuna forest. The bombardment destroyed the Soviet observatory in the church tower in Valcov, as well as the telephone lines, thus blinding the Soviet fleet. The Donetsk was damaged and forced to retreat on the Oceakov Channel, where it ran aground. The K15 lighter also retreated and so did the K11, K9, K5, K6. The K13 and K14 remained behind to cover the retreat, but by 18:00 they also were forced to retreat to the sea.
The following day, a delegation from the Valcov came to surrender the city to the Romanian fleet, as it had been evacuated by the Bolsheviks. Because of the bad weather, the Soviet fleet could not retreat entirely. Thus the K5, K6, K13 and K14 took up firing positions on the Oceakov Channel. The Kilgis tug was sent to Bazargiuk for recon and to install an observation post. At Valcov, at 17:45, it was surprised by patrol boats no. 4 and 5, which opened fire it. The tug ran aground and the crew ran away, many being taken prisoners. More importantly however was the capture of the entire communications equipment of the Soviet fleet, which practically blinded them. At 16:30 two marine companies landed at Valcov and by 19:30 the capitulation was signed.
On 17 February, the Romanian monitors occupied firing positions at Valcov, but the Soviets retreated to the sea. Several lighters that were left behind, as well as two lighters that ran aground at Jibrieni were captured.
The Soviets made several recon raids with a destroyer on the Oceakov Channel, which led to the deploying of a minefield on the channel.
This is the summary of the battle fought between the Romanian and Bolshevik navies in early 1918.
Source: "Marina Romana in primul razboi mondial" by Raymond Stanescu and Cristian Craciunoiu, Modelism, 20"
Dave G
The PT Dockyard
ptdockyard.com
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