auxilliary minesweepers Amurgul and Gherdap

[Axel van Eesbeeck]

Hallo

I'm looking for the displacement of the romanian auxilliary minesweepers Amurgul and Gherdap. Both were taken over by soviet forces in august 1944 and both were later sunk as part of the soviet danube flotilla (as T-658 and T-656)

Best regards
Axel

[Andreas von Mach]

I have
GHERDAP built 1893 145t 60nhp/250ihp 41,19x5,63x1,20m
NFR, Turnu Severin
Built Linz, Austria ; enguined Escher & Wyss , Zürich
Seized August 1944
Enlisted 10.11.44 as T-656
Renamed 30.10.44 ???
Lost 11.10.1944 bei Km 962,M, Totalverlust

AMURGUL built 1909 Taranto 435ihp 37,53 x 8,05x1,30m
SRD, Bucuresti
Seized August 1944
Enlisted 10.11.44 as T-658 (something wrong with this date ????)
Lost 9.10.44

[Andreas von Mach]

GHERDAB is good represented with 2 photos in a ice book
Cristian Craciunoiu "Low Danube Paddle Wheels Steamers" Bucharest 1995 p.102-104

[Axel van Eesbeeck]

Hallo Andreas

Thanks a lot for your answer. You helped me lot.

Best regards
Axel

[Tiornu]

Andreas, where did you find this information on GHERDAP and AMURGUL?

[Andreas von Mach]

1) Romanian List of ships 1913
2) Romanian List of Danube ships 1940
3) Notes on Romanian ships seized by Soviets
4) I have also yard lists of Linz shipyard & Escher & Wyss

[Tiornu]

Andreas, these are good sources. Could I trouble you to send me an e-mail?
tiornu@att.net

[Petre]

From a book of memoirs of Arkady Sverdlov “The achievement of an idea” :

Our Dunajskaya Flotila had only one minesweeper squadron, who could not cope with high workloads. They were just some small boats, who worked hard in areas with strong currents. So we enlisted the help of the Romanians; tens of their sweepers were included in heavy and dangerous actions. Our chief of mine opps., Capt.3 rk. Ohrimenko with his officers Mironov, Polosoy and Bashtanik ensured their instruction.
I remember some of romanian comanders : Gheorghe Gogoase, Zavalide Chirculescu, Nicolae Cosmanschi, Ion Popescu, Aurel Predescu. Many ships and crews received Soviet military medals from R.Adm. Gorshkov.
To prevent the electromagnetic mine explosions, all the ships we passed through demagnetization stations. These were located in Galati, Giurgiu, Tr.Severin.
Some romanian ships were under soviet comand. Capitan-Leitenant N. Reshetov, from the Flotilla Staff was appointed on the minesweeper “Gherdap”. He was always in decisive sectors, at a very dangerous barage Gherdap neutralized 12 mines. But somewhere near Ogradina a mine exploded by sweeping, another under the ship. Being wounded, the captain continued to save his crew. Up to sink the ship, he saved maps and documents, then some romanian fishermen have rescued him from the waves.
Very soon, being on a floating hospital, Reshetov won a new appointment, on the minesweeper "Amurgul". Again, he sweeped more mines than anyone, about this they wrote in “Dunaets”- the newspaper of the Flotilla. But on a convoy escort mission the ship exploded and sank. Sailors had to save themselves to the shore on a boat.
After this, Reshetov has return to the Flotilla Staff. It is not punished for sinking that captain who did everything to fulfill a mission of fighting.