Following the establishment of the Bulgarian Black Sea Navy in 1897, new warships began to arrive. Between 1904 and 1908, six identical torpedo boats were built at the “Schneider & Cie” shipyard in Chalon-sur-Saône, France: “Drazki”, “Smeli”, “Hrabri”, “Shumni”, “Letyashti” and “Strogi”. Their technical data were as follows: displacement 98 tons; length 38 m, beam 4.40 m; they had two steam boilers and developed a maximum speed of up to 26 knots; their armament consisted of three 450 mm torpedo tubes and two 47 mm guns.
At the beginning of the Balkan War (1912-1913) the torpedo-boats had to guard Varna bay. On the 7th (20th) of November the Navy received information for movement of Turkish transport ships. That same evening, Lieutenant Commander Dimitar Dobrev led a squad of 4 torpedo boats on a combat mission. Shortly after midnight, they spotted the silhouette of a large enemy ship, the Hamidiye cruiser, 32 miles from Varna. In the early hours of November 8 (21), Letayushchi, Strogyi, and Smelyi attacked the cruiser, but the torpedo shots were unsuccessful. The last to attack was the Drazki, from a distance of 100 m. A deafening explosion showed that Bulgaria had an effective navy. The Hamidiye was put out of commission and did not participate in combat operations until the end of the war. During the artillery fire, a piece of shell pierced the second funnel of "Druzki". This breach is preserved as a testimony of the first combat success of the Bulgarian navy.
During World War I, torpedo boats performed reconnaissance and security tasks, laid minefields, and transported landing troops in Dobruja in the fall of 1916. During World War II, they escorted and guarded minefields.
Torpedo boat "Druzki" was opened as a museum ship on November 21, 1957.
You can get to The Naval Museum by public bus lines 17A, 20 to bus stop "Baseyna".
Admission - 2 lv. / 1,02 €
Contact details:
2 ”Primorski” Blvd.
+359 52 731 523
e-mail: mus_maritime@abv.com
www.museummaritime-bg.com
