Horia Macellariu

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Horia Macellariu
Black Sea Campaigns (1941–44)
Awards

Horia Macellariu (10 May 1894, Craiova – 11 July 1989, Bucharest) was a Romanian rear admiral, commander of the Royal Romanian Navy's Black Sea Fleet during the Second World War.

Early life

Horia Ion Pompiliu Macellariu was born in

Order of the Romanian Crown, Knight rank.[1] In 1927–1928, he studied at the Naval War School in Paris, where the French President also decorated him with the Legion of Honour, Knight rank.[1] After returning to Romania, he commanded several Romanian warships throughout the 1930s: the torpedo boat Vârtejul, the river monitor Lascăr Catargiu, the monitor Mihail Kogălniceanu and the destroyer Regina Maria.[2]

Career during World War II

When Romania

Rear-Admiral in March that year.[3][4]

Commander of the Romanian Black Sea Fleet

As a commander, he presided over a significant enlargement of the Romanian Black Sea Fleet, most notably the commissioning of the Romanian-built submarines

Italy's surrender, he orchestrated the transfer of the five Italian midget submarines operating in the Black Sea to the Romanian Navy. The five submarines were commissioned on 30 November that year.[10][11]

The evacuation of the

R-boat, two KFK naval trawlers and 19 MFPs (including the Romanian PTA-404 and PTA-406) engaged the Soviet G-5-class motor torpedo boats TKA-332, TKA-343 and TKA-344, after the three attacked and damaged the German submarine hunter UJ-104. Ghiculescu opened fire with tracer rounds, enabling the entire escort group to locate the two Soviet MTBs and open fire. TKA-332 was hit and sunk. Over 12 Soviet aircraft were also shot down during the evacuation, including two by the minelaying destroyer escort Amiral Murgescu. The last Axis pockets in the Crimea were destroyed on 12 May. The last Axis warship to leave the peninsula was Amiral Murgescu, carrying on board 1,000 Axis troops, including the German General Walter Hartmann. Macellariu's successful conduct of the evacuation and the achievements obtained by the Romanian warships under his command, in combat and number of Axis troops evacuated, earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Crucea de Cavaler a Crucii de Fier, in Romanian).[12][13][14] Other decorations bestowed upon him include the Order of the Star of Romania, the Order of the German Eagle and the Order of Michael the Brave.[15]

After the

23 August 1944 coup which put Romania on the side of the Allies, the situation became uncertain. German Vice Admiral Helmuth Brinkmann had orders to hold Constanța at all costs. However, after a face-to-face meeting with Macellariu, he was persuaded to make an orderly retreat and avoid an unnecessary and costly battle. The Germans subsequently retreated on the night of 25–26 August.[16][17]

After the war

Macellariu was arrested by the communist authorities on 19 April 1948 and incarcerated at Jilava Prison. After a trial, he was sentenced to hard labor for life for high treason, a sentence subsequently reduced to 25 years. He served time at Aiud Prison, where he was detained in complete isolation, and on 4 April 1958 he was moved to Râmnicu Sărat Prison. After this prison was closed on 13 April 1963, he was transferred to Gherla Prison, where he shared a cell with Nicolae Steinhardt. He was freed from detention on 29 July 1964, when political prisoners in Romania were amnestied by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej.

Awards

Legacy

One of the two Rear-Admiral Eustațiu Sebastian-class corvettes of the Romanian Navy is named after him.[18] A street in Sector 1 of Bucharest also bears his name.

References

  1. ^ a b Țucă, Felicia; Țucă, Cornel (2015). ""Răsplată" pentru un erou: Contraamiralul Pompiliu-Ion-Horia Macellariu" (PDF). www.aos.ro (in Romanian). p. 85. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  2. ^ Horia Macellariu, Ioana Maria Ionescu, În plin uragan - Amintirle mele, Saggitarius publishing, 1998
  3. ^ Horia Macellariu, Ioana Maria Ionescu, În plin uragan - Amintirle mele, Saggitarius publishing, 1998
  4. ^ Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, p. 173
  5. ^ Robert Gardiner, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, Naval Institute Press, 1980, p. 361
  6. ^ W.M. Thornton, Submarine Insignia and Submarine Services of the World, Pen and Sword Publishing, 1996, p. 100
  7. ^ Jane's fighting ships: 1953-1954, Sampson Low, Marston, 1955, p. 294
  8. ^ Cornel I. Scafeș, Armata Română 1941-1945, RAI, 1996, p. 174 (in Romanian)
  9. ^ Spencer C. Tucker, World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, 2011, p. 633
  10. ^ Antony Preston, Warship 2001-2002, Conway Maritime Press, 2001, p. 82
  11. ^ Jamie Prenatt and Mark Stille, Axis midget submarines p. 15
  12. ^ Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, pp. 132-157 (in Romanian)
  13. ^ Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1942–1944, Făt Frumos Publishing, 1997 (in Romanian)
  14. ^ Robert Forczyk, Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014, Chapter 9
  15. ^ Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, pp. 155, 173 and 302
  16. ^ Horia Macellariu, Ioana Maria Ionescu, În plin uragan - Amintirle mele, Saggitarius publishing, 1998
  17. ^ Romania: Pages of History, Volume 4, p. 234
  18. ^ A. D. Baker, The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1998–1999, p. 628
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