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42-598: The Principality of Bulgaria established its navy soon after its creation, in 1879, to operate on the Danube river and the Black Sea , but the young country could spend only limited resources on warships. In the conflicts of the 20th century in which Bulgaria was involved - the Balkan Wars , World War I and World War II , the navy played a limited role, mainly protecting Bulgarian harbors and shipping. The navy's greatest combat feat

84-866: A bloodless revolution resulted in Eastern Rumelia being de facto annexed by Bulgaria, which the Ottoman Empire accepted with the Tophane Agreement . On 5 October 1908, Bulgaria declared its independence as the Kingdom of Bulgaria . In 1396 the Bulgarian–Ottoman Wars ended with the fall of the Bulgarian Empire , due to the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans and its own internal divisions. Under Ottoman rule,

126-419: A waterline length of 58.2 m (190 ft 11 in), a beam of 5.7 m (18 ft 8 in), and a normal draught of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). While her designed displacement was 262 tonnes (258 long tons), she displaced about 320 tonnes (310 long tons) fully loaded. The crew consisted of 39 officers and enlisted men. Her Parsons turbines were rated at 5,000  shp (3,700 kW) with

168-583: A Bulgarian state, which comprised the geographical regions of Moesia , Thrace and Macedonia . Based on that date Bulgarians celebrate Bulgaria 's national day each year. Fearing the establishment of a large Russian client state on the Balkans, the other great powers, however, were not willing to agree to the treaty. As a result, the Treaty of Berlin (1878), under the supervision of Otto von Bismarck of Germany and Benjamin Disraeli of United Kingdom , revised

210-604: A Slavic nation, also considered Macedonians as belonging to Serbian nation. Thus began a five-sided struggle for control of these areas which lasted until World War I . In 1903 there was a Bulgarian insurrection in Ottoman Macedonia and war seemed likely. In 1908 Ferdinand used the struggles between the Great Powers to declare Bulgaria a fully independent kingdom , with himself as Tsar, which he did on 5 October (though celebrated on 22 September, as Bulgaria remained officially on

252-615: A corresponding change in name. The Naval Fleet Staff was located in Varna . The Bulgarian Communist Party was forced to give up its political monopoly on 10 November 1989 under the influence of the Revolutions of 1989 . With the restoration of freedom from the Warsaw Pact entanglement, it became a member of NATO in 2004, and after several years of reforms, it joined the European Union and

294-695: A decision of the Bulgarian National Assembly , Drazki deployed as part of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon ( UNIFIL ), patrolling the territorial waters of Lebanon under German command. This was the first time the Bulgarian Navy took part in an international peacekeeping operation. The Bulgarian government purchased two more Wielingen -class frigates and one Tripartite-class minehunter in 2007. On 21 July 2020 took place

336-471: A maximum output of 6,000 shp (4,500 kW), enabling her to reach a top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). She carried 18 tonnes (17.7 long tons) of coal and 24 tonnes (23.6 long tons) of fuel oil, which gave her a range of 980  nmi (1,810 km; 1,130 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). Under the provisions of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye , she was given as reparations to Romania in 1920, along with six more boats of

378-601: A vessel during its lifetime – for example, a ship can change numbers when it's transferred to another unit, and new ships reuse the numbers of old ones in the same unit. In November 2020, the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense signed a contract with Lürssen Werft Germany to build two patrol boats for the Bulgarian Navy. The boats will be built by the Bulgarian MTG Dolphin shipyard in Varna and delivered in 2025 and 2026 with

420-661: Is a temporary formation, an equivalent of a land forces division and in modern times a "Squadron" of the Russian Navy is an equivalent of a land forces corps. According to the reform plans envisioned in the White Paper on Defence 2010, the two naval bases would be merged into one with two base facilities in Varna and Burgas. The manpower of the Navy would account to about 3,400 seamen. The ordered Eurocopter AS565 MB Panther helicopters were reduced from six to three units. Between 2011 and 2020

462-623: The Balkans , and included most of Moesia , Thrace and Macedonia , stretching from the Black Sea to the Aegean . However, the United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary were against the establishment of such a large Russian client state in the Balkans, fearing it would shift the balance of power in the Mediterranean. Due to this, the great powers convened and signed the Treaty of Berlin , superseding

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504-627: The Julian calendar until 1916) in the Holy Forty Martyrs Church, Veliko Tarnovo . The main external political problem confronting Bulgaria throughout the period up to World War I was the fate of Macedonia and Eastern Thrace. At the end of 19th century the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization was founded and began the preparation of an armed uprising in the regions still occupied by

546-530: The minelaying of the Bulgarian coast by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu , Regele Carol I and Dacia , escorted by Romanian 250t-class torpedo boat Năluca , Sborul and Smeul , Romanian gunboats Sublocotenent Ghiculescu and Căpitan Dumitrescu and Bulgarian torpedo boats Drazki , Smeli and Hrabri . The operation, lasting between 7 and 16 October 1941, was largely successful, as despite

588-539: The single market in 2007, despite EU concerns over government corruption. In order to meet some of the NATO requirements, the Bulgarian government purchased a Wielingen -class frigate from Belgium in 2005. Wandelaar (F-912), built in 1977, was renamed to Drazki . That same year the Bulgarian frigate Smeli took part as a full NATO member for the first time in Operation Active Endeavour . In 2006, following

630-428: The 984M lev (approximately €503M) price also including training. (Храбри - Valorous) Project 106K-2 ASW On 9 June 2017 during a training mission of artillery fire against surface targets as a part of the "Black Sea-2017" exercise of the Bulgarian Navy, a Panther helicopter crashed in the water, killing the commander and injuring the other two officers on board. The helicopter's main rotor made contact with

672-693: The Allied powers in September 1944. In line with Soviet naming practices the navy of the Bulgarian People's Army was called the Military-Maritime Fleet ( Bulgarian : Военноморски флот, ВМФ ). The merchant marine, which was to mobilize in wartime in support of the regular navy was called Bulgarian Sea Fleet ( Български морски флот, БМФ ). In the 1970s the Burgas Naval Base relocated to Atia with

714-588: The Bulgarian nobility was destroyed and the national consciousness suppressed. The Bulgarian National Revival , emerging in the late 18th century, revived Bulgarian identity and stoked the idea of creating a new Bulgarian state. Numerous revolutionary movements and uprisings against the Ottomans occurred alongside similar movements in the rest of the Balkans, culminating in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 to 1878. The Treaty of San Stefano of March 3, 1878, proposed

756-663: The Bulgarian Navy list in August 1916. When Bulgaria entered World War I in 1915, its navy consisted mainly of a French-built torpedo gunboat called Nadezhda and six torpedo boats. It mainly engaged in mine warfare actions in the Black Sea against the Russian Black Sea Fleet and allowed the Germans to station two U-boats at Varna , one of which came under Bulgarian control in 1916 as Podvodnik No. 18 . Russian mines sank one Bulgarian torpedo boat and damaged one more during

798-558: The Bulgarians elected Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as their new Prince. Ferdinand was the " Austrian candidate" and the Russians refused to recognise him. Ferdinand initially worked with Stambolov, but by 1894 their relationship worsened. Stambolov resigned and was assassinated in July 1895. Ferdinand then decided to restore relations with Russia, which meant returning to a conservative policy. At

840-631: The Liberal Party led by Stefan Stambolov . Prince Alexander had conservative leanings, and at first opposed Stambolov's policies, but by 1885 he had become sufficiently sympathetic to his new country to change his mind, and supported the Liberals. He also supported the Unification of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia, which was brought about by a coup in Plovdiv in September 1885. The Powers did not intervene because of

882-609: The Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye ; Bulgarian torpedo boat  Drazki managed to score a hit, forcing Hamidiye to retreat back to Istanbul for emergency repairs. The Bulgarian Navy scuttled its four Danube gunboats during the Second Balkan War , probably to avoid capture by the invading Romanian Army . The four gunboats were 400-600-ton vessels, with a top speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) and armed with two-to-four 75 mm (3 in) guns and two-to-four 47 mm (1.9 in) guns. They were still present on

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924-644: The Ottoman Turks. Relying in part on nationwide support on the part of the Principality of Bulgaria, IMARO got down to organizing a network of committees in Macedonia and Thrace. In August 1903 a mass armed uprising, known in history as the Ilinden-Preobrajenie, broke out in Macedonia and Thrace. Its aim was to liberate those regions, or at least to draw the attention of the Great Powers and make them advocate for

966-639: The Powers. They insisted that the Prince could not be a Russian, but in a compromise Prince Alexander of Battenberg , a nephew of Tsar Alexander II , was chosen. An autonomous Ottoman province under the name of Eastern Rumelia was created south of the Stara Planina range, whereas Macedonia was returned under the sovereignty of the Sultan. The Bulgarians adopted an advanced democratic constitution , and power soon passed to

1008-469: The Soviet submarine Shch-204 . Soviet submarines also laid mines near the Bulgarian coast. The 2304-ton Bulgarian steamer Shipka ("Шипка", also transliterated Chipka ) was sunk off Varna in September 1941 by mines laid by the submarine L-4 . On 19 May 1943, the Bulgarian torpedo boat Smeli foundered between Varna and Burgas during a storm. Any hostilities ended when Bulgaria changed sides and joined

1050-575: The Treaty of San Stefano, which never went into effect. This created a much smaller principality , alongside an autonomous Eastern Rumelia within the Ottoman Empire. In practice, Bulgaria's status as an Ottoman vassal was a legal fiction , and Bulgaria only acknowledged the authority of the Sublime Porte in a formal way. It had its own Constitution , flag and anthem, and conducted its own foreign policy. From 1880, it had its own currency as well. In 1885,

1092-456: The earlier treaty, and scaled back the proposed Bulgarian state. A widely autonomous Principality of Bulgaria was created, between the Danube and the Stara Planina range, with its seat at the old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Turnovo , and including Sofia. This state was to be under nominal Ottoman sovereignty but was to be ruled by a prince elected by a congress of Bulgarian notables and approved by

1134-453: The end of the century, changes in taxation policy resulted in extensive peasant unrest , primarily centered in northeastern Bulgaria. Protests gradually evolved into open rebellions in 1900, but were suppressed by the government using the army. There was a substantial Bulgarian population still living under Ottoman rule, particularly in Macedonia. To complicate matters, Serbia and Greece too made claims over parts of Macedonia, while Serbia, as

1176-871: The flagpole it became increasingly unstable and the commander, Capt. Georgi Anastasov, decided to turn back to the frigate and attempt an emergency landing in the water nearby, maximizing the chances for a rapid emergency recovery by the surface ships nearby. According to the Ministry of Defence and Navy officials his actions have directly contributed to the saving of the other two officers on board with only minor injuries, for his efforts he has been posthumously promoted to Major. 3 Mil Mi-14 (stored in non-airworthy condition) The rank insignia of commissioned officers . The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel . Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria ( Bulgarian : Княжество България , romanized :  Knyazhestvo Balgariya )

1218-401: The fore flagpole of the frigate BGS-41 Drazki , after which it crashed into the sea. The crew commander suffered heavy injuries upon the crash, causing his death. The other two crew members suffered minor injuries, mainly by inhaling gases caused after the crash.) The helicopter has been written off and the remaining two units have been grounded for a month on 10 June. After the helicopter struck

1260-474: The improvement of the living conditions for the population through legal and economic reforms. After three months of fierce battles the Ottoman army crushed the uprising using much cruelty against the civilian population. 42°42′N 23°20′E  /  42.700°N 23.333°E  / 42.700; 23.333 NMS Sborul NMS Sborul was a torpedo boat of the Royal Romanian Navy . She

1302-516: The late 1980s, but even then its most powerful ships were frigates and destroyers . After the fall of the Soviet Union and Bulgaria's communist regime, all Bulgarian armed forces fell in decline due to their reduced relevance, and the economic crisis of the 1990s limited the resources that could be set aside for their modernization. The Navy was no exception. After a period of negotiations and reforms in order to comply with NATO standards, Bulgaria

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1344-490: The loss of the Romanian auxiliary minelayer Regele Carol I to a Soviet mine, the five minefields laid by the Romanian minelayers along the Bulgarian coast are credited with the sinking of four Soviet submarines: S-34 , L-24 , Shch-211 and Shch-210 , although the latter could have also been sunk by German aircraft or depth-charged by the Bulgarian patrol boats Belomorets and Chernomorets . On 6 December 1941, Belomorets and Chernomorets depth-charged and sank

1386-473: The naval "Longterm Investment Plan" should come into action, providing the sea arm of the Bulgarian military with modernised ships and new equipment. The list does not include vessels assigned to the border police. The Bulgarian Navy has inherited the Soviet tradition of " board numbers" ( Bulgarian : бордови номер , romanized :  bordovi nomer ), which means that unlike pennant numbers and hull classification symbols , they do not identify uniquely

1428-605: The official inauguration of the Maritime Coordination Center in Varna. This was an important step towards greater NATO and regional cooperation in the Black Sea region. In 1989 the people's navy's inventory consisted of: A "Division" is the equivalent of land forces battalion or air force squadron as the Bulgarian Navy follows the Russian naval tradition, according to which an "Operational Squadron" or "Оперативная эскадра"

1470-667: The power struggles between them. Shortly after, Serbia declared war on Bulgaria in the hope of grabbing territory while the Bulgarians were distracted. The Bulgarians defeated them at Slivnitsa , pushed the Serbian army into Serbia and succeeded in reconquering the territory seized by the Berlin Treaty Bulgarian populated towns of Pirot and Vranya , but they were given back to Serbia with the Treaty of Bucharest in 1886 . These events made Alexander very popular in Bulgaria, but Russia

1512-586: The same class. Notably, Sborul was the only Romanian torpedo boat of the Second World War to still have her torpedo tubes. Along with the destroyers Mărăști and Mărășești , she was the only warship of the Romanian Navy to use 450 mm torpedoes, as opposed to most of the other vessels which used 533 mm torpedoes. Her armament consisted of two 66 mm naval guns, two 20 mm anti-aircraft guns and two 450 mm torpedo tubes. Sborul

1554-612: The war. The Bulgarian Navy during World War II supported the Axis Powers in the Black Sea and consisted mainly of four obsolete Drazki -class torpedo boats, five modern Lurrsen type motor torpedo boats and three formerly Dutch motor torpedo boats. Bulgaria and the Soviet Union were not at war with each other, but there was still little naval fighting with Soviet submarines operating in Bulgarian waters, its main action taking place in October 1941. The so-called Operation Varna consisted in

1596-477: Was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire . It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ended with a Russian victory, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed by Russia and the Ottoman Empire on 3 March 1878. Under this, a large Bulgarian vassal state was agreed to, which was significantly larger: its lands encompassed nearly all ethnic Bulgarians in

1638-611: Was a torpedo attack against an Ottoman cruiser during the First Balkan War that forced the ship to retreat. In the aftermath of World War II, the People's Republic of Bulgaria was a part of the Eastern Bloc and the navy was reorganized and supplied with Soviet -made equipment. It participated in various Warsaw Pact naval exercises, but took no part in any military operations. The navy reached its peak, in both materiel and personnel, in

1680-518: Was admitted in the alliance in 2004. Since then, the Navy has acquired and operates a small number of relatively modern vessels. Since the 1940s, the Bulgarian Navy has two main bases, each near one of the two major commercial port cities in the country - Varna and Burgas (by the village of Atia ). The Bulgarian Navy's first combat action was the 1912 Battle of Kaliakra during the First Balkan War , when four Bulgarian torpedo boats attacked

1722-606: Was commissioned in 1920, after initially serving as Tb 81 T in the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I . She and six more sister ships were awarded to Romania as reparations after the war ended. A vessel of the T-group of the 250t-class , Sborul was built by STT at the Port of Trieste . Under the designation 81 T , she was laid down on 6 February 1914, launched on 6 August that year and commissioned on 1 December. She had

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1764-413: Was increasingly dissatisfied at the liberal tendencies under his reign. In August 1886 they fomented a coup , in the course of which Alexander was forced to abdicate and was exiled to Russia. Stambolov, however, acted quickly and the participants in the coup were forced to flee the country. Stambolov tried to reinstate Alexander, but strong Russian opposition forced the prince to abdicate again. In July 1887

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