NMS Mărăști was one of four Vifor-class destroyers ordered from Italy by Romania shortly before the beginning of the World War I.

The Vifor-class destroyers were ordered in 1913 by Romania from the Pattison Shipyard in Italy, as part of the 1912 Naval Program.

The scouts carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 1,700 nautical miles (3,100 km; 2,000 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

[6][7] During World War I, she operated in the Adriatic Sea, participatng in the Adriatic campaign against Austria-Hungary and the German Empire, taking part primarily in small naval actions involving clashes between torpedo boats and support operations for Allied motor torpedo boat and air attacks on Central Powers forces.

[4][7] On 29 September 1917, under the command of Capitano di navio (Captain) Ferdinando of Savoy, Prince of Udine, Sparviero put to sea with two formations of destroyers (one made up of Ardente, Ardito, and Audace, and the other of Francesco Stocco, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini) to support a bombing raid by 10 Italian airplanes against the Austro-Hungarian Navy base at Pola.

They encountered an Austro-Hungarian force composed of the destroyers Huszár, Streiter, Turul, and Velebit and four torpedo boats on a similar mission against an Italian airbase.

Another Austro-Hungarian destroyer took her in tow and both sides returned to port after an inconclusive exchange of fire inside the minefields later that night during the predawn hours of 30 September.

Sparviero, Aquila, Ardente, Ardito, Audace, Francesco Stocco, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Vincenzo Giordano Orsini, and the destroyer Giuseppe Sirtori departed Venice, Italy, and, together with reconnaissance seaplanes, pursued the Austro-Hungarian formation.

Sources disagree on the purpose of the operation: According to one, the three scout cruisers were tasked to operate about 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) west of Menders Point while the torpedo boats attacked Austro-Hungarian merchant ships about 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) to the east at Durrës (known to the Italians as Durazzo) on the coast of Albania,[8] while another claims that they were covering the recovery of a broken-down flying boat that had landed in the Gulf of Drin.

At 12:35, 8 PN spotted three Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats sweeping mines off Ulcinj (known to the Italians as Dulcigno), Albania.

On 4 November, Sparviero, under the command of Prince Ferdinando, left Vlorë (known to the Italians as Valona), Albania, with units of the Navy Battalion "Grado" (a naval infantry battalion) on board, made a risky crossing of minefields off the coast of Dalmatia and proceeded to the island of Mljet (known to the Italians as Meleda) in the Adriatic Sea, which she took possession of on behalf of the Kingdom of Italy.

In the war's immediate aftermath, Sparviero and Aquila got underway from Brindisi and took possession of Hvar (known to the Italians as Lesina), an island off the coast of Dalmatia, on 15 November 1918.

The two Romanian warships returned fire with their 120 mm (4.7 in) guns at distances between 11,000 to 16,000 m (12,000 to 17,000 yd), but only knocked Moskva's mainmast down.

The heavy and accurate Axis fire caused Moskva and Kharkov to begin to withdraw while laying down a smoke screen.

[19] Massively outnumbered by the Black Sea Fleet, the Romanian ships were kept behind the minefields defending Constanța for several months after the start of the war.

Beginning on 5 October, the Romanians began laying minefields to defend the route between the Bosphorus and Constanța; the minelayers were protected by the destroyers.

On 1 December Mărăști, Regina Maria and her sister Regele Ferdinand were escorting a convoy to Odessa when a submarine[Note 1] unsuccessfully attacked them.

After Sevastopol surrendered on 4 July, a direct route between the port and Constanța was opened in October and operated year-round.

[23] Mărăști and Mărășești and two gunboats were escorting a convoy of three cargo ships on 7 July 1943 when they were attacked by a small wolfpack of three submarines.

[18] Successful Soviet attacks in early 1944 cut the overland connection of the Crimea with the rest of Ukraine and necessitated its supply by sea.

[31] The ship was commissioned into the Soviet Navy as part of the Black Sea Fleet along with her sister Mărășești on 14 September 1944.