The Romanian Danube Flotilla was formed on 22 October 1860 by order of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza after merging the naval components of Wallachia and Moldavia.

[3] The Flotilla's main success of the war was the sinking of the Ottoman monitor Seyfi by the torpedo boat Rândunica.

Two armored torpedo boats, Șoimul and Vulturul, were purchased from Yarrow in Britain, where Rândunica was also built seven years prior.

Crewed by 30 men each, they had a top speed of 13 knots generated by 380 hp steam propulsion, carrying a maximum of 12 tons of coal.

The Flotilla made a significant contribution to the Battle of Turtucaia and later carried out the safe evacuation of the Romanian 9th division from the besieged city.

During the summer and fall of 1917, in conjunction with the artillery of the ground troops, the Flotilla held the line against renewed German offensive in Moldavia.

[17] Throughout the 1917 operations, the artillery of the four monitors bombarded enemy naval positions scoring notable successes, under the skillful command of the Romanian Vice-Admiral Constantin Bălescu.

[18] One of the more notable naval engagements fought on the Danube took place during the night of 27 August 1916, just after Romania joined the war.

The objective was to sink one of the monitors, but the attack failed in its immediate purpose, as only one barge loaded with fuel was sunk (by Rândunica, commanded by Captain Niculescu Rizea) and a quay was damaged by another torpedo.

The three crewmen of Rândunica were received as heroes in Bucharest, and the retreated Austro-Hungarian warships were prevented from interfering in the subsequent battle of Turtucaia.

[23] On 22 September 1917, Romania achieved its greatest naval success of the war, when the Austro-Hungarian river monitor SMS Inn struck a Romanian mine and sank near Brăila.

[24][25][26][27] In February 1918, after the start of the Russian Civil War, Romanian forces in the Danube estuary captured one Bolshevik Russud-class landing craft.

[28] At the start of the 1920s, the Flotilla consisted of the four fore-mentioned monitors, plus three more received as war reparations from the former Austro-Hungarian Navy: Basarabia, Bucovina and Ardeal.

[31] The seven remaining 50-ton torpedo boats were still in use, although three were relegated to border patrol by the end of the Interwar, their armament reduced to one machine gun.

[35] Under the command of Rear Admiral Gavrilescu Anastasie, the Flotilla made an important contribution to the suppression of the 1924 Tatarbunary Uprising.

[43] The Flotilla comprises three Mihail Kogălniceanu-class river monitors and five Smârdan-class armored patrol ships (Vedete Blindate Fluviale).