The Bulgarian Navy () is the navy of the Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of the Bulgarian Armed Forces.
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 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 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 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).
Operational history
First Balkan War The Bulgarian Navy's first combat action was the 1912 Battle of Kaliakra during the First Balkan War, when four Bulgarian torpedo boats attacked the Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye; managed to score a hit, forcing Hamidiye to retreat back to Istanbul for emergency repairs.
Second Balkan War
The Bulgarian Navy scuttled its four Danube gunboats during the Second Balkan War, probably to avoid capture by the invading Romanian Army.Spencer Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts,World War I: A Student Encyclopedia, p. 391 The four gunboats were 400-600-ton vessels, with a top speed of and armed with two-to-four guns and two-to-four guns. They were still present on the Bulgarian Navy list in August 1916.Raymond Stănescu, Cristian Crăciunoiu, Marina română în primul război mondial, Modelism Publishing, 2000, p. 55
World War I 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 the war.Spencer Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts, Encyclopedia of World War I, Volume 1, p. 240
World War II 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.Spencer Tucker, World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1, pp. 131-132
The so-called Operation Varna consisted in the minelaying of the Bulgarian coast by the Romanian minelayers , Regele Carol I and Dacia, escorted by Romanian Năluca, Sborul and Smeul, Romanian gunboats and Căpitan Dumitrescu and Bulgarian torpedo boats , Smeli and Hrabri.Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, p. 323 The operation, lasting between 7 and 16 October 1941, was largely successful, as despite the loss of the Romanian auxiliary minelayer Regele Carol I to a Soviet mine,Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, p. 324 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.Mikhail Monakov, Jurgen Rohwer, Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs 1935-1953, pp. 265-266
On 6 December 1941, Belomorets and Chernomorets depth-charged and sank the Soviet submarine Shch-204.Antony Preston, Warship 2001-2002, p. 88
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.Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, p. 260
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 the Allied powers in September 1944.
Cold War In line with Soviet naming practices the navy of the Bulgarian People's Army was called the Military-Maritime Fleet (). The merchant marine, which was to mobilize in wartime in support of the regular navy was called Bulgarian Sea Fleet ().
In the 1970s the Burgas Naval Base relocated to Atia with a corresponding change in name.
The Naval Fleet Staff was located in Varna.
Post Warsaw Pact 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 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 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 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 in 2007.
On 21 July 2020 took place 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.
Command structure in 1989 Directly subordinate to Naval Staff Electronic Warfare Section (Отделение РЕБ) Independent Electronic Warfare Battalion type "NS" (Отделен батальон тип "НС") (one company type N for jamming of enemy communications and one company type S for jamming of enemy targeting systems) 8th Submarine Division, Varna Naval Base, with 4x Romeo-class submarines (Afterwards two were decommissioned without replacement in 1990, one in 1992, and the last one in 2011.) 81 Pobeda (Победа, "Victory", delivered in 1972, former Soviet S-57), 82 Victoria (Виктория, delivered in 1972, former Soviet S-212), 83 Nadezhda (Надежда, "Hope", delivered in 1983, former Soviet S-36), 84 Slava (Слава, "Glory", delivered in 1985, former Soviet S-38) (traditional female names) 2nd Coastal Missile Brigade, south of Varna, with 4K51 Rubezh anti-ship missiles 10th Missile & Torpedo Boat Brigade, in Sozopol (mixed composition of the divisions, the torpedo boats had the dual role to attack enemy vessels with their torpedoes and to provide target acquisition for the missile boats) 122 (Commander's cutter, 10-ton Soviet project 371) 10th Missile & Torpedo Boat Division Project 205 missile boats: 101 Svetkavitsa (Светкавица, "Lightning", delivered in 1982, former Soviet R-496, improved project 205U); 102 Uragan (Ураган, "Hurricane", delivered in 1977, former Soviet R-169, improved project 205U); 103 Burya (Буря, "Storm", delivered in 1971, former Soviet R-176?, basic project 205) Project 206 torpedo boats: 104 Orel (Орел, "Eagle"), 105 Yastreb (Ястреб, "Hawk"), 106 Albatros (Албатрос) 11th Missile & Torpedo Boat Division Project 205 missile boats: 111 Tayfun (Тайфун, "Typhoon", delivered in 1982, former Soviet R-496, improved project 205U); 112 Gram (Гръм, "Thunder", delivered in 1977, former Soviet R-169, improved project 205U); 113 Smerch (Смерч, "Whirlwind", delivered in 1971, former Soviet R-176?, basic project 205) Project 206 torpedo boats : 114 Bars (Барс, "snow leopard"), 115 Yaguar (Ягуар, "Jaguar"), 116 Pantera (Пантера, "Panther") Coastal Base Sozopol (Брегова база Созопол, the brigade's logistic formation) 274 (fireboat project 364 of Soviet build) 25th Signals Regiment, in Varna 63rd Anti-submarine Helicopter Squadron, at Chayka Independent Naval Helicopter Base in Varna (in the Chayka suburb), flying 8x Mi-14PL anti-submarine helicopters (nr. 801, and nr. 810 of the original ten were lost), 1 x Mi-14BT (nr. 811; nr. 812 had been retired in 1986 and the minesweeping equipment removed from 811. Afterwards nr. 811 was used for transport tasks) and 1 x Ka-25C (Hormone-B, nr. 821, used for OTH targeting of the shore-based AShM systems). 65th Maritime Special Reconnaissance Detachment (65-ти Морски Специален Разузннавателен Отряд (65ти МСРО)), in Varna (Tihina) (Navy frogmen) 130mm Coastal Artillery Training Battery, in Varna (in wartime the navy would mobilize the 1st (Varna) and 2nd (Burgas) Coastal Artillery Regiments with 5 batteries each) People's Higher Naval School "Nikola Vaptsarov", in Varna 44th Surveillance and Signals Battalion - Danube River, in Ruse (44-ти батальон за наблюдение и свръзки - река Дунав) (Radar and SIGINT) Rear (Тил) (logistic services)
Varna Naval Base Varna Naval Base, in Varna 2 commander's cutters of Project 371 1st Anti-Submarine Ships Division Riga-class frigates: 11 Drazki (Дръзки, "daring, bold", delivered in 1957, former Soviet Black Sea Fleet SKR-67), 12 Smeli (Смели, "Brave", delivered in 1958, former Black Sea Fleet SKR-53, replaced on Sept 4 1989 by the Koni-class frigate 11 "Brave", this caused renumbering of the Riga-class ships, but they were retired only a year later), 13 Bodri (Бодри, "Cheerful", delivered in 1985, former Soviet Baltic Fleet SKR "Kobchik") Poti-class small ASW ships: 14 Khrabri (Храбри, "Brave", delivered in 1975, former Soviet MPK-106), 15 Bezstrashni (Безстрашни, "Fearless", delivered in 1975, former Soviet MPK-125) 3rd Minesweepers Division 31 Iskar (Искър, after the river), 32 Tsibar (Цибър), 33 Dobrotich (Добротич, after the medieval ruler), 34 Kapitan-Leytenant Kiril Minkov (Капитан-лейтенант Кирил Минков), 35 Kapitan-Leytenant Evstati Vinarov (Капитан-лейтенант Евстати Винаров), 36 Kapitan I Rang Dimitar Paskalev (Капитан I-ви ранг Димитър Паскалев) (minehunters project 257D/DME, Soviet second hand, NATO reporting name Vanya) 5th Minesweepers Division (Coastal Base Balchik) 51 - 56 (minehunters of project 1259.2 project "Malachite", NATO reporting name Olya, built in Michurin), 2 auxiliary cutters of project 501 (former auxiliary minesweeping boats) and a commander's cutter of project 371 18th Independent Division of Special Purpose Ships (former 18th Harbour Area Security Ships, includes supply, rescue and support ships and small patrol craft)