Bulgarian Navy
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.
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. 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.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.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.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. 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, 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 the Soviet submarine Shch-204.
Soviet submarines also laid mines near the Bulgarian coast. The 2304-ton Bulgarian steamer Shipka 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 Military [history of Bulgaria during World War II#Allies and Soviet occupation|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, 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, 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
- * Independent Electronic Warfare Battalion type "NS"
- 8th Submarine Division, Varna Naval Base, with 4x Romeo-class submarines
- * 81 Pobeda, 82 Victoria, 83 Nadezhda, 84 Slava 2nd Coastal Missile Brigade, south of Varna, with 4K51 Rubezh anti-ship missiles10th Missile & Torpedo Boat Brigade, in Sozopol
- * 122
- * 10th Missile & Torpedo Boat Division
- **Project 205 missile boats: 101 Svetkavitsa ; 102 Uragan ; 103 Burya
- **Project 206 torpedo boats: 104 Orel, 105 Yastreb, 106 Albatros
- * 11th Missile & Torpedo Boat Division
- ** Project 205 missile boats: 111 Tayfun ; 112 Gram ; 113 Smerch
- ** Project 206 torpedo boats : 114 Bars, 115 Yaguar, 116 Pantera
- * Coastal Base Sozopol
- ** 274
- 25th Signals Regiment, in Varna
- 63rd Anti-submarine Helicopter Squadron, at Chayka Independent Naval Helicopter Base in Varna, flying 8x Mi-14PL anti-submarine helicopters, 1 x Mi-14BT and 1 x Ka-25C.
- 65th Maritime Special Reconnaissance Detachment, in Varna
- 130mm Coastal Artillery Training Battery, in Varna and 2nd
- People's Higher Naval School "Nikola Vaptsarov", in Varna
- 44th Surveillance and Signals Battalion - Danube River, in Ruse
- Rear
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, 12 Smeli, 13 Bodri
- ** Poti-class small ASW ships: 14 Khrabri, 15 Bezstrashni
- * 3rd Minesweepers Division
- ** 31 Iskar, 32 Tsibar, 33 Dobrotich, 34 Kapitan-Leytenant Kiril Minkov, 35 Kapitan-Leytenant Evstati Vinarov, 36 Kapitan I Rang Dimitar Paskalev
- * 5th Minesweepers Division
- ** 51 - 56, 2 auxiliary cutters of project 501 and a commander's cutter of project 371
- * 18th Independent Division of Special Purpose Ships
- ** 300 General Vladimir Zaimov
- ** 221 Yupiter
- ** 401 Admiral Branimir Ormanov
- ** 206 Kapitan I Rang Dimitar Dobrev
- ** 311 Anton Ivanov, later Mitsar and Anlain
- ** 223
- ** 121, 215 and 216
- ** 1 fireboat type L26, pennant number changed several times
- ** 218 and 219
- * 55th Surveillance and Signals Battalion
- * Repair Workshop
- * Shore based support units
Atia Naval Base
Atia Naval Base, east of Burgas- * 2 commander's cutters of project 371
- * 4th Small Anti-Submarine Ships Division
- ** Poti-class small ASW ships: 41 Letyashti, 42 Bditelni, 43 Naporisti, 44 Strogi
- * 6th Minesweepers Division
- ** 61 Briz, 62 Shkval, 63 Priboy, 64 Shtorm
- ** 65, 66, 67, 68
- * 7th Landing Ships Division
- ** 701 "Sirius" and 702 "Antares"
- ** 703 - 712
- **
- * 96th Independent Division of Special Purpose Ships
- ** 301 Kapitan Kiril Halachev
- ** 302 Atiya
- ** 323
- ** 331
- ** 312 and 313
- ** 1 fireboat type L26, pennant number changed several times
- ** 57 and 58
- * 66th Surveillance and Signals Battalion
- * Coastal Radiolocation Station "Periscope I"
- * Repair Workshop
- * Shore based support units
Naval Equipment
In 1989, the people's navy's inventory consisted of:- 4x Romeo-class submarines
- 3x Riga-class frigates
- 1x Koni-class frigate
- 6x Poti-class anti-submarine warfare corvettes
- 1x Pauk-class corvette
- 6x Osa-class missile boats
- 6x Shershen-class torpedo boats
- 2x Polnocny-class landing ships
- 6x Vanya-class minesweepers
- 4x Yevgenya-class minesweepers
- 4x Sonya-class minesweepers
- 6x Olya-class minesweepers
- 34x R376 type "Yaroslavets" axillary cutters in various configurations
Organization 2025
Naval Forces Command, Varna- * Naval Forces Staff
- ** Commander of the Naval Forces - Rear admiral
- ** Deputy Commander of the Naval Forces - Flotilla admiral
- ** Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces - Captain 1st rank
- ** Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff - Captain 1st rank
- ** Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff - Captain 1st rank
- * Naval Operations Center
- * Coastal Fundamental System for CIS Support, Varna
- * Coastal Information Detachment
- * Independent Electronic Surveillance Detachment, Tsarevo
- * Combat and Support Ships Flotilla, Varna - Flotilla Admiral
- ** Combat and Support Ships Flotilla Staff
- ** Command, Control and Communications Units
- ** 1st Patrol Ships Division, BL Varna
- ** 3rd Mine Counter-Measure Ships Division, BL Varna
- ** 18th Support Purpose Ships Division, BL Varna
- ** Basing Location Varna
- *** Harbour boats and Floating and Equipment Detachment BLV
- ** 4th Patrol Ships Division, BL Atiya
- ** 6th Mine Counter-Measure Ships Division , BL Atiya
- ** 96th Support Purpose Ships Division , BL Atiya
- ** Basing Location Atiya
- *** Harbour boats and Floating and Equipment Detachment BLA
- ** Repair and Maintenance Center and Weapons and Equipment Storage
- ** 2nd Coastal Anti-Ship Missile and Artillery Battalion, near Varna
- * Independent Naval Helicopter Air Base "Chayka", Varna
- * Naval Special Reconnaissance Detachment, Varna, co-located with the air base
- * Hydrographical Service of the Naval Forces
- * Equipment Storage Base of the Naval Forces, near Varna
- * Military Police Company of the Naval Forces Command, Varna
- * Representative Naval Orchestra, Varna
- * other support units
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 the naval "Longterm Investment Plan" should come into action, providing the sea arm of the Bulgarian military with modernised ships and new equipment.
Ships
The list does not include vessels assigned to the border police. The Bulgarian Navy has inherited the Soviet tradition of "board numbers", which means that unlike pennant numbers and hull classification symbols, they do not identify uniquely 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 Germany to build two multi mission patrol vessels for the Bulgarian Navy. The ships are to be built by the Bulgarian MTG Dolphin shipyard in Varna and delivered in 2025 and 2026 with the 984M lev price also including training. Based on Darussalam-class offshore patrol vessel the ships will be armed with an OTO Melara 76 mm, RBS 15, MICA VL, Rheinmetall Oerlikon Millennium, Multi Ammunition Softkill System and Leonardo A.244/S torpedoes. The first ship, Hrabri, was launched on August 4, 2023. The second ship, Smeli, was launched on December 12, 2024.
Naval aviation
| Name | Image | In Service | Origin | Type | Details |
| Eurocopter AS565 Panther | 2 | Maritime patrol/ ASW | |||
| Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin | 1 | Multirole helicopter | Delivered in late 2019 |