Raid on Constanța

Raid on Constanța
	Part of the Black Sea Campaigns of the Eastern Front of World War II
	; Romanian destroyer Mărăști
Date	26 June 1941
Location	Constanța, Romania
Result	Axis victory
Belligerents
Romania; Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
	Filipp Oktyabrskiy
Strength
2 destroyers; 1 minelayer; 1 anti-aircraft battery; 2 coastal artillery batteries	1 cruiser; 2 destroyer leaders; 2 destroyers; unknown number of bombers
Casualties and losses
Constanța port facilities damaged	1 cruiser damaged; 1 destroyer leader sunk; 9 bombers destroyed; 268+ killed; 69 captured

The Raid on Constanța was an attack by the Soviet Black Sea Fleet on the Romanian port of Constanța on 26 June 1941, shortly after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, and resulted in the only encounter between major warships in the Black Sea during World War II. The attack was intended to be a coordinated effort between the fleet's ships and aircraft to split the attention of the defenders, but the bombers did not attack at the designated times.

Two destroyer leaders were ordered to bombard the port in the early morning, covered by a cruiser and a destroyer. They caused some damage, but they were engaged by Axis coastal artillery and several Romanian ships. The two destroyer leaders were slightly damaged and withdrew under fire, steaming into a Romanian minefield; one of the destroyer leaders was sunk and the cruiser was damaged by the mines as they departed the area.

Several groups of bombers later bombed the city that day and the following night, but caused no damage to their targets. Nine bombers were shot down by anti-aircraft fire and Axis fighters. The defeat caused the Soviets to be much more cautious in using their ships within range of Axis defenses.

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