Navy Day

Officialized as the onomastics of the Romanian sailors on August 15, 1902, by Saint Mary the Great, the Romanian Navy Day fully certified, for more than a century, its character as an authentic festival of the sea and seafaring spirituality. Originally conceived as a national celebration, the sailors' festival attracts attention, through its very attractive and at the same time picturesque program. Navy Day has always given the audience a true royal stage, made up of sober moments, such as the military ceremony of welcoming officials, the hoisting of the flag and the grand pavilion, in the chords of the National Anthem and against the background of the 21 salute salutes, religious service, naval parade and aviation, the parade of the Guard of Honor, etc., as well as from picturesque moments, specific to our life and seafaring traditions. The competitions, games and surprises of the sailors, directed and staged, on water and on land, to the delight of the spectators, were indispensable in the programs made in time by the organizers to give charm and color to a holiday that is both Navy and port cities and the country.

A century ago, through the address with Nr. 6082 of August 6, 1902, Cristea Georgescu, the mayor of Constanța, out of the desire to attract tourists, addressed the mayors of urban communes county residences from all over the country, warning them about the significance of this holiday: Saint Mary, the patron saint of the Navy, will take place in the waters of Constanta and on land some celebrations worthy of being seen as , running, the ship of the Argonauts and others. ”

In the Navy, this day was certainly celebrated before 1902, as the archive documents speak of a precedent - even if no decree or official date was discovered for this holiday. The year 1902 remains, chronologically speaking, the year of consecration of the Navy Day as a celebration of the people of the sea and the city of Constanta, which certifies the 112th anniversary of this national tradition and not just as a simple celebration of the sailors' guild.

On August 15, 1902, Navy Day was marked aboard the cruiser "ELIZABETH" by a Te-Deum attended by Minister of War Dimitrie A. Sturdza, followed in the afternoon and evening of the same day by a banquet and the actual seafaring celebration, given for the benefit of the Invalides Palace. A year later, the boats of the Russian warship "PSEZUAPE", visiting the port of Constanta, also participated in the kingdoms.

From one year to the next, the celebrations increased in magnitude and significance. Thus, in 1911, the celebrations were organized by the Society of Sailors "Queen Elizabeth".

In 1912, the nautical celebration was placed under the high Patronage of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the initiative of its organization belonging to the company of the same name of the Civil Sailors from Constanţa.

Navy Day was celebrated by virtue of the same beautiful traditions and aboard the razor "MIRCEA", which, between July 1 and September 2, 1925, performed an instructional march on the route Constanta, Piraeus, Corfu, Durazzo, Boche di Cattaro, Suda , Rhodes, Izmir, Ceanak, Cospoli, Constanta. The following year, His Majesty King Carol II decided that the only school for all Romanian sailors should be called His Majesty's Naval School "MIRCEA" and created the "Maritime Medal", transformed in 1938 into "Maritime Virtue". ”. Also, on August 15, 1936, the first Romanian submarine, "THE DOLPHIN", was christened during the festive celebrations.

In 1945, the members of the Allied Control Commission also took part in the celebration of the Romanian sailors, both at the opening of the Navy exhibition in the premises of the Undersecretariat of State of the Navy in Bucharest, and on Herăstrău Lake, where, after officiating a religious service, hoisted the flags of Romania and the United Nations and started the nautical celebrations.
Between 1949-1953, Navy Day was marked by the USSR Fleet Day (the last Sunday in July), the ceremony being diminished in significance due to the intention of the then leadership to change the date of this traditional national holiday.
Since 1954, when the Day of the Maritime Military Forces was celebrated, according to the Decree of the Presidium of the Grand National Assembly no. 309 of August 29, 1953, on the first Sunday of August, the Navy Day program was politicized and adapted to the new ideology promoted intensely among the army. As a result, on August 1, 1954, the Day of the Maritime Military Forces was celebrated for the first time in the Romanian People's Republic. Since the 1960s, the demonstrations have gained obvious propaganda accents, to the detriment of the Orthodox spiritual load. These included lectures on the significance of Navy Day held by officers and propagandists in enterprises and naval garrisons, the handing over of ship models by sailors' delegations, the organization of a visit by pioneers to the MIRCEA and LIBERTATEA school ships. ”And outings with them.

Since 1990, with the return to tradition by celebrating the Romanian Navy Day on the feast of the Holy Sea - the Feast of the Assumption, the organizers, both in Constanta and in other cities-sea and river ports, have kept both traditional elements in the programs as well as new evidence, in step with the local specifics and the preferences of the audience of the new millennium. By Law no. 382 of September 28, 2004, the Romanian Navy Day was established on August 15 as a common holiday of military and civilian sailors.

In Constanţa, the demonstrations took place initially on the terrace of the seafront in front of the Navy Command, respectively the General Staff of the Naval Forces, on the port platform, in the perimeter of the passenger berth and the "Carol I" Lighthouse and later again on the seafront, on the same terrace, which became the Fleet Command, to give a proper cargo to this royal sailor.