During World War 2, Delfinul was based out of Constanta and this provided the Romanian Navy with a powerful psychological deterrent against the Soviets freely moving about the Black Sea. Its first war patrol came on June 22nd, 1941 and its last was recorded in late-June, early-July 1942.
The last voyage was in support of the Yalta operation where it was forced to do most of its work undersea due to a large enemy air presence. The submarine was then hunted at length and took on damage that forced her to withdraw for repairs at Galati (November 1942). In 1944 occurred "King Michael's Coup" which removed the pro-Nazi Antonescu leadership from power in the country. Delfinul was taken over by the advancing Soviet forces and recommissioned as TS-3 on October 20th of that year. She served under the Soviet Navy flag until October 12th, 1945 at which point she was decommissioned for good. In 1951, the submarine was returned to Romanian ownership but her fighting days were all but over. Her name was removed from the Naval Register in 1957 and the vessel was scrapped.
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