Chief of the Romanian Naval Forces
Şeful Statului Major al Forţelor Navale
Incumbent Vice Admiral Mihai Panait Acting since 1 July 2020
Romanian Naval Forces
Reports to	Chief of the General Staff
Residence	Chief of Staff of Romanian Naval Forces
Seat	Bucharest
Nominator	President of Romania through presidential decree, with Minister of National Defence recommendation
Appointer	Minister of National Defence
Formation	22 October 1860 (1860-10-22)
First holder	Colonel of the United Principalities Flotilla Nicolae Steriade
Website	https://www.navy.ro/despre/conducere_en.php

The Commander of the Romanian Navy (Romanian: Comandant al Marinei Militare Române) is the chief commanding authority of the Romanian Navy. The position dates to the period of the United Principalities. The current Commander of the Romanian Navy, since 1 July 2020, is Mihai Panait.^[1]

List of Commanders

United Principalities (1860–1881)

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Steriade, NicolaeColonel Nicolae Steriade	22 October 1860	27 December 1863	3 years, 66 days	[2]
2		Petrescu, ConstantinColonel Constantin Petrescu	27 December 1863	11 February 1866	2 years, 46 days	–
3		Murguleț, ScarlatMajor Scarlat Murguleț (1831–?)	17 March 1867	30 April 1867	44 days	[2]
4		Barbieri, AntonMajor Anton Barbieri	17 March 1867	30 April 1867	44 days	[2]
5		Boteanu, EmanoilMajor Emanoil Boteanu (1836–1897)	30 April 1867	1 January 1874	6 years, 246 days	[2]
6		Dimitrescu, NicolaeGeneral Nicolae Dimitrescu-Maican (1846–1902)	1 January 1874	10 December 1874	343 days	[2]
7		Murgescu, IoanCounter admiral Ioan Murgescu (1846–1913)	10 December 1874	1 April 1877	2 years, 112 days	[2]
(6)		Dimitrescu, NicolaeGeneral Nicolae Dimitrescu-Maican (1846–1902)	1 April 1877	1 December 1877	244 days	[2]
(7)		Murgescu, IoanCounter admiral Ioan Murgescu (1846–1913)	1 December 1877	8 April 1879	1 year, 128 days	[2]
(6)		Dimitrescu, NicolaeGeneral Nicolae Dimitrescu-Maican (1846–1902)	8 April 1879	14 March 1881	1 year, 340 days	[2]

Kingdom of Romania (1881–1947)

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Dimitrescu, NicolaeGeneral Nicolae Dimitrescu-Maican (1846–1902)	14 March 1881	10 May 1888	7 years, 57 days	[2]
2		Murgescu, IoanCounter admiral Ioan Murgescu (1846–1913)	10 May 1888	1 April 1901	12 years, 326 days	[2]
3		Koslinski, EmanoilCounter admiral Emanoil Koslinski (1853–1909)	1 April 1901	1 April 1909 †	8 years, 0 days	[2]
4		Sebastian, EustațiuCounter admiral Eustațiu Sebastian (1856–1943)	1 April 1909	9 January 1917	7 years, 283 days	[2]
5		Negru, NicolaeCommodore Nicolae Negru	9 January 1917	1 June 1918	1 year, 143 days	[2]
6		Bălescu, ConstantinVice admiral Constantin Bălescu (1864–1929)	1 June 1918	3 November 1920	2 years, 155 days	[2]
7		Niculescu, ConstantinCounter admiral Constantin Niculescu-Rizea	3 November 1920	30 October 1925	4 years, 361 days	[2]
8		Scodrea, VasileVice admiral Vasile Scodrea (1872–1934)	30 October 1925	13 January 1934	8 years, 75 days	[2]
9		Bălănescu, IoanVice admiral Ioan Bălănescu	13 January 1934	2 November 1937	3 years, 293 days	[3]
10		Bărbuneanu, PetreAdmiral Petre Bărbuneanu (1881–1979)	2 November 1937	6 September 1940	2 years, 309 days	[3]
11		Roșca, EugeniuVice admiral Eugeniu Roșca (?–1950)	21 September 1940	16 June 1942	1 year, 268 days	[3]
12		Georgescu, IoanVice admiral Ioan Georgescu (1891–1977)	16 June 1942	27 March 1945	2 years, 284 days	[3]
(10)		Bărbuneanu, PetreAdmiral Petre Bărbuneanu (1881–1979)	27 March 1945	10 December 1946	1 year, 258 days	[3]
13		Săvulescu, EugeniuCommodore Eugeniu Săvulescu	10 December 1946	30 December 1947	1 year, 20 days	[3]

Socialist Republic of Romania (1947–1989)

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Săvulescu, EugeniuCommodore Eugeniu Săvulescu	30 December 1947	1 November 1948	307 days	[3]
2		Cristescu, IoanCommodore Ioan Cristescu	15 December 1948	25 August 1949	253 days	[3]
3		Grecescu, EmilVice admiral Emil Grecescu (1905–1981)	25 August 1949	20 September 1952	3 years, 26 days	[3]
4		Diaconu, FloreaCounter admiral Florea Diaconu (1922–1980)	20 September 1952	13 April 1954	1 year, 205 days	[3]
5		Nicolae, MihailCounter admiral Mihail Nicolae (1920–?)	13 April 1954	18 March 1959	4 years, 339 days	[3]
(4)		Diaconu, FloreaCounter admiral Florea Diaconu (1922–1980)	30 March 1959	19 April 1961	2 years, 20 days	[3]
6		Sandu, GheorgheVice admiral Gheorghe Sandu (1921–2000)	19 April 1961	29 November 1963	2 years, 224 days	[3]
7		Marteș, GrigoreVice admiral Grigore Marteș (1914–1973)	29 November 1963	4 July 1973	9 years, 217 days	[3]
8		Ulmeanu, SebastianVice admiral Sebastian Ulmeanu (1929–1979)	13 December 1973	21 March 1979	5 years, 98 days	[3]
9		Mușat, IoanVice admiral Ioan Mușat (1929–1979)	21 March 1979	30 December 1989	10 years, 284 days	[4]

Romania (1989–present)

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Aron, MihaiAdmiral Mihai Aron (1927–1994)	30 December 1989	12 April 1990	103 days	[4]
2		Anghelescu, GheorgheVice admiral Gheorghe Anghelescu (1934–2008)	26 April 1990	1 May 1997	7 years, 5 days	[4]
3		Atanasiu, TraianVice admiral Traian Atanasiu (born 1947)	1 May 1997	1 January 2002	4 years, 245 days	[4]
4		Rudencu, CorneliuAdmiral Corneliu Rudencu (born 1947)	1 January 2002	31 March 2004	2 years, 90 days	[4]
5		Marin, GheorgheAdmiral Gheorghe Marin (born 1952)	1 April 2004	13 September 2006	2 years, 165 days	[4]
6		Dănilă, DorinCounter admiral Dorin Dănilă (born 1953)	3 November 2006	1 July 2010	3 years, 240 days	–
7		Popa, AurelVice admiral Aurel Popa (born 1954)	1 July 2010	20 December 2013	3 years, 172 days	[5]
8		Mîrșu, AlexandruCounter admiral Alexandru Mîrșu	20 December 2013	24 November 2015	1 year, 338 days	[5]
9		Mîrșu, AlexandruCounter admiral Daniel Căpăţînă	23 November 2015	1 July 2020	4 years, 221 days	[6]
10		Panait, MihaiCounter admiral Mihai Panait (born 1968)	1 July 2020	Incumbent	3 years, 181 days	[1]

References

• "Comandanții Marinei Militare Române". Marina Română (in Romanian). Vol. 4, no. 107. 2005. pp. 17–19. ISSN 1222-9423.
• Ionescu, Sinziana (19 December 2013). "Schimbare la conducerea Forţelor Navale Române. Viceamiralul Aurel Popa îi predă ştafeta contraamiralului Alexandru Mîrşu". adevarul.ro. Constanta. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
• Popescu, Alex (24 November 2015). "Comandamentul Flotei are un nou șef". Retrieved 21 May 2020.
• "Șeful Statului Major al Forțelor Navale". navy.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 8 March 2021.