In the early hours of June 26, 1940, NMS Delfinul, a Romanian submarine, set alarms blazing after the sighting of 5 large warships heading for the Port of Constanța, a major strategic target on the western shores of the Black Sea.

Romania had just joined the Nazis and attacked Soviet airfields, destroying 37 bombers in one mission. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet was now on the hunt for revenge.

Constanța was robustly defended by Romanian anti-air artillery units, a detachment of 700 German Kriegsmarine manning the powerful Tirpitz gun battery, destroyers, and gunboats along the coast, and 1,000 mines had been laid in the sea covering any point of entry.

A first wave of Soviet bombers attempted a run at Constanța but were unsuccessful. At 3:58am, the destroyer leaders Moskva and Kharkov carpeted the port with 350 shells in less than ten minutes.

With the raid in full force, a second wave of Soviet bombers descended again on the scene. It was then that pilot Horia Agarici of the Royal Romanian Air Force took to the skies in one of the most bizarre of aircraft to ever fight for the Axis side. It was a British Hawker Hurricane, and the Soviets would be forbidden from revealing what happened next…