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„Orzeł” Submarine
ORP “Orzeł” (Warship of the Republic of Poland “Eagle”) was
built with funds raised by the public, whereas its weaponry cost
was paid by the Polish Navy. It was developed at N. V. Koninklijke
Maatschappij ”de Schelde”, a shipyard in Vlissingen, Holland. The
contract was signed in 1936. 15 January 1938 saw the christening
and launching of the ship. Jadwiga Sosnowska, wife to general
Kazimierz Sosnowski, became the ship’s “godmother”. On 2 February
1939, the Polish warship flag was officially raised and 5 days layer
the ship reached the navy port in Gdynia. The first commander of the
ship was Lieutenant Commander Henryk Kłoczkowski.
On 1 September 1939, “Orzeł” entered the dispersal area
in the Bay of Puck and on 4 September continued to Gotland,
where Lieutenant Commander Kłoczkowski went down with an
unidentified disease and decided to seek help in Tallinn. The ship
reached the roadstead of the Tallinn port on 14 September, and
Kłoczkowski was taken to hospital, while the command was taken
by Lieutenant Jan Grudziński. On 15 September, he was submitted
a decision on the ship’s internment on account of non-compliance of
her sojourn with the provisions of the agreement concluded between
Scandinavian and Baltic states in 1938. The ship was towed to
the port and its disarming began. The crew, however, plotted an
escape from Tallinn. On the night of 17 September, the ship left the
port and plunged into the waters of the Gulf of Finland. Escape of
“Orzeł” triggered a response by Estonia and both empires which
were partitioning Poland at that time. The ship was expected to
arrive in the Bay of Gdańsk or the shores of Sweden. The pursuit was
however futile. Lieutenant Grudziński decided to stay in the Baltic
and identify targets for the submarine’s torpedoes, until she runs out
of fuel and the supplies of food and fresh water, and then to move to
Great Britain. Ensign Marian Mokrski developed a makeshift map
of the Baltic and the Danish straits based on a list of lighthouses
in the area and his knowledge of the Baltic Sea. The end of regular
warfare activities in Poland and the shortage of fresh water made
Lieutenant Jan Grudziński decide on leaving the Danish straits, and
the ship entered Rosyth on 14 October. The ship completed seven
patrol missions from that base. She sank a German ship “Rio de
Janeiro”, carrying soldiers and war materials, thus revealing the
planned invasion of Norway. “Orzeł” submarine’s last patrol west of
the exit of the Skagerrak began on 23 May. On 1 and 2 June, the
ship was sent wireless messages to change her patrol area, but
never acknowledged their receipt. “Orzeł” was declared missing on
11 June, after the ship’s crew failed to reply to return orders.
6 officers, a junior warrant officer and 53 petty-officers and
ratings were lost along with the ship. The reason and location of her
sinking remains unknown. She was assumed to have hit German
mines on 7 June, but since this is a hypothesis only, the official
date of “Orzeł” submarine’s loss is still 8 June 1940, the date of her
expected return to base.
Publications about “Orzeł” began to emerge already during the
war. The ship was made famous by books and a feature film. A
tradition was then developed that wreaths are laid in the area of the
ship’s last patrol. Since the names of most famous historic vessels
are transferred onto new naval units, the second submarine named
“Orzeł” served under the Polish flag in 1962–1983, and since 1986,
the Polish Navy operated the third “Orzeł” submarine. The legend of
“Orzeł” was reborn in 1993, when a wreck of another ship was found
during crude oil search on the continental shelf at the Norwegian
shores. An association was then formed seeking to find the wreck
of “Orzeł”. The most spectacular, though unsuccessful, expedition
was organised in 2008 onboard “Imor”, a sea exploration ship.
Tactical and technical data of the ship: displacement –
1,110/1,473.5 t, dimensions – 84.0 x 6.7 x 4.17 m, weaponry – 12
torpedo launchers and 20 torpedoes, a 105-mm sea artillery gun,
a double 40-mm anti-aircraft gun and a coaxial 13.2 mm heavy
machine gun. The ship operated two 4740 hp Diesel engines
and two electric engines, 1100 hp, reached a maximum speed of
20/9 knots, surface range of 7,000 nautical miles at 10 knots, and
underwater range of 100 nautical miles at 5 knots, maximum
submerged position of 80 m, had a crew of 6 officers, 54 pettyofficers
and ratings.
Walter PATER
Polish Navy Museum