Polish submarines 1939.

In September 1939, Poland owned 5 submarines: Eagle ORP, Vulture, ‘Wilk’, ‘Fish’ and "Boat". 2 of them – ‘Eagle” and ” Wolf“ – they entered England and went to the legend of the Polish Navy. The another 3 — ‘Vulture‘, ‘,Fig” and “Beet“They sailed to Sweden, where they were interned until the end of the war.

January 1940. ORP “Earl” in England. After a bravado escape from Tallinn. Received the 85A side number. (Photo from the National Digital Archive collections).

German aggression to Poland.

At the time of the start of the war, which was September 1, 1939, 3 submarines: “Rys”, Żbik, and “Sęp” were in the port of Hel, 2 another “Wilk” and “Ell” in the war port of Oxywi. Around 6 o’clock, they received orders to leave ports and take up sectors (the “Works” plan). Germany had a immense advantage in the sea and in the air.

Only thanks to the outstanding navigation capabilities of Polish crews all Polish submarines avoided sinking. Kriegsmarine launched respective twelve vessels armed with deep-sea bombs to fight Polish submarines. That's over 50 different units. German aircraft had no enemy in the air.

On the first day of the war, our submarines were undetected, and without problems they reached their sectors. But as of September 2, all submarines were detected by the Germans and were constantly bombed. Although no of our ships were hit directly, they had more or little serious harm from deep-sea bombs.

In September 1939 the weather was terrible for submarine operations. Beautiful, sunny weather, advanced water transparency, smooth sea without wave and bright, lunar nights. fewer attacks on German units have failed. From 2 to 4 September 140 deep-sea bombs were dropped on our submarines (data from ship activity logs). As a consequence of the damage, the method condition of any ships steadily deteriorated.

Admiral Unrug's mistake.

Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Joseph Unrug has changed the activities of submarines. This occurred on September 6. However, the predictions that submarines would destruct German convoys between the Reich and east Prussia failed due to the fact that the Germans rapidly mastered the land connection with east Prussia.

Rear Admiral Joseph Unrug- Starfleet commander. (Photo from the National Digital Archive Collections)

Given that, Admiral Unrug issued an order over the radio to effort to enter England. Here is what it says: “Trying to go to England. Enter after dark into Sundu at the Falsterborev lighthouse. If This impossible, act as long as you can, then go to a port in Sweden. study decisions‘.

This order has been given on the radio since 9/11. From that day on, it was the unit commanders who decided on their own actions. The second part of this order is Admiral Unrug's large mistake. 3 commanders did not take the hazard of entering England and sailed to Sweden. We have lost 3 submarines in this way.

Self-decided ship commanders.

ORP Vulture. Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant Commander. W. Salamon decided to get to England. But after immersion, it turned out to be expanding overnight leaks of the right diesel exhaust tube flaps. It was impossible to proceed fighting. A telegram was sent to Starfleet Command: "In immersion the anticipation of flooding the diesel compartment. It's inactive impossible. I'm going to Stockholm.‘. On 17 September, the Vulture entered Swedish waters and was interned until the end of the war.

ORP “Ryś”. Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant Commander. The President decided to intern the ship in Sweden. As a consequence of the bombings, the crew of the ship was demoralized, reportedly 3 tons of fuel was missing to sail to England, the periscope was damaged and the probe defectively indicated depth. The news of russian aggression on Poland has greatly worsened the morale of the crew. On 18 September, Ryś was interned in Sweden.

ORP ‘Jabik’. Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant Commander. M. Ribowski decided to intern the ship in Sweden. He did not believe in the success of the action to enter England. On September 25 “Żbik” was interned in Sweden.

ORP “Wilk”. Ship Commander Navy Captain Bogusław Krawczyk He immediately decided to effort to decision to England, even though the ship was damaged. On the night of 14 / 15 September, they crossed the Sund. He reported to Starfleet Command a message: "I passed Sund, where I missed 2 countertorpedics. I'm going to England. Long live Poland‘. Contact with the British Admiralty was made on 19 September, and the next day they were already in England. They were greeted warmly.

ORP “Earl”. Ship Commander Navy Captain Jan Grudziński (replacing sick Commander Kłoczkowski) reported to Starfleet Command about Commander's disease.

Captain/commandor Lieutenant Jan Grudziński (1907-1940) - prominent commander of the ORP “Orzeł”. Polish hero awarded the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari.

It was decided to disembark Commander Kłoczkowski in Tallinn. There, the Estonian authorities promised that the Eagle could leave the port after 48 hours. Then under force the Germans changed their head and interned the Polish ship. Captain Grudziński and the crew made their decision to flee Tallinn. This happened on 18 September in the morning (about 3 p.m.).

Estonian ships fired on the Eagle. The ship only surfaced in the area of the Gulf of Finland. Navigation was very hard due to the fact that the Estonians took all the maps. On 14 October, after Sundu passed, the heroic crew of the Eagle arrived in England. They've become famous. The press around the planet wrote about them. They deserve it.

January 1940. England. Port Rosyth became the base for “Orl” and “Wolf” which were incorporated into the Second Fleet of submarines. The ORP “Wilk” received the 65A side number, and the OrP “Earl” received the 85A side number.

January 1940. England. Port Rosyth became a base for ORP Eagle and ORP Wilk, which were incorporated into the Second Fleet of submarines. ORP Wilk was given the 65A side number and ORP Orzel was given the 85A side number. In the image in the foreground, Eagle, and Wolf behind him.

Heroes from Eagle and Wolf.

Head of the ORP Jan Grudziński and Commander ORP ‘Wilk’ Bogusław Krawczyk were decorated with the Silver Crosses of the Order of Virtuti Militari. They both didn't last the war. In April 1940, the Eagle sent the German transport “Rio de Janeiro” from Hamburg, which had on board war equipment and 400 German soldiers to attack Norway.

ORP “Wilk” moved to the school flotilla in 1941 . His crew was transferred to newer submarines.

Orp drama “Earl”.

The ORP “Earl” did not return to the British base from its last patrol in late May 1940. We don't know what happened until today. most likely hit a magnetic mine. The ship and its wonderful crew are missing.

The plague of German magnetic mines was then (1939/1940) vital to Britain and its coalitions. The British Admiralty investigation Centre only later developed a strategy to demagnetize its own submarines. It neutralized the magnetic field produced by the ships and thus protected them from German magnetic mines.

According to another version, the ship was mistakenly sunk by British aircraft Lockheed Hudson. The pilot could consider the Eagle as German U-boat. The preserved study of the British pilot reports the sinking of a unit resembling a German submarine in the Eagle patrol area.

Secret British archives.

British archives could explain something, too, but they're classified for decades. And if the deadline is up, then the authorities will keep it secret for the next fewer decades. The same is actual of papers on the Gibraltar disaster of Gen. Sikorski. The British classified papers not for the usual 30, but for 50 years. erstwhile the deadline passed, they classified it for another 40 years. 1 can be certain that in 2033 they will cover it up for another fewer decades. What is in these papers and what are the British authorities afraid of?

Heroes from “The Eagle” and “The Wolf” almost all died. Leaving their families and colleagues in grief and despair.

Internated in Sweden.

The crews of the Vulture, the Rysia and the Frog spent the full war in Sweden. They made extra money collecting berries and helping with the harvest. They lived in barracks where there was no heating in winter. Discipline was none. After the end of the war, only a fewer sailors and 1 officer returned from a group of almost 200 sailors and 16 officers to Poland in 1945. Most went to England. There were 71 sailors left in Sweden.

The most crucial books.

‘Polish Armed Forces in planet War II”, Volume I: September 1939, Part 5: “Marinary War and Defence of the Polish Coast”, London1962. The fundamental work of the Historical Commission of the Polish office in London. The book was based on first documents, the accounts of participants of events and the accounts of both Admirals Jerzy Świrski and Józef Unrug.

Jerzy Pertek – "Big days of the tiny fleet‘. Best book describing the struggles of the Polish fleet during planet War II. 12 releases (from 1946 to 2011). respective generations of Poles grew up on this book.

© (MARB)