The erstwhile Kobben-type submarine has been attracting the attention of hikers at the Sea Boulevard in Gdynia for over a year. The unit flying the Polish flag as the ORP “Sokół” was handed over to the Naval Museum there, which intends to make the ship available to visitors in the first 4th of 2025.
“The falcon is not to be just another museum facility to be visited, but besides to be a kind of memorial for all our 25 ships and their crews that we had in history,” says Tomasz Miegoń, manager Naval Museum in Gdynia (MMW). It's at his initiative. ORP “The Falcon” became the property of the museumwhich, even before his retirement, presented the best thought of utilizing the unit for the benefit of society.
Submarine kind 207 (Kobben) was launched at Nordseewerke shipyard (RFN) in 1966. Initially it was KNM "Stord" (S-308), flying the Norwegian flag from 1967 to 2001. In 2002, the ship was transferred to the Polish Navy. The ORP “Sokol” served under the white-red flag for 16 years, beating 26 1000 during this time. Mm and performing 174 dives. His last commander (2016–2018) was kmdr Łukasz Szmigiel, current commander of the submarine squadron.
The acquisition of the Falcon and its preparation for its fresh function was a process lasting over six years. The ship had to be converted from a military unit to a museum facility, meaning the removal of batteries weighing about 80 tonnes and another elements. Fortunately, we managed to avoid specified drastic modifications as the removal of the periscope, torpedo launchers, or engine drilling, due to the fact that initially this was to be to deprive the ship of combat features.
Museum makes all effort to make the interior of ORP ‘Solk’ remained as faithful as possible to the original.
After years spent in the PGZ of the War Shipyard “Sokol” was transported by water first to the port in Gdynia (he briefly took place ORP Lightning). The last episode to the MMW office (Ziewiza Black 1B, Gdynia) defeated on a peculiar tow truck. Wheel transport of over 350-ton colosa it lasted for respective hours and was rather a spectacle for people who came from different parts of Poland for this occasion. The Way to the Last Port, i.e. a specially prepared coat on the MMW site, the “Sokol” travelled on 23 November 2023. Since that day, museum staff and various subcontractors have prepared the Falcon and essential infrastructure for visitors.
A year after the ship was docked, manager Miegoń assured that the work was completed at 95 percent. The unit has 2 hatches cut out on the left side – tourists will board in the vicinity of the torpedo launcher and exit in the stern section. Apart from the essential modifications (e.g. air conditioning), the museum makes all effort to keep the interior as faithful as possible to the original. Visitors will be able to feel like on a real submarine, look into a miniature compartment of the commander, kitchen, toilets, surviving area and command, engine room, etc. The periscope, through which you can see the vicinity of the city beach and the red of the Gdynia port, is rather a treat. Additionally, MMW has late acquired 2 copies of periscopes from Kobben ships, which will hit a peculiar exposition along with an first anchor and radar antenna.
The manager of Miegoń has consistently avoided giving an exact date of beginning the “Sokol” for visitors. It is only officially known that this will take place in the first 4th of 2025.
