When Joseph Piłsudski established the Navy on 28 November 1918, Poland has not yet had access to the sea or to real ships. For this she could boast of a group of officers who gained experience in the army of possessive states uniforms and were eager to proceed their service, already under the white-red flag.
Marshal Józef Piłsudski accompanied by Colonel Alexander Prystor and kmdr Jerzy Świrski and Józef Unrug in the war port of Oxywi. Arch. MW
"We decided to propose to the government, comparatively the minister of war, the creation of the Polish Navy as part of the armed forces and to submit this fresh office to the Minister of Military Affairs. General Szeptycki [then Chief of General Staff – Ł.Z.] asked if I was ready to take over the naval leadership. I agreed and immediately asked the General to apply for the right order from the Warden of the State as shortly as possible due to the dangerous temper among the sailors," said Colonel Bogumił Nowotny, erstwhile naval officer of Austro-Hungarian, who in the autumn of 1918 was liable for taking over armed vessels from the Germans sailing on the Vistula. Soon, by Szeptycki's command, he appeared in Belvedere. “After a short wait, General Szeptycki left the Piłsudski salon first, and behind him the president of the Moraczewski ministers, holding in his hand a decree signed by the warden, by which the Polish Navy was created, and I was besides appointed its chief. Both Minister Moraczewski and General Szeptycki gave me a warm handshake, congratulating the fresh commander on the prosperity in this honourable position," Colonel Bogumił Nowotny noted in his diary.
It was November 28, 1918. Poland did not scope to the Baltic yet, it did not have ships from a real event, and yet... it just decided to establish naval forces.
Under a abroad flag
– Pilsudski's decree was a political gesture. The Polish authorities wanted to remind the powers of their sea aspirations. shortly A conference was to start in Versailles that would decide on the future form of Europe – explains Aleksander Gosk, Deputy manager of the Naval Museum in Gdynia. The very date of the Navy was not accidental either. November 28th was an anniversary The conflict of Olive, where in 1627 the Polish fleet defeated a squadron of sailboats from Sweden. Although the Rzeczpospolita did not have large sea traditions, this event went to legend. For now, however, ships flying the Baltic under the white-red flag seemed a distant prospect. In the fall of 1918, Poland could actually boast only experienced officers. – Most of them had their service in the Tsar's Navy of Russia. There were besides those who gained the cut in the austro-Hungarian and Prussian uniforms. Now they wanted to service the Republic, so they brought it to the reborn country," emphasises Gosk. The list of their accomplishments was truly long.
Colonel Nowotny inactive as a student of the Austrian School of Marine Aspirants sailed around the planet aboard the cruiser “Saida”. He then served among another things in the Dunaan Flotilla, and erstwhile the war broke out, he took command of the countertorpedic “Scharfschütze”. In May 1915 he took part in a winning rally against Italy. His ship single-handedly sailed into a long canal over 1,200 metres in Porto Corsini, after which he effectively shot up the port there. To make it easier for himself to evacuate later, he went... forward. The fresh Year's feat echoed in Austria, and the sailors of “Scharfschütze” personally thanked the visiting Archduke Charles. The later commander of the Polish Navy served in Austria the rank of commander.
"Nowik" cruiser. Arch. MMW
In turn Kazimierz Porębski was a counter Admiral of the Russian fleet. The opinion of the talented and at the same time madly courageous officer gained already during the war against Japan, erstwhile he served as deputy commander of the cruiser “Nowik”. In 1904 under Port Arthur his ship was surrounded by enemy units. Apparently, erstwhile nipponese missiles began to fly above the deck, Porębski was eating breakfast. “Your benevolences, they attack us!” was to shout to him a panicked watchman. Porębski replied, "Well, this is simply a perfect chance to toast." Today, it is hard to tell how much fact there was in an anecdote circulating among sailors. It is adequate that the Polish officer – let us add: against the orders of his superior – decided not to surrender the ship, but to break through the nipponese blockade. Eskapada was successful, but a military court for insubordination sentenced him to death penalty. In the end, the case reached the Tsar, who, without hesitation, acquitted the officer and rewarded with a golden saber with the inscription “For Courage”. After the outbreak of planet War I Porębski commanded a brigade of Black Sea Fleet cruisers, while in free Poland he rapidly succeeded Nowotny as commander of the Navy.
A fewer years after he was led by the naval forces of the Republic by then Rear Admiral Jerzy Świrski, who besides went advanced in the Tsaric fleet – he was, among others, the navigation officer of the Black Sea Fleet in the rank of Commander. Before reaching Poland, he served as the head of the Maritime Staff and Minister of Ephemeral Affairs of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
The Prussian uniform was worn by Józef Unrug for years. His father in the imperial service served the rank of general, he himself was among others the commander of German submarines, and then even the full U-boat fleet. Already in Poland he rapidly became chief of staff of Starfleet Command, and in the mid-1920s he became commander of Starfleet.
Kmdr Józef Unrug, Adm. Jean de Laborde and kmdr Dypl. Eugeniusz Solski aboard the ORP “Baltic” in June 1931. photograph by NAC
But the rebirth coat is not just officers. By the end of 1918, more than 600 volunteers had volunteered in the fresh kind of armed forces. They usually had the experience of serving on the ships of the possessive states and sought a place for themselves in a fresh reality. However, things did not always work out their way. The sailors were forced to service in Spartan conditions. There were no uniforms, no money to pay, frequently no classes – says Gosk. "The consequence was disappointment and the animosity was revived over and over again. After all, during the fresh war, many volunteers fought on other sides of the front. It must besides be remembered that any of them have just returned from Russia and Germany, the countries through which the revolution was transversal," he adds. In December 1918, a mutiny broke out in Modlin, where the main naval base was located. Its participants took over the train and headed for Warsaw, where they mastered the barracks and demanded the withdrawal of the late pay. The crisis was averted, but shortly Colonel Nowotny, the erstwhile naval commander, resigned.
The temper among the sailors was so changing. On the another hand, they were shortly eager to Wars against Bolsheviks And they were very successful. In late April 1920, ships of Pinska Flotilla wrecked opponents in the conflict of the Pripets of Chernobyl, and respective months later in the conflict of Warsaw The battles were fought by the Marine Regiment operating on land.
Road to the Baltic
But that's later. For now it is autumn 1918 and the Polish navy takes the first steps. "The start of the naval forces was tiny units that operated on Wisla. We took it from Austrians and Germans. Initially, the coat had a side-wheeler “Wisła” and respective motorboats. However, this number grew rapidly – says Jerzy Rudnicki from the Institute of National Memory in Wrocław. Of course, it's hard to talk about real-world ships here. Most of the time, they were rapidly rearranged civilian units. An example – even an armed ship “Różycki”. This erstwhile tug taken over by the Navy was equipped with 2 dense device guns and directed to patrol the border with Germany. In November 1919, the ship accidentally violated the demarcation line and was shelled by German borderers, who yet took the crew into captivity, while “Rózycki” was requisitioned. – The first river ships from the real event were only Gdańsk monitors, which began to enter service in the summertime of 1920," Rudnicki explains.
OrP hydrographic ship "Pomorzanin". Arch. MW
At that time, the Polish navy had already begun to flow into wider waters, in the most literal sense. A fewer months earlier, the Republic took over a part of the Baltic coast granted to it in Versailles. The main port became Puck. The first sea ship entered service – hydrographic unit ORP ‘Pomorzanin’. In late 1919, Joseph Unrug He bought it in Hamburg under his own name. This clever run was essential due to the fact that Germany did not want to carry out akin transactions with the east neighbour. The unit, even though it was hot, had great importance for Poland. “The Germans tried to convince the global community that the recently reborn Republic of Poland was incapable to warrant the safety of shipping on its controlled part of the Baltic. And the hydrographic vessel allowed to conduct seabed investigation and make fresh maps – explains Władysław Szarski, manager of the Coast Defence Museum in Hel.
Soon, the white-red flag swept over six torpedoes, which, under global arrangements, went to Poland from Germany. Construction of a modern port in Gdynia has besides begun. The Republic of Poland strengthened its presence in the Baltic Sea step by step.
While writing, I utilized the works: Bogumił Nowotny, “Memoirs”, Oficina Wydawncza Finna 2006; Dariusz Nawrot, “The Action in the Porto Corsini Channel”, “Colloquium” 4/2011; Karol Olgird Borchardt, “The Navigators’ Colebka”, Pelplin 2014.
