The Lonely Polish Submarine During WW2
By: Oskar Bogdanowicz
Tags: Ww2, Poland, Journey, History, Navy

The Lonely Polish Submarine During WW2

The ORP Orzel, its incredible journey and her crews’ unexplained end

The Subject of Today’s essay: ORP Orzel 85A

Poland is not often credited for the defence of its borders against the Nazi Blitzkrieg which marked the beginning of WW2. While the ground defence has created some incredible stories of bravery as Partisan groups formed to fight against the invaders, the other branches of the military are often forgotten.

Many Polish Airforce personnel were rapidly sent to Poland’s allies to continue the fight. Polish squadrons 302 and 303 helped win the Battle of Britain and have gained notoriety for their actions. However, an often overlooked part of Poland’s resistance to the Nazis was her Navy.

As of September 1939, the Polish Navy consisted of a total of 4 destroyers, 5 submarines, 1 minelayer, 6 minesweepers and a small array of auxiliary support craft. When compared to the Kreigsmarine the Poles were outmatched as the Germans had broken the Treaty of Versailles and had over 11 ships classified as cruisers or larger, supported by 21 destroyers and 57 submarines. If Poland tried to resist the Germans at sea outright they would have been annihilated in 1939.

Port Gdynia, Gulf of Danzig, 1939

The Navy was stationed in Gdynia, however, at start of WW2, a reluctant but desperate order was given by the Admiralty to send around half of the destroyers to England. This left a minuscule force at the Gdynia port and the remaining destroyers were bombed to oblivion by the Luftwaffe.

ORP Wicher sunk September 3rd in Gdynia

While the remaining destroyers were pounded by the wrath of Luftwaffe aircraft the five submarines managed to sneak out of the harbour and out into the open ocean. These vessels were now cast into hostile waters with no safe ports and very little knowledge of what was happening back at home.

Originally the plan for the submarines was to participate in Operation Worek, this plan involved the five Polish submarines creating a screen along the coast in order to prevent German naval forces from landing on the Polish coast. Unfortunately, the area defined in the brief was extremely shallow and during the couple of days that the submarines were involved in the operation they were extremely vulnerable to German anti-submarine attack.

The Germans, unfortunately, didn’t have any intention of carrying out a naval landing on the shores of Poland as the Blitzkrieg had swept across the country on land. During Operation Worek the five subs had managed to sink one German Minesweeper as it hit a mine laid by the ORP Zbik and made it the only casualty of the operation losing all 24 men on board.

On the 14th the Battle of Gdynia had been lost and the submarines had lost their home port. The decision was made for three of the subs to cruise towards neutral Sweden. Upon arrival, they were interned on the Swedish island of Gotland. The Wilk decided to push through the Danish Straits towards England where they would meet up with the remaining Polish navy. Due to damage, they had to perform this dangerous crossing through German-controlled waters while surfaced.

The Orzel Odyssey

ORP Orzel participated in the Operation but damaged by German minesweepers and leaking oil she was forced to withdraw from the coast on the 4th of September and a decision was made to head for Tallin in Estonia. The country was at the time was neutral to Poland and was expected to maintain the status for the duration of repairs.

The Orzel arrived in Tallin on the 14th at around 1:30 in the morning, and the ships commanding officer, Henryk Kloczkowski was taken to receive medical care as he had been suffering from an unknown illness for the last 8 days of the voyage. During the Commander's absence, Captain Jan Grudzinski was placed in charge of the vessel and it would be him who would take the ship through its toughest trials.

Kapitan Jan Grudzinski

Under international naval law, the crew had 24 hours to repair their vessel and be on their way. The Estonians were welcoming of the Polish vessel when it first arrived, even helping in repairing of the air compressor. Strangely after the Poles successfully repaired their ship long before the grace period had expired the Estonians made the ship stay in port for another 6 hours as a German freighter passed the port.

Following the delay, the Estonians surprised the Poles with a declaration, probably from German pressure, that the ship was not allowed to leave the port and she was meant to be stripped of anything which could be used as an instrument of war. Following this announcement, Estonian military personnel boarded the ship and took vital pieces of the deck guns preventing them from firing and all of the navigational charts. The Poles did manage to sabotage the torpedo crane which prevented the weapons from being offloaded till the following morning.

The crew had no intention of being permanently interned in the port and decided to attempt an escape. In the early hours of September 18th, the ports spotlights were sabotaged by the crew. Two Estonian guards who were stationed on the ship were overpowered and taken as prisoners aboard the vessel. The mooring lines which held the vessel attached to the shore were cut with axes, both engines fired up and the ship lurched towards open waters.

Treacherous Journey

The crew did manage to successfully escape capture however they were not in the best of circumstances either. The Estonian authorities wished to disarm the vessel, included in the things they removed from the ship was its vast collection of sea charts crucial in navigating the open seas.

The only map they had remaining was a guide to Swedish lighthouses, so the navigation officer had to draft their own maps from memory. The crew intended to hold up a german merchant ship and take their maps however no such opportunity came around and the crude map made by the navigation officer had to work.

The crew searched the Baltic for three weeks to find a merchant ship which would give them the necessary maps. Unfortunately, the search was fruitless and it was decided they would head for Britain. During the journey towards the Straits, the two hostage Estonians aboard were deposited on the shore of Sweden in a rubber dingy along with food and dry clothing for their journey home. They were also each given $50 as those returning from the underworld deserved only to travel first class the crew claimed.

The ship's journey ended on October 14th on the coast of Scotland where a signal was sent out in basic English and a British destroyer was sent out to lead them in. The Admiralty was astonished as the ship had long been presumed lost at sea. In Scotland, the ship was refitted and used to patrol the North Sea.

ORP Orzel (Left) alongside ORP Wilk (Right) in Britain

The end of Orzel is to this day clouded in mystery. She didn't return from one of its patrols in the North Sea between the 22nd and 30th of July of 1940. There are many theories as to what sank her, one of these include her being sunk by an accidental friendly fire by a British aircraft. While others suggest she ran into a mine, the North Sea was full of them during the war which makes this theory all the more plausible. The wreck and its crew of 54 men have not been found since she disappeared and searches are still ongoing.