Chrobry (ship)
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The Chrobry was a transatlantic passenger ship built in 1939 for the Polish shipping company Gdynia-Ameryka Linie , which was built for routes from Gdynia to South America . During the Second World War , the ship served as an Allied troop transport and was sunk in May 1940.
Construction and technical data
After the Sobieski , which was built in Great Britain , the plans of the sister ship were slightly modified. The dimensions became slightly larger and the ship could carry more passengers: The order was placed by the shipping company on March 12, 1937, by the Danish Nakskovs Skibsvaerft in Nakskov , where the ship was laid down in 1938 under hull number 89 and on February 24, 1939 ran off the stack . It was named after the nickname of Bolesław I Chrobry ( the brave ), the first Polish king in the 11th century.
The ship was 154.2 meters long, 20.3 meters wide and had a draft of 8.3 meters. It was measured with 11,442 GRT or 7106 NRT and had a load capacity of 7200 dwt . Two eight-cylinder diesel engines of the type 2S SA from Burmeister & Wain from Copenhagen generated 11,250 hp and enabled a speed of 17.0 knots with two screws . The crew consisted of 260 men. The passenger capacities were 44 passengers in first class, 250 in cabin class and 804 in tourist class.
history
On July 23, 1939, the shipyard delivered the new building in Nakskov to the Gdynia-Ameryka line, and in its home port of Gdynia the shipping company put it into service on July 27. Like the Sobieski , the Chrobry was also intended for the South American route, where both newbuildings replaced the older ships Kościuszko and Pulaski . Two days later, the Chrobry left for the first transatlantic voyage to Argentina and reached Buenos Aires on August 20th. On the way back, Captain Edward Pacewicz learned of the start of the war and headed for Recife in Brazil , where the passengers disembarked .
On the way back to Europe, the British cruiser Achilles intercepted the ship and escorted it to Freetown in what is now Sierra Leone . There it joined the SL.5F convoy to Great Britain and reached London on October 30th. She was chartered to the British government and converted into a troop transport that could hold 2,500 soldiers. She then carried out two troop transports in December 1939 and January 1940 with the convoys TC2 and TC3 from Halifax to Great Britain. In February, the ship went to the shipyard, where a 152-mm gun and anti-aircraft weapons were installed. Subsequently, the Chobry was to be relocated to the Mediterranean, but carried out several troop transports there from April 12, 1940 after the German invasion of Norway.
On May 14th the Chobry - secured by the destroyer Wolverine and the Sloop Stork - transported a British battalion to Bodø . The unit was attacked in the Vestfjord by Ju-87 dive bombers of I./StG 1 , which hit the ship and had to be abandoned. The Wolverine went alongside the burning Chrobry and took over 694 soldiers, whom she dropped off at Harstad . The remaining survivors were taken over by the Stork , who initially secured them .
literature
- Roger Jordan: The World's Merchant Fleets 1939. The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships , Naval Institute Press, Annapolis / Maryland 1999, ISBN 1-55750-959-X .
- Jan Piwowoński: Flota spod biało-czerwonej [Fleet under white and red] , Nasza Księgarnia Publishing House, Warsaw 1989, ISBN 83-10-08902-3 .
Web links
- Photo collection on the construction of the ship at arkiv.dk (Danish), accessed on February 16, 2020
- Arnold Hague Convoy Database , accessed February 16, 2020
- MV Chrobry (+1940) at wrecksite.eu , accessed on February 16, 2020
- Michał Banach: Polski statek pasazerski MS Chobry at smartage.pl (Polish), accessed on February 16, 2020
Footnotes
- ↑ Jordan, p. 245
- ↑ a b Piwowoński, p. 70
- ^ Arnold Hague Convoy Database: Convoy SL.5F
- ↑ a b Michał Banach: Polski statek pasazerski MS Chobry at smartage.pl
- ^ Arnold Hague Convoy Database: Convoy TC2
- ^ Arnold Hague Convoy Database: Convoy TC3
- ^ Jordan, p. 569
- ^ Chronicle of the naval war: May 10-15, 1940 Norway