Henryk Kłoczkowski

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Henryk Kłoczkowski (born October 26, 1902 in Saint Petersburg , † October 1, 1962 ) was a Polish naval officer in World War II . He was one of the first Polish submarine commanders and commanded the ORP Żbik and the ORP Orzeł .

biography

Henryk Kłoczkowski was born in St. Petersburg in 1902 as the son of the Polish Rear Admiral Wacław Kłoczkowski (* 1873; † 1930). He joined the Polish Navy and took part in the Polish-Soviet War in 1920. During the war he served in the Polish inland navy on the Dnepr .

He gained his first experience on submarines in the early 1930s at ORP Wilk . Between 1932 and 1938 he commanded ORP Żbik .

In 1939 he was considered the most experienced submarine commander in the Polish Navy and was given command of the newest and most modern unit, ORP Orzeł . He took many of the ORP Żbik's crew on the new boat. He was very popular with the crew, who nicknamed him Kłocz.

When the war began on September 1, 1939, he ran out with his submarine. During the first days of the mission, conflicts quickly arose with the inexperienced first officer Jan Grudziński , whom Kłoczkowski did not like from the start. Several times Kłoczkowski failed to attack enemy units and openly violated orders from the base in Hel . Last but not least, he called in sick, which is why the submarine ran into the neutral port of Reval to put him and another sick crew member ashore. The boat was interned but managed to escape to Great Britain under the command of the First Officer .

Kłoczkowski stayed in the hospital in Reval for only three days. He was imprisoned in Estonia until November and after his release went to Tartu , where his family followed him. He survived the Soviet occupation of Estonia unscathed. In December 1941, he was tracked down by Polish agents. It is not clear how he came to Britain afterwards. Either he went of his own free will or the army in exile of General Władysław Anders forced him with Soviet help.

In Great Britain he was tried on a court martial . The basis of the indictment were written reports from the ORP Orzeł crew, who had now almost completely fallen , and who openly accused him of treason. He was u. a. Accused of pretending to be sick and disobeying orders . Kłoczkowski was sentenced to four years in prison, expelled from the navy and lost his rank.

He was released early in 1943 and went to the United States , where he received commands from merchant ships.

After the end of the war he emigrated to Canada .

Career

personal data
SURNAME Kłoczkowski, Henryk
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kłocz (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish naval officer and submarine commander
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint Petersburg , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH October 1, 1962