ORP Jaskółka (ship, 1934)
 ORP Mewa and Jaskółka 1936
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The ORP Jaskółka (German: "Schwalbe") was the type ship of six minesweepers of the Jaskółka class of the same name in the Polish Navy and was built between 1934 and 1935. The boats of this class were also intended for mine-laying and submarine hunting , and were the only warships made in Poland before World War II.
As the lead ship of the class, the mining division of the Polish Navy was re-established with him. However, the main task before the war was the training of the crews, on September 1, 1939 the Jaskółka ran out of the first - abandoned - mining company and took part in all operations of the Polish fleet until it was destroyed by a German air raid on September 14.
Navy of the Second Polish Republic
As with all smaller maritime units of the Polish Navy , the main task of the boats in the 1930s was the training of men and officers. In addition to nautical skills, the boat-specific tasks were the focus.
At the beginning of the Second World War, the boat was under the command of Kapitan Marynarki Tadeusz Borysewicz. On the morning of September 1, the Polish fleet left the base in Gdynia with the miner Gryf , the destroyer Wicher , the minesweepers Mewa , Rybitwa , Czajka , Czapla , Żuraw and the Jaskółka and the gunboats General Haller and Komendant Pilsudski to go to Hela relocate and carry out " Operation Rurka ". The Gdańsk Bay was to be protected against German ship attacks with a mine barrier.
During the crossing seized 33 dive bomber of the type Ju 87 of Lehrgeschwader 1 the fleet, "Operation Rurka" had to be stopped. In this attack, the Gryf , Wicher and Mewa received damage from close hits. The latter had to be towed from the Rybitwa to Hela. The Mewa remained in Hela, while the five undamaged minesweepers were ordered to the naval port of Jastarnia , where they remained stationed until mid-September.
On September 3, Jaskółka and Rybitwa brought the coastal defense commander, Stefan Frankowski, from Gdynia to Hela to support the local garrison. The Jaskółka and the other boats remained in constant use and carried out patrols on the coast. Four days later, Jaskółka and Rybitwa searched in vain on the coast near Mechelinski for a downed German pilot and got caught in another air raid by Stukas. According to her own statements, she shot down one of the attackers.
Another four days later, on September 11th, the Jaskółka , Rybitwa and Czajka intervened in the fighting on land and gave fire support to the Polish troops near the coastal town of Rewa . The last help of this kind was given by the boats on September 14th.
The same three ships came for their first and last mining operation on September 12th. On the night of September 12th to 13th, they threw a total of 60 mines south of Hela to keep the German ship of the line Schleswig-Holstein from bombarding the peninsula. This was also the last use of the boats.
During the next German air raid on September 14th on the boats lying in the port of Jastarnia, their use ended. Around 10 a.m. 11 Ju 87 dive bombers of 4th / Carrier Group 186 appeared over the harbor: The Jaskółka was hit in the ammunition depot, which set off a fire and destroyed the boat. The Czapla also received a hit that tore a large hole in the starboard wall. The boat listed and sank, and Rybitwa and Czajka were damaged. The survey boat Pomorzanin and the tug Lech were also sunk in this attack .
The burnt out Jaskółka was so badly damaged that it was not worth repairing for the Germans and they scrapped the ship.
Remarks
- ↑ ORP is the abbreviation for "Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej" and the name prefix of Polish ships. ORP means "Warship of the Republic of Poland".
- ^ Twardowski, p. 171
- ↑ comparable to a first lieutenant at sea
- ^ Piaskowski, p. 42
- ↑ O'Hara, http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/39-08.htm#SEP
- ↑ Twardowski p. 175f.
- ^ Twardowski, p. 176
- ^ Twardowski, p. 176
- ^ Twardowski, p. 176
- ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/39-08.htm#SEP , Bertke Vol. 1., p. 130, Twardowski, p. 176
- ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/39-08.htm#SEP , Bertke Vol. 1., p. 128, Twardowski, p. 176
- ^ Twardowski, p. 178
Web links
- http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/chronik.htm , accessed on January 5, 2017
- http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km/mboote/m1-7.htm , accessed on January 5, 2017
- http://www.navypedia.org/ships/poland/pl_ms.htm , accessed January 5, 2017
- http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/minen/mrdiv3-frames.htm , accessed on January 5, 2017
literature
- Marek Twardowski: The Jaskolka Class Minesweepers , in: Warships. A quarterly Journal of warship history 15 (1980), Conway Maritime Press, London, pp. 167-179, ISBN 0-85177-207-2
- Stanisław M. Piaskowski: Okręty Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1920–1946 [The Ships of the Republic of Poland 1920–1946] , Planów album, Warsaw 1996, ISBN 83-900217-2-2
- Robert Gardiner / Roger Chesneau: Conway's All the world's fighting ships 1922-1946 , Conway Maritime Press, London 1980, ISBN 0-8317-0303-2
- Michael Alfred Peszke: Poland's Navy 1918-1945 , Hippocrene Books Inc., New York 1999, ISBN 0-7818-0672-0
- Erich Gröner: The German warships 1815 - 1945, Vol. 2: Torpedo boats, destroyers, speed boats, minesweepers, mine clearance boats , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1983, ISBN 3-7637-4801-6
- Erich Gröner: The German warships 1815 - 1945, Vol. 5: Auxiliary ships II: Hospital ships, accommodation ships, training ships, research vehicles , port operations vehicles , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1988, ISBN 3-7637-4804-0
- Vincent P. O'Hara: The German Fleet at war, 1939–1945 , Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 2004, ISBN 978-1-61251-397-3 (eBook)
- Donald A. Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell / Naval-history.net: World War II Sea War - Volume 1: The Nazis strike first , Bertke Publications, Dayton / Ohio 2011, ISBN 978-0-578-02941-2