ORP hurricane (G90)
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The ORP Orkan (G90) was a destroyer of the Polish navy in exile during World War II . The warship was originally built for the Royal Navy as HMS Myrmidon (G90) of the M-class , but was commissioned by the Polish Navy as ORP Hurricane on November 18, 1942 .
After a service period of a good ten months, the hurricane was lost on October 8, 1943 in the North Atlantic in the defense of convoy SC 143 when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U 378 . 178 Polish and 20 British sailors died in the greatest catastrophe in the history of the Polish Navy .
History of the destroyer
The construction contract for two "M- or Marne -class" destroyers went to Fairfields in Govan on July 7, 1939 , which were supposed to be a replica of the eight L-class destroyers ordered in March 1938, none of which were dated when the order was placed Stack was over. Three other shipyards received orders to build the remaining six boats at the same time. With the destroyers of these two missions, a new main armament was to be introduced, because they were to receive a further developed 120 mm gun in a likewise new, turret-like carriage , which promised better combat against air targets.
Building history
The L-class destroyers entered service much later than originally planned. The main reason was the high need for repairs by the Royal Navy in the first two years of the war. In addition, the new weapons were not available in sufficient numbers, so that an early decision was made to equip four of the L-boats with tried and tested 102 mm Mk XVI
twin guns . First boat with the new 120-mm Mk XI guns was also at Hawthorn Leslie built Lightning , which came as the fourth boat on May 28, 1941 in service.
The eight boats of the second order were all completed with the new guns. The first boat in service was the HMS Marne , launched on October 30, 1940 at Vickers Armstrong's High Walker Yard and commissioned on December 2, 1941. The Fairfield buildings of the class were both among the late-completed boats.
The shipyard delivered a variety of different structures. When the contract was awarded, she had not yet delivered two of the J- and K-class destroyers she was going to build . Orders for two N-class replicas were started and in 1939 the shipyard in Govan also received orders for five smaller destroyers from the war building program . These boats were all completed before the yard's first M-class boat. For this, the shipyard built yet light cruiser of Dido class , the 1942 running from the deck aircraft carrier Implacable and delivered on August 29, 1942, the battleship Howe from. In addition there were smaller units, such as two destroyer escorts of the Hunt III type or Sloops of the Black Swan type .
The HMS Myrmidon was launched on March 2, 1942 as the 15th boat of the class. While it was still being tested, it was taken over by the Polish Navy and put into service on November 18 as an ORP Hurricane .
Mission history
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The ORP Orkan moved to the Home Fleet in Scapa Flow at the beginning of December 1942 and trained its crew in the 17th destroyer flotilla with Onslow and the Oribi , which was also built at Fairfield, as well as the O-Class Opportune miners , Obdurate , Orwell, who had just come into service and obedient .
From January 23, 1943, the first use of the hurricane took place in the remote security of the northern sea convoy JW 52 to Murmansk around the battleship Anson and the cruiser Sheffield with seven other destroyers. The association also secured convoy RA 52 in the opposite direction.
JW 53 , the following convoy to the east set sail on February 15th. In the event of a heavy storm, six steamers had to seek shelter in Iceland and the escort carrier Dasher and the cruiser Sheffield had to turn back with considerable storm damage. From the initially extensive escort, a "Through Escort Group" with a mine sweeper, four corvettes and a trawler stayed with the convoy. From Seyðisfjörður a "Fighting Escort Group" with the cruiser Scylla and thirteen destroyers (in addition to the Hurricane also Milne , Orwell , Opportune , Obedient , Obdurate , Faulknor , Boadicea , Inglefield , Fury , Intrepid , Impulsive , Eclipse ) came to the ship on February 19th Convoy. The German aerial reconnaissance discovered JW 53 on the 23rd; In bad weather, the convoy avoided the German submarine line-ups, as the destroyers were able to identify them with their direction finders in good time or to identify and prevent the following attacks at an early stage. Two attacks by Junkers Ju 88 of I./KG 30 only damaged one freighter. Three Soviet destroyers and other security boats took the convoy, which arrived with 18 ships on the 26th in front of the Kolafjord . Six ships continued into the White Sea . The freighters arriving in Murmansk were attacked several times by Junkers Ju 87 of I./StG 5 and Ju 88. One freighter was destroyed and four seriously damaged.
The Scylla took the hurricane , nine other destroyers, three corvettes and two trawlers, including the built in Germany HMS Northern Pride , the escort securing expiring on March 1, with 30 ships to the west convoy RA 53 , who has the second of U 255 was discovered and accompanied. The Fühlungshalter sank the American Executive (4978 GRT) on the 5th and torpedoed another freighter that was able to march on. An attack by twelve Ju 88s of I./KG 30 on the 6th failed in strong defensive fire. A strong storm then dispersed the convoy, in which a US freighter broke and sank. On the 9th U 586 sank the American Puerto Rican and on the 10th U 255 sank Richard Bland (7191 GRT), which he had already torpedoed . The merging of the scattered ships was largely aided by the radar of the battleship King George V.
In April and May the hurricane was then used in support groups to secure North Atlantic convoys. In June she was assigned to special hunting groups that were supposed to fight submarines in the Bay of Biscay that were already leaving the bases in western France. She usually worked with the Canadian destroyers Athabaskan and Iroquis .
In July, the destroyer transported the remains of Polish Prime Minister Władysław Sikorski from Gibraltar to England . After an overhaul of the boat in Hull , the storm formed "Support Group 3" with the sister boat Musketeer , the Oribi and the Orwell .
The end of the hurricane
The Support Group ran on October 7, 1943 to the convoy SC 143, which was attacked by eight submarines . During the attack on the submarine U 758, which was targeted by the Musketeer, on the 8th, a torpedo from the submarine just missed the destroyer. At 07:05, the hurricane was torpedoed southeast of Greenland at position 56 ° 8 ' N , 27 ° 5' W by the German submarine U 378 and sank within a few minutes. The Musketeer was able to save 44 survivors. 178 Polish and 20 British sailors were killed. The sinking of the hurricane was the greatest catastrophe in the history of the Polish Navy .
Commanders
- November 18, 1942 - October 8, 1943: komandor porucznik Stanisław Hryniewiecki
See also
- ORP Hurricane - another Polish warships with the same name
Web links
- Polish ORP ORKAN, ex-HMS MYRMIDON (G 90) - M-class Destroyer
- ORKAN destroyer
- Hurricane in uboat.net ( engl. )
- Hurricane at polishnavy.pl (engl.)
Footnotes
- ^ "ORP" is the abbreviation for "Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej" and the name prefix of Polish ships. ORP means "Warship of the Republic of Poland".
- ^ Rohwer: The sea war. P. 331
- ↑ February 15 - March 14, 1943, North Sea
- ↑ March 1–10, 1943, North Sea
- ^ Rohwer, p. 366
- ^ Rohwer, p. 390
- ↑ "komandor porucznik" corresponds stabskapitänleutnant .
Laforey † | (Larne) / Gurkha † | Lance † | Legion † | Lightning † | Lively † | Lookout | Loyal †
(Marksman) / Mahratta † | Marne | Martin † | Matchless | Meteor | Milne | Musketeer
Poland :
(Myrmidon) / ORP Hurricane †
Turkey :
Alp Arslan |
Kilicali Pasha |
Maresal Fevzi Cakmak |
Piyale Pasha