Wilk class (1931)

*Wilk* class
	ORP Wilk in 1937
Ship data
country	Poland
Ship type	Submarine
Construction period	1927 to 1932
Launch of the type ship	April 12, 1929
Units built	3
period of service	1931 to 1942
Ship dimensions and crew
length	78.5 m ( Lüa )
width	5.9 m
Draft	Max. 4.2 m
displacement	above water: 980 ts; under water: 1,250 ts
Machine system
machine	1 × Vickers - Diesel engine; 1 × electric motor (1200 PS / 909 kW)
Machine ; performance	1,800 hp (1,324 kW)
Mission data submarine
Duration of use	35 days
Diving depth, normal	80 m
Immersion depth, max.	100 m
Top ; speed ; submerged	9.5 kn (18 km / h)
Top ; speed ; surfaced	14.5 kn (27 km / h)
Armament
	1 × deck gun 10.0 cm L / 40 cutters; 2 × Fla - MG 13.2 mm Hotchkiss ; 6 × torpedo tube ⌀ 55.0 cm (10 torpedoes); 38 sea mines ;

The Wilk class was the first submarine - class of the Polish Navy . The three boats in the class were built in France in the late 1920s , entered service in the early 1930s , and were used during World War II . The construction was based on the single boat Pierre Chailey of the French Navy . All boats survived the war and were scrapped in the 1950s .

prehistory

The Republic of Poland , which emerged as a result of the First World War , initially only had smaller and older naval units, most of which came from the inventory of the Imperial Navy . The Polish coast to the Baltic Sea was relatively short at 142 km and was mainly limited to the Gdańsk Bay .

At the beginning of the 1920s, as a result of the Polish-Soviet War, the Soviet Union was seen as a future opponent and the Polish Navy was given the task of securing the supply convoys from the allied France in a possible conflict. From 1924, planning began for the construction of nine submarines.

After the customs war with Germany, Poland ran into financial difficulties and the Władysław Grabski government had to take out a loan in France . It is believed that several influential members of the French government were shareholders in the newly established Chantiers Naval Français shipyard in Caen . In any case, the loan was made conditional on the Polish Navy giving this shipyard an armaments contract. The new yard but had no experience with the relatively new and complicated submarine weapon, which is why the original submarine plans on the three boats Wilk reduced class and instead, on 2 April 1926, the two destroyers of Wicher class were commissioned.

Constructive features

The boats Wilk class had a classic combined drive from diesel engines and battery -betriebenen electric motors without snorkel and had a double-hulled boat built.

The diving depth guaranteed by the shipyard was 80 m. The maximum diving depth specified was 100 m. With a range of 6,480 km and a sea endurance of just over a month, the boats were partially seaworthy. The range was completely sufficient for the small Baltic Sea . The batteries were sufficient for 185 km under water at 5 kn.

A French deck gun with a caliber of 10.0 cm and two heavy machine-guns for air defense served as armament . In terms of torpedo armament, the boats had four tubes in the bow and two movable ones in the stern. A total of ten torpedoes could be carried. In contrast to the Orzeł class boats , the Wilk boats were able to move up to 38 sea mines . The mines were guided in vertical shafts.

Mission history

In the 1930s, many Polish submarine crews were trained on the three boats. Important Polish submarine commanders in World War II such as B. Henryk Kłoczkowski , Boguslaw Krawczyk and Bolesław Romanowski gained their first experience on boats of the Wilk class.

The submarines took part in several naval visits in the Baltic Sea, with which the Republic of Poland, oppressed by the two great powers Soviet Union and Germany , wanted to underline its maritime claims in this water.

At the beginning of the Second World War on September 1, 1939, the Wilk boats tried to mine the access routes of an expected German maritime invasion as part of the Worek plan . Since the navy did not land at sea and the German attack on Poland was mainly limited to land operations by the Wehrmacht , all Polish submarines had no influence on the war. With the exception of the destroyers evacuated during Operation Peking before the war began , all Polish surface units were destroyed in a few days by fighter planes belonging to the far superior German Air Force .

The allied navies of Germany and the Soviet Union could not destroy a single Polish submarine in 1939, despite intensive efforts in the Baltic Sea.

One submarine managed to move to Great Britain , and two other Wilk- class boats also escaped and were interned in neutral Sweden .

After the war ended, all boats returned to Poland and were decommissioned in the 1950s and then scrapped.

Boats of the class

Between 1927 and 1932 three submarines of the class were built. All boats survived World War II and were decommissioned in the 1950s.

Ryś
Builder:	Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire (Nantes)
Keel laying:	May 28, 1927	Launch:	April 22, 1929
Commissioning:	August 2, 1931	End of duty:	1955
The Ryś ( Polish : " Luchs ") ran out at the beginning of the war on September 1, 1939 and was interned in Sweden on September 17. After the end of the war the boat returned to Poland, was decommissioned in 1955 and scrapped in 1956.
Wilk
Builder:	Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand (Le Havre)
Keel laying:	1927	Launch:	April 12, 1929
Commissioning:	October 31, 1931	End of duty:	1951
The Wilk (Polish: " Wolf ") ran out on September 1, 1939, later left the Baltic Sea and reached Great Britain on September 20. After the end of the war, the boat was towed to Poland, decommissioned in 1951 and then scrapped.
Żbik
Builder:	Chantiers Navals Français (Caen)
Keel laying:	1929	Launch:	June 14, 1930
Commissioning:	February 20, 1932	End of duty:	1955
The Żbik (Polish: " wild cat ") ran out on September 1, 1939 and was interned in Sweden on September 27. On October 1, 1939, the German mine-layer M-85 ran into a sea mine laid by Żbik . After the end of the war the boat returned to Poland, was decommissioned in 1955 and scrapped in 1956.