This article details the
Order of BattleAn order of battle was, in its original form during the European period of Medieval warfare, the order in which troops were positioned relative to the position of the Army commander. Today it refers to a listing of military units, often with equipment, location and other relevant information.It was...
of the Polish NavyThe Polish Navy is the branch of Poland's Armed Forces responsible for naval operations. It has 60 ships and about 14,300 commissioned and enlisted personnel...
prior to the outbreak of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the
Polish Defensive WarThe Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II...
of 1939. Following World War I, Poland's shoreline was relatively short and included no major seaports. In the 1920s and 1930s, such ports were built in
GdyniaGdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea....
and
HelHel is a town in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, located on the tip of the Hel Peninsula, some 33 kilometres from the Polish mainland.-Early developments:...
, and the Polish Navy underwent a modernisation program under the leadership of Counter-Admiral
Józef UnrugJózef Michał Hubert Unrug was a German-born Polish vice admiral who helped reestablish Poland's navy after World War I. During the opening stages of World War II, he served as the Polish Navy's commander.-Biography:...
(CO of the Fleet) and Vice-Admiral
Jerzy ŚwirskiJerzy Świrski was a Polish vice admiral and officer in the Russian Navy and Polish Navy.He served in the Black Sea Fleet until the end of the World War I. In 1918 he joined the Ukrainian Navy. Rear-admiral of the Navy of Ukrainian State.In 1919 he joined the Polish Navy...
(Chief of Naval Staff). Ships were acquired from France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and the Navy was to be able to secure the Polish supply lines in case of a war against the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. By September 1939 the Polish Navy consisted of 5 submarines, 4 destroyers, and various support vessels and mine-warfare ships.
This force was no match for the large German Navy, and so a strategy of harassment and indirect engagement was implemented. Lacking numerical superiority, Polish naval commanders decided to execute the
Peking PlanThe Peking Plan was an operation in which three destroyers of the Polish Navy, the Burza , Błyskawica , and Grom , were evacuated to the United Kingdom in late August and early September of 1939 prior to the outbreak of war...
, an operation to withdraw most of the naval vessels to British ports, from where the ships were to secure convoys with aid for Poland, either bound for Gdynia or for Constanca in Romania.
Peace-time organization
The
Polish NavyThe Polish Navy is the branch of Poland's Armed Forces responsible for naval operations. It has 60 ships and about 14,300 commissioned and enlisted personnel...
was organized into a
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
-based Naval Command, subordinate to the Commander in Chief of the Polish forces, and several naval and riverine bases and flotillas. The Navy was commanded by Counter Admiral
Józef UnrugJózef Michał Hubert Unrug was a German-born Polish vice admiral who helped reestablish Poland's navy after World War I. During the opening stages of World War II, he served as the Polish Navy's commander.-Biography:...
and his Chief of Naval Staff
Jerzy ŚwirskiJerzy Świrski was a Polish vice admiral and officer in the Russian Navy and Polish Navy.He served in the Black Sea Fleet until the end of the World War I. In 1918 he joined the Ukrainian Navy. Rear-admiral of the Navy of Ukrainian State.In 1919 he joined the Polish Navy...
. Apart from its own bases, the Navy also commanded the
WesterplatteWesterplatte is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula , in the Gdańsk harbour channel...
Transit Wharf, an extra-territorial base and depot in the
Free City of DanzigThe Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous, Baltic Sea port and city-state that was created on 10 January 1920, against the wishes of the local population but in accordance with the terms of Part III, Section XI of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919...
, commanded by
Henryk SucharskiHenryk Sucharski was a Polish military officer and a major in the Polish Army. At the outbreak of World War II, he was one of the commanders of the Westerplatte position in Danzig, which troops under his command defended for seven days against overwhelming odds...
and Franciszek Dąbrowski. The naval bases included:
- Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea....
-OksywieOksywie is a neighbourhood of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is actually several centuries older than the city it is a part of currently.-Etymology:...
(Mieczysław Adamowicz)
- Hel
Hel is a town in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, located on the tip of the Hel Peninsula, some 33 kilometres from the Polish mainland.-Early developments:...
(Włodzimierz Steyer)
- Puck
Puck may refer to:* Puck , a nature spirit* Puck , used instead of a ball in ice hockey and other sports* Puck , a late 20th century US periodical* Puck , a 19th century US periodical...
naval bombers air base (2 escadrilles and 1 support air group under Edward Szystowski)
- Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea....
Naval Officers' School
The Navy itself was divided onto four
flotillaA flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats or minesweepers...
s:
- Destroyer flotilla under Lt. Cmdr. Roman Stankiewicz
- Submarine flotilla under Ctr-Adm. Adam Mohuczy
Adam Mohuczy was a Polish Navy officer. Captain of several ships and squadrons, Counter Admiral from 1946 and Chief of Staff and Commander of the Polish Navy from 1945-1947. In 1949 arrested by Polish secret police, accused of sabotage, tortured. Died in prison in 1953. In 1957 he was...
- Pinsk
Pinsk , a town in Belarus, in the Polesia region, traversed by the river Pripyat, at the confluence of the Strumen and Pina rivers. The region is known as the Marsh of Pinsk. It is a fertile agricultural center. It lies south-west of Minsk. The population is about 130,000...
river flotilla under Cmdr. Witold Zajączkowski
- Vistula
The Vistula , is the longest and one of the most important rivers in Poland at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is 194,424 km² , of which 168,699 km² The Vistula , is the longest and one of the most important rivers in Poland at 1,047 km (651 miles) in...
river detachment under Lt. Cmdr. Roman Kanafoyski
Finally, under the influence of French maritime traditions the Naval Officers' School in Gdynia (under Capt. Tadeusz Podjazd-Morgenstern) was considered a separate naval base. It used a variety of
school shipA training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is especially used for ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classrooms....
s, including most of the Polish surface vessels.
War-time organization
Prior to the outbreak of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, on July 10, 1939 the defence of the Polish
PomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East. It is inhabited...
was reorganized into two separate commands under the leadership of Ctr. Adm. Unrug. The Land Coastal Command (
Lądowa Obrona Wybrzeża, also translated as Land Coastal Defence) and Naval Coastal Command (
Morska Obrona Wybrzeża, also translated as Naval Coastal Defence) formed the Coastal Defence Group (
Grupa Obrony Wybrzeża). They were supported by the Naval Air Squadron (
Morski Dywizjon Lotniczy).
Land Coastal Command
The Land Coastal Command (
Lądowa Obrona Wybrzeża, LOW), subordinate to the
ToruńToruń is a city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River, with population over 207,190 as of 2006, making it the second-largest city of Kujawy-Pomerania Province, after Bydgoszcz. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus...
-based military area command led by Gen. Władysław Bortnowski, was led by Col. Józef Sass-Hoszowski and, since July 23, by Col. Stanisław Dąbek. It was to organize the defence of the Polish seashore, as well as the borders with
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
and
Free City of DanzigThe Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous, Baltic Sea port and city-state that was created on 10 January 1920, against the wishes of the local population but in accordance with the terms of Part III, Section XI of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919...
, as well as to prepare the defence of the Polish naval bases and the
WesterplatteWesterplatte is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula , in the Gdańsk harbour channel...
outpost in Danzig.
As it was clear that the Polish defenders of the so-called
Polish CorridorThe Polish Corridor was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia which provided the Second Republic of Poland with access to the Baltic Sea, thus dividing the bulk of Germany from her province of East Prussia...
would be cut off from the Polish mainland, the defence was organized into several fortified lines that were to shield the naval base of
Hel PeninsulaHel Peninsula is a 35-km-long sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is located in Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.- Geography :...
and the city of
GdyniaGdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea....
from all sides, and moved from Gen. Bortnowski command to that of counter-admiral
Józef UnrugJózef Michał Hubert Unrug was a German-born Polish vice admiral who helped reestablish Poland's navy after World War I. During the opening stages of World War II, he served as the Polish Navy's commander.-Biography:...
. The units included:
- Wejherowo
Wejherowo is a town in Gdańsk Pomerania, northern Poland, with 47,000 inhabitants . It has been the capital of Wejherowo County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999; previously, it was a town in Gdańsk Voivodeship .-History:...
Independent Detachment (Odział Wydzielony Wejherowo; west of WejherowoWejherowo is a town in Gdańsk Pomerania, northern Poland, with 47,000 inhabitants . It has been the capital of Wejherowo County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999; previously, it was a town in Gdańsk Voivodeship .-History:...
) under Lt. Col. Kazimierz Pruszkowski
- 1st Marine Rifles Regiment
- Puck
Puck may refer to:* Puck , a nature spirit* Puck , used instead of a ball in ice hockey and other sports* Puck , a late 20th century US periodical* Puck , a 19th century US periodical...
National Defence battalion
- Redłowo Independent Detachment (Odział Wydzielony Redłowo; south of Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea....
) under Lt. Col. Ignacy Szpunar
- 2nd Marine Rifles Regiment
- 1st reserve infantry battalion
- Kartuzy
Kartuzy is a town in the Kashubia region in Eastern Pomerania region in northwestern Poland with population of 15,472 . Previously in Gdańsk Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998, Kartuzy has been the capital of Kartuzy County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999.The town is an important centre of...
Independent Detachment (Odział Wydzielony Kartuzy) under Cpt. Marian Mordawski
Gdynia II National Defence battalion
- Kartuzy National Defence battalion
Gdynia I National Defence battalion (near KoleczkowoKoleczkowo is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Szemud, within Wejherowo County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately east of Szemud, south-east of Wejherowo, and north-west of the regional capital Gdańsk....
)
Altogether, the forces subordinate to Col. Dąbek numbered ca. 15,000.
Separate from the Land Coastal Defence were:
- the Hel
Hel is a town in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, located on the tip of the Hel Peninsula, some 33 kilometres from the Polish mainland.-Early developments:...
Fortified Area (Rejon Umocniony Hel, ca. 3,000 men) under Ctr. Adm. Włodzimierz Steyer
- supported by 4th battalion of the Border Defence Corps;
- Westerplatte
Westerplatte is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula , in the Gdańsk harbour channel...
garrison (ca. 200 men)
The remainder of the Polish forces, including the improvised units, the mobilized
PoliceA police service is a public force empowered to enforce the law and provide security through the legitimized use of force.The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of...
, Border Guards, Border Defence Corps and the volunteers, were to defend the outskirts of Gdynia and the
OksywieOksywie is a neighbourhood of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is actually several centuries older than the city it is a part of currently.-Etymology:...
Heights, while the 4th battalion of the Border Defence Corps was to defend
HelHel is a town in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, located on the tip of the Hel Peninsula, some 33 kilometres from the Polish mainland.-Early developments:...
. The anti-air defence was provided by the 1st and 2nd battalion of AA artillery, with 14 75 mm guns wz.22/24 and 14
40 mm wz. 38 gunsThe Bofors 40 mm gun is a famous anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the Swedish firm of Bofors. It was one of the most popular medium-weight anti-aircraft systems during World War II, used by most of the western Allies as well as various other forces...
.
Naval Coastal Command
The Naval Coastal Command (Morska Obrona Wybrzeża
, MOW) included all of the Polish naval vessels, as well as the coastal artilleryCoastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications....
batteries of Hel and Oksywie. Out of the destroyer flotilla, all but one were withdrawn to Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
during the Operation Peking. These included ORP Burza
ORP Burza was a of the Polish Navy which saw action in World War II.-History:ORP Burza was ordered on 2 April 1926 from the French shipyard Chantiers Naval Francais together with her sister ship Wicher...
under Lt. Cmdr. Stanisław Nahorski, ORP Błyskawica
under Lt. Cmdr. Włodzimierz Kodrębski and ORP Grom
ORP Grom was the lead ship of her class of destroyers serving in the Polish Navy during World War II. She was named after the Polish word for "thunderclap".-History:...
under Lt. Cmdr. Aleksander Hulewicz.
The only large surface vessels to be left in Poland before the outbreak of hostilities were the heavy minelayer ORP Gryf
ORP Gryf was a large Polish Navy minelayer, sunk during the 1939 German invasion of Poland. She was one of two large Polish ships that were not evacuated to Great Britain during Operation Peking prior to the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War...
under Stefan Kwiatkowski (later replaced by Lt. Cmdr. Wiktor Łomidze) and its escort, the ORP Wicher
under Stefan de WaldenStefan de Walden was a Polish military commander and engineer.He participated in the fights of the Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy during the Polish-Bolshevik War. During the Polish Defensive War of 1939, he served as the commanding officer of Wicher, one of the destroyers of the Polish Navy...
.
The submarine flotilla was left in Poland with the task of disrupting the enemy movement in the area of the Bay of Gdańsk, as well as to lay mines on the routes from Germany to East PrussiaEast Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia...
n ports in the Operation Worek. Commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Adam MohuczyAdam Mohuczy was a Polish Navy officer. Captain of several ships and squadrons, Counter Admiral from 1946 and Chief of Staff and Commander of the Polish Navy from 1945-1947. In 1949 arrested by Polish secret police, accused of sabotage, tortured. Died in prison in 1953. In 1957 he was...
, the flotilla included:
Wilk
ORP Wilk was the lead boat of her class of mine-laying submarines of the Polish Navy. The ship saw service in the Polish Navy from 1931 to 1951. Her name meant "Wolf" in Polish.-History:...
under Capt. Bogusław Krawczyk
ORP Żbik
ORP Żbik was a which saw service in the Polish Navy from 1932 to 1955. Her name meant Wildcat in Polish.Żbik was laid down in 1927 in Caen, launched in 1930, and entered service in 1932. When World War II began on 1 September 1939, she took part in the Worek Plan for the defense of the Polish coast...
under Lt. Cmdr. Michał Żebrowski
ORP Ryś
ORP Ryś was a which saw service in the Polish Navy from 1931 to 1955. Her name meant Lynx in Polish.-History:Ryś was laid down in 1927 in Nantes, France; launched in 1929; and entered service in 1932. When World War II began on September 1, 1939, she took part in the Worek Plan for the defense...
under Lt. Cmdr. Aleksander Grochowski
ORP Sęp
For the second ORP Sęp serving in the Polish Navy since 2002, see ORP Sęp .ORP Sęp was a serving in the Polish Navy during World War II. In Polish her name means Vulture.-Construction:...
under Lt. Cmdr. Władysław Salomon
ORP Orzeł
under Lt. Cmdr. Henryk Kłoczkowski
Apart of the abovementioned ships, a number of other vessels were left in the Polish naval bases, including several smaller torpedo boats, mine trawlers, minelayers and auxiliary vessels. The Minelayer/Minesweeper Flotilla (Flotylla Minowców
) was composed mostly of the so-called birdies
(ptaszki
, a nick-name coined after the fact that all of the Jaskółka class ships were named after a different species of non-raptor birds).
Czajka
ORP Mewa
ORP Jaskółka
ORP Rybitwa
ORP Czapla
ORP Żuraw
Two obsolete gunboatA gunboat is literally a boat carrying one or more guns. The term is rather broad, and the usual connotation has changed over the years .- Age of sail :...
s, the ORP Generał Haller
and ORP Komendant Piłsudski
were grouped in the so-called group of gunboats. Other ships left in the bases of Gdynia and Hel included frogmenA frogman is someone who is trained to dive or swim in a military capacity which can include combat. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver or combatant diver or combat swimmer. Strictly speaking, "combat swimming" refers to surface swimming without a breathing...
support ship ORP Nurek
, school artillery shipA training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is especially used for ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classrooms....
ORP Mazur
ORP Mazur was a torpedo boat, then gunnery training ship of the Polish Navy. She was the former German torpedo boat V-105. She took part in the Polish Defensive War and was sunk by German bombers on September 1, 1939, one of the first two ships in the war.-History:She was built in 1914 by Stettiner...
and three mobilized patrol boats of the Border Guard, the ORP Batory
, ORP Mazur
ORP Mazur was a torpedo boat, then gunnery training ship of the Polish Navy. She was the former German torpedo boat V-105. She took part in the Polish Defensive War and was sunk by German bombers on September 1, 1939, one of the first two ships in the war.-History:She was built in 1914 by Stettiner...
and ORP Kaszub
ORP Kaszub may refer to one of several ships of the Polish Navy:* ORP Kaszub - torpedo boat, ex-German "V-108"* ORP Kaszub - submarine of Soviet M class...
.
Naval Air Squadron
The Naval Air Squadron (Morski Dywizjon Lotniczy
) was composed of two escadrilles of seaplaneA seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories: floatplanes and flying boats...
s, both based in PuckPuck may refer to:* Puck , a nature spirit* Puck , used instead of a ball in ice hockey and other sports* Puck , a late 20th century US periodical* Puck , a 19th century US periodical...
and commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Edward Szystowski. The squadron consisted of roughly 17 obsoleted planes (mostly Lublin R-VIIIThe Lublin R-VIII was a Polish bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and seaplane designed in the late-1920s by the Plage i Laśkiewicz factory in Lublin. It was the first in-house design of Plage i Laśkiewicz, and the first with the name Lublin.-Development:...
and Lublin R-XIIIThe Lublin R-XIII was the Polish army-cooperation plane , designed in the early-1930s in the Plage i Laśkiewicz factory in Lublin. It was the main army cooperation plane in the Invasion of Poland...
Hydro
of various versions), three liaison planes (one RWD-14 CzaplaThe RWD-14 Czapla was a Polish observation, close reconnaissance and liaison aircraft, designed in the mid-1930s by the RWD team, and produced in the LWS factory from 1938.-Design and development:...
and two RWD-17The RWD-17 was a Polish aerobatics-trainer aircraft of 1937, parasol wing monoplane, constructed by the RWD team.-Development:The aircraft was designed for an order of the LOPP paramilitary organization, as an interim trainer aircraft between primary trainer RWD-8 and single-seater aircraft,...
), and a single modern CANT Z.506The CANT Z.506 Airone was a triple-engine floatplane produced since 1935 that served as a transport and postal aircraft with Italian airline "Ala Littoria", and - during World War II - as a reconnaissance aircraft, bomber and air-sea rescue plane, with the Italian Regia Aeronautica and Regia...
Airone, purchased in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
.
Both escadrilles were to provide reconnaissance for the ships of the Polish Navy, while the
fighterA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
cover was to be provided by the
organicIn military terminology, organic refers to a military unit that is a permanent part of a larger unit and provides some specialized capability to that parent unit. For instance, the US Marine Corps incorporates its own aviation units In military terminology, organic refers to a military unit that...
squadrons of the Army Pomorze fighting in southern
PomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East. It is inhabited...
. However, the Naval Air Squadron was mostly destroyed on the ground on September 1, with its commander being the first Allied naval officer to be killed in action in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Riverine flotillas
During the Polish-Bolshevik War the Pinsk Marshes in modern
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
proved to be almost impassable to troops of both sides. Lack of roads and railways posed a serious danger to infantry and cavalry that could easily be cut off both by the enemy and the weather. Because of that, a number of
river monitorRiver monitors were the strongest class of riverine warships. The name originally came from the USS Monitor , the last American river monitors were used during the Vietnam War by brown water flotillas.River monitors were used on inland waterways -- rivers and lakes...
s were either constructed or acquired from private owners and armed. They were used on the Pripiat River, as well as its extensive river basin. After the war, some of the ships were returned to their owners, while the rest remained in active service and were pressed into the so-called Pinsk Flotilla.
In the peace time the
Riverine Flotilla of the Polish NavyThe Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy , better known as the Pinsk Flotilla, was the inland branch of the Polish naval forces operating on Vistula river and the Pinsk Marshes area between the Polish-Bolshevik War and the World War II. Under the command of Cmdr...
, as it was officially called, operated on the Pina River, as well as on Pripyat and Strumień. It served as a mobile reserve of the Border Defence Corps and was to support the front in case of a war with the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. Prior to the outbreak of the
Polish Defensive WarThe Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II...
, a number of ships and detachments of the Riverine Flotilla were moved to the
VistulaThe Vistula , is the longest and one of the most important rivers in Poland at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is 194,424 km² , of which 168,699 km² The Vistula , is the longest and one of the most important rivers in Poland at 1,047 km (651 miles) in...
River as a Separated Detachment of the Vistula River
(Oddział Wydzielony Rzeki Wisły
), better known as the Vistula Flotilla. During the fights against the Soviets and the Germans, most of the ships were sunk by the crews to avoid enemy capture.
See also
- Battle of the Gdańsk LANE
- Battle of Gdynia
Battle of Gdynia was one of the major battles in northern Poland during the Invasion of Poland of 1939. The Germans' main push towards Gdynia began on 8 September and they captured Gdynia less than a week later on 14 September.- Before the battle :...
- Battle of Kępa Oksywska
The Battle of Kępa Oksywska took place in the Oksywie Heights outside of the city of Gdynia between September 10 and September 19, 1939. The battle, fought by the Polish Army and the German Wehrmacht, was part of the Polish September Campaign during World War II...
- Battle of Hel
The Battle of Hel was one of the longest battles of the Invasion of Poland during World War II.The Hel Peninsula, together with the town of Hel, was the longest-defended pocket of Polish Army resistance against the German invasion...
- Orzeł incident
- Polish River Fleet
- Polish contribution to World War II
The European theater of World War II opened with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. The Polish Army was pushed back.After Poland had been overrun, a government-in-exile, an armed forces, and an intelligence service were established outside of Poland. These organisations contributed...