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Destroyer BLYSKAWICA

Destroyer BLYSKAWICA

The Polish destroyer BLYSKAWICA seen here as a museums ship in the Basin No.1, Port of Gdynia, moored to the Southern Pier. She is the oldest preserved destroyer worldwide. I've listed the vessel in Navies of the World, because Blyskawica still has an enlisted crew and commander, performing active duty 24/7. Scanned from a commercial postcard, issued in 2014.

The BLYSKAWICA (i. e. lightning, 1975 ts / 2400 ts) was launched on 1 Oct 1936 by J. Samuel White & Co. shipyard, Cowes and commissioned on 25 Nov 1937. Two days before the outbreak of World War II, on 30 Aug 1939, the Blyskawica withdrew, along with the destroyers GROM and BURZA, from the Baltic Sea to Great Britain in accordance with the Peking Plan, to avoid certain destruction in case of a German assault. The destroyers arrived at Leith at 1 Sept 1939. On 6 Sept they departed Rosyth for Plymouth and en route made contact with an apparent German U-Boat in the Minches, position 56.55N 07.05W. Blyskawica depth charged the contact but no evidence of damages or destruction of the U-Boat appeared. On 6 Nov 1939 Blyskawica came under torpedo attack east of Lowestoft by two He-115 hydroplanes of the 3./Coastal Sqn. 906 but remained undamaged.

In April and May 1940 the destroyer took part in Allied operations off Narvik and in the Vestfjord, attempting to repulse the German assault. During the fight of 2 May Blyskawica was hit 5 times by a German mountain battery in the Rombakken fjord, losing 3 men dead, and on 5 May she was hit even 11 times by an 8.8-cm gun, but sustained only minor damage. On 6 and 10 May 6th she downed two bombers after being attacked continuously for 12 hours. In the end of May 1940 Blyskawica took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk, saving the completely overloaded and badly damaged destroyer HMS GREYHOUND (with 1000 soldiers aboard), by towing him to Dover on 29 May. On 30 May she rescued 15 survivors of the French destroyer SIROCCO, torpedoed and sunk by the German E-boats S-23 and S-26 in position 51.19N 02.14E. On 12 Aug 1940, whilst at Portsmouth, the destroyer downed a He-111 bomber.

During the remainder of the war, Blyskawica took part in convoy and patrol duties, engaging both U-boats and the Luftwaffe in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. The ship was also given escort duties to troop transports, notably RMS QUEEN MARY, Blyskawica being one of the few ships that could keep up with the liner. On 26 Oct 1940 the destroyer was damaged in a collision with the steamer KYLERHEA (323 GRT / 1921) and required repairs, that lasted until begin of December 1940. During 1941 and early 1942 Blyskawica continued escorting convoys in the Atlantic and severely times sustained weather damages by violent waves and gales. On 28 April 1942 she was attacked by 6 Me-109 fighters in the English Channel, sustaining only limited damage. On the night of 4/5 May 1942, Blyskawica took the bulk in defending the Isle of Wight town of Cowes from a potentially devastating air raid by 160 German bombers. She fired at the aircraft from outside the harbour, her guns becoming so hot they had to be doused with water and extra ammunition had to be ferried over from Portsmouth. Although a lot of damage was done to the town and the shipyard, it is generally thought that without this defensive action, it would have been far worse.

In November 1942 the destroyer took part in Operation Torch, the landing in North Africa, and operated in the Mediterranean throughout 1943. On 6 June 1944 she participated in Operation Overlord and on 9 June, Blyskawica and 7 other British and Canadian destroyers engaged German destroyers and torpedo boats off Ushant. The German lost destroyer ZH-1 sunk and Z-32 grounded, while on the Allied side only HMS TARTAR was severely damaged. For the remainder of the war Blyskawica continued in escorting convoys. During the war, she logged 146,000 nautical miles and escorted 83 convoys.

In late 1945/early 1946, the Blyskawica took part in Operation Deadlight, the scuttling of over 100 German U-Boats. On 28 May 1946 she was taken over by the Royal Navy and was kept in reserve at Harwich but already in 1947 returned to the Polish Navy, arriving at Gdynia on 4 July. Modernized 1949-1950, Blyskawica was fitted with Soviet armament and operated with the Polish Navy until 1967. On 9 July 1967 a main steam-pipe on the aged vessel bursted, killing 7 crew members. It was considered, that repairs were unworthy and Blyskawica was towed to Swinoujscie on 13 Aug 1969, becoming a non-propelled AA-battery. In 1975 struck from the Naval Register she replaced ORP Burza as a museums ship in Gdynia since 1 May 1976.

Until today ORP Blyskawica can be visited at her usual mooring site at Gdynia as the oldest preserved destroyer in the world.

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ex RN & RFA. Also Ocean Liner enthusiast.
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Most interesting, thank you. I think I heard about the defence of Cowes IoW by this vessel before.

Alan G.
 

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Same here Sebastian, great angle for a photograph, now that's what I call a Bow which puts the modern X Bow profile in the shade.
 

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Fantastic story! Many thanks. Was she a British or Polish design?
 

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Hello RHP, according to Polish sources the Polish Navy advertised a competition in July 1934 within British shipyards, finally defining two designs: first by John Thornycroft & Co., Southampton, second by J. Samuel White & Co., Cowes. As the preferred design by Thornycroft proved to be overpriced, as for the Polish budget, the Cowes shipyard was awarded the contract; a good decision after all.
Sebastian
 

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Great image of a real fighting ship. Brings back memories of my late Father, who was at Harwich on the trots following the ceasing of hostilities. He was leading hand with a maintenance crew looking after the likes of HMS Orwell, Musketeer, Milne etc all of similar design. He also told me stories of how the ships were 'dead' with no power, and how he eventually fell foul of an open hatch on a Polish Destroyer and fell two decks. He spent several weeks in HMS Ganges sick bay!
 

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The tall ship astern of her is the preserved training ship 'Dar Pormoza'.
 

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