Military


Polish Navy

The Polish Navy Command & Staff have their seat in the Headquarter building situated in Gdynia. Maritime Operations Centre assures commanding of the Naval Forces. It is responsible for coordination of all missions conducting at sea, in air and on land. The Staff is composed of a number of Departments subordinated either directly to the Commander-in-Chief the Polish Navy or indirectly via his two Deputies. The Polish Navy Staff is the main planning & co-ordinating establishment, which supports the Command. The Staff personnel are responsible for routine daily activities of the Navy. The Training Department is responsible for all aspects of military & naval training of all personnel & units in the Navy including exercises at sea.

The forces are structured into three tactical major components, directly subordinated to the Commander-in-Chief, Polish Navy:

  • 3rd Ships Flotilla (Gdynia-Oksywie naval base);
  • 8th Coast Defence Flotilla (Swinoujscie naval bases);
  • Naval Aviation Brigade (Gdynia).

The 3rd Flotilla groups the striking component of the forces, i.e. missile ships & submarines and also various specialised units like salvage ships, hydrographic vessels and auxiliaries. The 8th Flotilla have mainly Mine Countermeasures (MCM) & Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) ships in their composition. The Naval Aviation Brigade is the air arm of the Polish Navy. The inventory includes fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. The main base of the Brigade is situated in Gdynia-Babie Doly. Shore-based units and naval establishments (Naval Academy, training centres, workshops, depots, etc), are subordinated to respective Departments of the Polish Navy Staff and Polish Navy Logistics.

During both the communist and postcommunist eras, the Polish navy received less emphasis and funding than other combat branches. Because the Polish navy had usually purchased the simplest and cheapest equipment offered by the Soviet Union, all other navies on the Baltic Sea were considered superior to Poland's. The assigned role of the Polish navy in the Warsaw Pact was to provide amphibious landing and mine warfare capability in the Baltic Sea; postcommunist restructuring deemphasized amphibious operations in favor of the navy's fast attack and patrol craft components. In 1992 the only short-term change envisioned for the navy, however, was retirement of antiquated equipment, much of which would not be replaced. To enhance coastal security, in 1989 military planners proposed Polish participation in a regional Baltic defense fleet.

Naval personnel in 1992 totaled 19,300 (including naval aviation forces), of which 10,600 were conscripts. Total naval personnel had dropped from 22,000 since 1981. Another 1,800 individuals served in the coast guard, which operated forty small coastal craft; in wartime that component would be integrated into naval operations. Naval bases were located at Gdynia, Hel (just west of Gdynia), and winouj cie, with a coast guard and border station at Kolobrzeg.

The origin and sophistication of Polish naval craft varies widely. Of the three Polish submarines existing in the late 1980, all built in the Soviet Union, the one Orzel (corresponding to the Soviet Kilo model) vessel is the most advanced; two Wilkclass (Soviet Foxtrot) submarines are older and noisier. All three vessels feature 533mm torpedo tubes. Because they were designed for ocean combat, the three submarines maneuver clumsily in the Baltic Sea in comparison with the smaller submarines of the other Baltic nations. One Polish submarine was retired between 1989 and 1992.

In 1992 Poland had two principal surface combatants. The destroyer Warszawa, in the Soviet Kotlin class, was designed in the 1950s and transferred to Poland from the Soviet navy in 1970. The Warszawa displaces 2,850 tons (3,600 with a full load), is 127.5 meters long, has a top speed of thirty-six knots, and carries the following armaments: two twin SA-N-1 Goa surface-to-air missile launchers with twenty missiles each; four SS-N-2C Styx surface-to-surface missile launchers; two antisubmarine rocket launchers; five 533mm torpedo tubes, twin 130mm guns; four 45mm guns; and eight 30mm guns. The frigate Kaszub features two antisubmarine rocket launchers, four 533mm torpedo tubes, and a 76mm gun. The Kaszub, manufactured in cooperation with East Germany, was completed by the Poles after being left incomplete when German reunification occurred.

The twenty patrol and coastal combatants active in 1992 included missile corvettes, missile craft, and patrol boats. Four Górnik-type (Soviet Tarantul I) corvettes feature two twin SS-N- 2C Styx surface-to-surface missile launchers. Designed in the Soviet Union in the late 1970s, the corvettes are among the most modern elements of the Polish navy. Displacement is 580 tons with a full load; length is fifty-six meters, maximum speed thirty-six knots. Eight Soviet Osa-1 fast patrol craft have four SS-N-2A surface-to-surface missile launchers. Full-load displacement is 210 tons; length is thirty-nine meters, maximum speed thirty-five knots. The Osa class, developed by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, was considered outmoded by 1990. Poland's eight Obluze large inshore patrol craft were built domestically at the Oksywie Shipyard in Gdynia using a German design of the early 1960s.

The Polish navy had no specifically designed minelaying ships in 1992, but its Lublin-type landing ships, its submarines, and its Krogulec-type minesweepers can perform this function. Minesweeping ships total twenty-four, in three classes. The eight Krogulec coastal minesweepers were built in the 1960s at the Gdynia Shipyard; some vessels in this class had already been taken out of service by 1991. Notec inshore minesweepers, a newer design featuring fiberglass hulls, were still being built in Poland in 1992; fourteen were operational that year. Two Leniwka inshore minesweepers complete Poland's mine countermeasure capability.

Six amphibious landing craft were in service in 1992. All had been built in Poland; the Pólnocny was a Soviet design. Five Lublin-type craft have a capacity of 130 troops and eight tanks, and the single Pólnocny craft could transport 180 troops and six tanks. The Lublins, introduced in 1989, were the last major upgrade of the Polish amphibious capability under the Warsaw Pact. The Pólnocny was used as a command ship in 1992. Three Deba-type utility landing craft are used, but not for amphibious operations. Ten craft serve in support of naval operations. These include two intelligence collection vessels, four support tankers, two survey ships, and two training ships.

The one naval aviation division received special attention because its role in coastal reconnaissance, patrol, and search-and-rescue was considered an important element of the new national defense doctrine. In 1992 this division included 2,300 personnel, thirty-eight MiG-21 fighters, and four armed helicopters. Although the MiG-21 was considered inappropriate for action over the sea, in 1992 experts had little hope for modernization of the naval air fighter capability. The division's one search-and-rescue liaison squadron has three W-3 Sokol, three Mi-8, and nine Mi-2 helicopters, two AN-2 single-engine and two AN-28 two-engine transport planes, and four TS-11 jet trainers. In 1991 Poland ordered three W-3RM Anakonda helicopters, improved versions of the Soviet Sokol; one was delivered in 1992. All Poland's MiG-15 reconnaissance aircraft were withdrawn as obsolete in 1992; no replacement aircraft were available at that time. In 1992 the special naval air regiment included twelve Polish-built TS-11s and ten AN-2s; several of the former were revised TS-11Rs with upgraded radar and navigation systems. Another naval air regiment, designated for antisubmarine warfare and search-and-rescue, had eight Mi-2, one Mi-8, and fifteen Mi14 helicopters. The coastal defense forces included 4,200 personnel manning six artillery batteries with M-1937 guns (152mm) and three surface-to-surface missile batteries with SS-C- 2B launchers.

The small guided-missile ship HUTNIK was commissioned in March 1984. A sister ship of the same type bears the name GORNIK (in service since 28 December 1983). The main armament of the HUTNIK consists of two twin-rail launchers for surface target missiles installed on eachside. Artillery weapons include a fully automatic 76mm universal gun on the bow and two 6-barreled 30mm guns on the aft superstructures. Of the crew, seven teams have already been awarded the title "socialist service collective" on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the People's Republicof Poland. The mine countermeasures vessel GOPLO is a product of the defense industry of Poland, in which the latest findings for assuring a reliable defense against mines have been considered. The training ship GRYF, a sister ship of the training ship WILHELM PIECK of the People's Navy, was built in 1976 by the Polish North Shipyard inGdansk. This ship type has a displacement of 1,750 tons and a length/width/draft of 72/12/4 m. These ships are armed with 2 X 30mm double mounts. The name GRYF preserves the memory of the brave crew of the formerPolish minelayer of the same name which was sunk by fascist dive bombersin the harbor of Hel on 3 September 1939, at the beginning of the attack by Hitler Germany on Poland. The training ship GRYF visited Rostock in1979 already, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the GDR's existence. Since then, training cruises brought the ship and her crew to the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, with port calls at Murmansk, Sevastopol, 'Split, Tripoli, and Benghazi. The Oliver Hazard Perry Class Guided Missile Frigates is a multi-purpose platform primarily used by the United States Navy for anti-submarine warfare operations and protection of the carrier battle group. It also has the capability to hold 2 SH-60 helicopters, enabling search and rescue operations and passenger transport. In June 2000, the United States delivered one of two surplus Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigates to the Polish navy; the frigate is the first navy vessel to be fully compatible with NATO. The United States granted the Poles the ships according to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Lastly, the Polish navy has been searching for a couple of secondhand submarines to replace its obsolete Foxtrot class subs. France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden were potential sources for the submarines. To enhance their seagoing capability of the Polish Navy, the Government of Poland requested a second frigate. The U.S. Navy identified a vessel that will be available as early as October 2002. During his visit to Poland in 2001, President Bush announced his support for the transfer of a second Perry-class frigate to the Government of Poland. He worked with Congress to secure legislation authorizing the transfer, which will further enhance the interoperable capabilities of the Polish Navy. The announcement underscored the commitment of the United States to work together with the government of Poland to reform and modernize Poland's armed forces. The second frigate would complement the ORP Pulaski, the former USS Clark, which was commissioned into the Polish Navy in June 2000. The Arms Export and Control Act authorizes the President to sell defense articles under the Foreign Military Sales program if the articles are declared to be in excess of requirements. This program is known as the Excess Defense Articles program, or EDA. Additionally the Foreign Assistance Act authorizes the President to transfer EDA on a grant basis to eligible countries for which receipt of such articles is justified in the annual Congressional Presentation for Foreign Operations.

Marynarka Wojenna RP

  1. Stanowisko Dowodzenia Marynarki Wojennej - Gdynia
  2. 3 Flotylla Okretów - Gdynia
  3. 1 Dywizjon Okretów Rakietowych - Gdynia
  4. 2 Dywizjon Okretów Rakietowych - Gdynia
  5. 11 Dywizjon Scigaczy - Hel
  6. 12 Dywizjon Tralowców - Swinoujscie
  7. 13 Dywizjon Tralowców - Hel
  8. 2 Dywizjon Okretów Transportowo-Minowych - Swinoujscie
  9. Dywizjon Okretów Podwodnych - Gdynia
  10. 42 Dywizjon Pomocniczych Jednostek Plywajacych - Swinoujscie
  11. 45 Dywizjon Pomocniczych Jednostek Plywajacych - Gdynia
  12. 16 Dywizjon Kutrów Zwalczania Okretów Podwodnych - Gdynia
  13. Dywizjon Zabezpieczenia Hydrograficznego - Gdynia
  14. 8 Dywizjon Artylerii Przeciwlotniczej - Miedzyzdroje
  15. 21 Pucki Dywizjon Przeciwlotniczy
  16. Okrety Badawcze - Gdynia
  17. Grupa Okretów Rozpoznawczych - Gdynia
  1. ORP "Blyskawica" (niszczyciel - muzeum)
  2. ORP "Warszawa" (niszczyciel)
  3. ORP "Grunwald" (okret dowodzenia)
  4. ORP "Kaszub" (fregata)
  5. ORP "Kraków" (okret transportowo-minowy)
  6. ORP "Dzik" (okret podwodny)
  7. ORP "Orzel" (okret podwodny)
  8. ORP "Wilk" (okret podwodny)
  9. ORP "Lech" (okret ratowniczy)
  10. ORP "Piast" (okret ratowniczy)
  11. ORP "Arctowski" (okret hydrograficzny)
  12. ORP "Heweliusz" (okret hydrograficzny)
  13. ORP "Hydrograf (okret hydrograficzny)
  14. ORP "Kopernik" (okret hydrograficzny)
  15. ORP "Nawigator" (okret hydrograficzny)
  16. ORP "Gryf (okret szkolny)
  17. ORP "Iskra" (okret szkolny)
  18. ORP "Wodnik" (okret szkolny)
  19. ORP "Gen. Pulaski"
  1. Gdynska Brygada Lotnictwa MW - Gdynia
  2. 34 Pulk Lotnictwa Mysliwskiego MW - Gdynia
  3. 7 Pulk Lotnictwa Specjalnego MW - Siemirowice
  4. 2 Eskadra 7 PLS MW
  5. Pucki Dywizjon Lotniczy MW - Babie Doly
  6. 42 Dywizjon Techniczny - Babie Doly
  7. 3 Batalion Zabezpieczenia MW - Babie Doly
  8. 2 Dywizjon Lotniczy - Darlowo
  9. 3 Kaszubski Dywizjon Lotniczy MW - Siemirowice
  10. 5 Batalion Zabezpieczenia - Siemirowice
  11. 18 Eskadra Lotnicza Smiglowców Lacznikowo-Ratowniczych - Babie Doly
  12. Komenda Portu Wojennego - Gdynia
  13. Komenda Portu Wojennego - Swinoujscie
  14. Zespól Informatyki MW - Gdynia
  15. l Morski Pulk Strzelców - Gdynia
  16. 11 Pulk Lacznosci - Wejherowo
  17. Wezel Lacznosci Dowództwa MW
  18. Centralna Skladnica Marynarki Wojennej - Gdynia
  19. 8 Kolobrzeski Batalion Saperów Morskich - Dziwnów
  20. 4 Batalion Minowania Marynarki Wojennej - Dziwnów
  21. Grupa Specjalna Pletwonurków
ORP is the acronym for Okret Rzeczypospolite Polskiej - ship of the Polish Republic. Denmark is the most ancient maritime power in the Baltic. Sweden first took rank as a maritime nation, under the Vasa dynasty, and Russia became a naval power only after the conquest of Ingermania, Livonia, and Esthonia, from Sweden, in the last century. Although there are several states on the Baltic, which drive a considerable trade by sea, the three before-mentioned powers have exclusive admiralty jurisdiction in these waters. The Danish kings, in particular, jealously guarded against the assumption of the right of maintaining an armed naval force in this sea. When the Emperor Frederick II. conceived the plan of organizing a navy, by the occupation of Mecklenburg and the aid of the Hanse Towns, he met the most determined resistance from Christian IV. And as King Frederick II., of Denmark, had seized and carried into Copenhagen, in the year 1570, four Dantzic men of war, fitted out by order of Sigismund Augustus, king of Poland, because he would not suffer the erection of an admiralty jurisdiction in the Baltic, by any other power. A chronic state of hostility existed between Sweden and Poland, whose king, Sigismund, a cousin of Gustaf Adolf, laid claim to the Swedish crown. This war, interrupted by long truces, broke out afresh in 1621. This was Gustaf Adolphus' first oversea expedition on a large scale. He sailed from Sweden on August 3rd, 1621 with a force of 9 regiments of foot and 10 companies of horse, amounting to 20,000. The fleet consisted of 30 men of war, 9 frigates, and 109 transports. It seems, therefore, that each transport carried about a company of horse, or 200 foot. There was no Polish fleet to bar the way, so the whole armada could safely go to sea together. Early in the spring of 1628, Gustavus embarked from Stockholm, with the reinforcements for his army, and a naval force of thirty-three vessels. After some inconsiderable skirmishes with ships from Dantzic, and also with a part of the Polish navy, whom he. met by the way, Gustavus landed his troops, and took possession of an island in the river near Dantzic, which enabled him the more completely to blockade the town. His fleet at the same time blockaded the mouth of the harbor. They were, however, soon driven from this post with loss by the Dantzic vessels, and were obliged to take refuge in the port of Pillau. Gustavus, meanwhile, had by land obtained a considerable advantage over the Polish general Conospoliski, who lost in the engagement three thousand men, some guns and colours, and was himself severely wounded. The Swedish fleet also did not continue long in inactivity, but, having received reinforcements, put to sea again, and having completely defeated the combined armaments of Dantzic and Poland, resumed its former station at the mouth of the harbor. The Moscovite and Turkish Wars were no sooner over than events occurred which threatened to draw Poland into the Thirty Years' War. The death of Gustavus Adolphus (1632), and the subsequent rout of the Protestants at Nordlingen (1634), had brought Sweden and France still more closely together and consequently induced the Imperialists to look abroad for fresh allies. The martial King of Poland seemed to Richelieu to be just the man to make a powerful diversion from the east; and the cardinal offered Silesia and the hand of Maria Ludovika Gonzaga, daughter of the Duke of Nevers, one of the greatest of the great dames of France, to Wladislaus IV, if he would accede to the Franco-Swedish alliance and put 10,000 men in the field. Simultaneously, the Maritime Powers tempted Wladislaus with the hand of the ex-Queen of Bohemia. But Poland was desirous of peace, and the Sejm rejected both propositions. The Sejm had acted prudently in restraining the impetuous King from plunging into a war which would have brought small advantage to the Republic. But even this solitary act of prudence was entirely dictated by the selfish fear lest Wladislaus's victories might increase the royal power. For precisely the same reason they next opposed his statesmanlike endeavor to provide Poland with a navy. One among the many things every Polish king was made to promise on coronation under the Pacta Conventa was to maintain at his own expense a fleet in the Baltic. Wladislaw attempted to carry out his promise, and applied all his energy to the provision of this longfelt necessity. Two new naval base fortresses, Wladyslawow and Kazimierzow, were speedily constructed on the north-west of the Gulf of Dantzic near Dantzig; and one large and twelve small vessels were purchased at a cost of 381,000 gulden. For the first time in Polish history, a Polish fleet appeared in the Baltic. This was a good beginning, but it was only a beginning. The construction and maintenance of an adequate navy were impossible without far more money than the short-sighted Sejm was willing to bestow. When the Swedes owned the Baltic provinces, they drew a large revenue from port tolls at Pillau, and other places. Wladislaw now proposed tomaintain his fleet with money obtained in the same way. Wladislaus therefore proposed to re-levy, for the benefit of the Republic, the lucrative tolls which the Swedes had levied during their occupation of Prussia and which had brought them in 3,600,000 Polish gulden per annum, Pillau alone yielding 1,500,000. To this obviously advantageous proposal, which, besides, cost them nothing, the Senate at once agreed. When Wladislaus announced his intention of levying the tolls, the people of Dantzic at once protested against it, as a violation of the Truce of Stuhmsdorf. They appealed to the signatories of that treaty for protection; and, when the King summoned the rebellious Dantzickers to appear before him and blockaded their harbour with his little fleet, a Danish admiral, acting in collusion with the city, broke the blockade and destroyed the Polish ships. Nor could Wladislaw induce his legislature even to punish the people of Dantzig for this outrage on the first and only Polish fleet. This was the state of things when the Sejm assembled in 1638, shortly after the King had wedded the Archduchess Cecilia Renata, daughter of the Emperor Ferdinand III. Wladislaus at once appealed to Parliament to punish Dantzic for thus publicly insulting the Crown and materially injuring the Republic. But the Sejm was in a more than ordinarily stupid and suspicious mood. It affected to regard the project of the Baltic tolls as "a Spanish conception." The King, it was said, was acting in the Austrian interest. He meant to suppress Dantzic as a first step towards subduing Scandinavia. A strong fleet would too greatly increase the royal power. The idea of it had been devised by the Chancellor Ossolinski, during his recent secret interview with the Emperor at Ratisbon - and much more to the same effect. Most of the Senators thereupon deserted the King from fear of the Sejm ; the Dantzic affair was referred to a special commission, which quietly shelved it. Christian IV of Denmark would not allow King Uladislaus, in 1638, to, impose new duties at Dantzic or Pillau, and enforce (heir collection by armed ships, and accordingly these ships were taken by Danish men of war, sent out for that purpose, at the close of that year. The ships, indeed, were released at the prayer of Uladislaus, but the duty was discontinued, and the Polish navy disappeared after the exchange of a few diplomatic broadsides upon the sovereignty of the Baltic; and from henceforth nothing more was ever heard of a Polish fleet. The law creating the Polish navy was passed in 1919, and a naval school for officers was soon afterwards established at Thorn. The vessels of the navy were initially only gunboits and mine-sweepers, but 5 ex-German torpedo boats destined to Poland were repaired in England. By September 1919 the organization of a Polish Navy, to become operative with the ratification of the Peace Treaty, was proceeding rapidly. The fleet was to consist, according to plans, of four armored cruisers and 12 large torpedo-boats. It will have a personnel of 3500, including 150 officers, under the command of Admiral Porebski. Some of the references to the transfer of three of the ex-German torpedo boats to Poland were calculated to mislead those who did not follow such matters very closely. In the accounts in several papers of the picturesque and impressive ceremony which took place in Leith Roads, when the Polish flag was solemnly blessed on board, and holy water was sprinkled over the vessels by a Catholic priest, it appeared to be thought by the writers that the vessels were fighting craft, many references being made to Poland as a sea power, and to Poland's embryo navy. Actually the ships were unarmed. The Supreme Council, when allocating the ex-German and ex-Austrian men-of-war to the various Allied and Associated Powers in 1920, decided to entrust all SO of the surrendered German torpedo boats to Great Britain. All but 12 were to be broken up, and of those spared, six were to be selected by Poland and six by Brazil, after being disarmed, to be used for police duties only. At the Supreme Council meeting at which this arrangement was made, the Poles expressed a preference for the style of certain ex-Austrian vessels, and asked whether Austrian destroyers could not be sent to Danzig, but for technical reasons it was decided that it would be impossible to accede to the suggestion.



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