Polish Ship Says Farewell to Coalition Partners After a Year in the Gulf
Navy Newsstand
Story Number: NNS030812-02
Release Date: 8/12/2003 9:44:00 AM
By Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Veronica Birmingham, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/ Commander, 5th Fleet Public Affairs
MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- After a year of operating under Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet, the Polish naval ship ORP Kontradmiral X. Czernicki (OWL-511) headed home from the Arabian Gulf to friends and family August 2.
In July 2002, President Aleksander Kwasniewski, National Command Authority of Poland, sent Czernicki from the 2nd Transport and Mine Laying Ships Squadron based in Swinoujscie, Poland, to the Gulf in support of the coalition of nations' global war on terrorism.
During its tour in the region, the logistics ship spent more than 14 months at sea and completed 24 interceptions of suspect vessels. Czernicki's original mission was to provide logistics support for Commander, Task Force (CTF) 53 for only six months. That short mission became a long-term commitment, when the coalition's focus turned from Operation Enduring Freedom to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"Originally, the plan was to stay here only a half-year," said Czernicki's commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Jacek Rogalski.
When its original tour ended, Polish Navy Headquarters initiated a crew-swap due to a maximum six-month deployment requirement. Czernicki swapped 36 of her 50 crewmembers in January before accepting a new set of orders from Commander, Task Force 55.
"The new crew was airlifted into Bahrain and a 10-day training evolution began," said Lt. Cmdr. Robert Wereszko, Polish navy liaison officer to CTF 55. Since Czernicki was commissioned only two years ago, it only had one crew trained to operate the ship.
"Swapping crews was a real challenge," said Wereszko. "There is not another single ship in the Polish navy of this type. It is a brand new ship, and there were no other Sailors trained to deal with this equipment, or who knew this type of ship." He added that a point was made to send only senior Sailors who would be capable of manning and operating the new ship in a short time.
Under new command and crew, the ship began taking on more challenging responsibilities. Their mission changed from mostly patrolling and logistics, to escort duties and providing berthing for special forces who were boarding suspect vessels in the Northern Arabian Gulf.
"The crew was seeking different opportunities," Wereszko said.
Rogalski added, "We were very happy to give our support and join together with the destroyers, cruisers and frigates."
"I had never conducted boardings in the Gulf, which was new for me. The Americans helped us understand the procedures," said Lt. Bogdan Tomaszycki, Czernicki's operations officer. "It was a very good experience working with American boarding teams," he said. "We had the opportunity to use our English, and learn new procedures. I'm sure this experience will help us train our boarding teams when we return to Poland."
During its tour with the coalition, Czernicki became a popular sight in the Gulf and at the pier. She was affectionately nicknamed Princessa by coalition forces due to her small size. The Polish Sailors' reply - their princess, bristling with missiles, guns and experienced Sailors packs a real punch, and has proven itself time and time again to be a valuable part of the coalition effort.
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