ORP "Gen. K. Pulaski" / Oliver Hazard Perry Class

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.

The depreciated Olivier Hazard Perry frigates will be withdrawn from service within a few years. The rocket frigate will gain, among others modern navigation devices, in turn the hydrographic unit will be modernized, among others communication systems. The work will be carried out by PGZ Stocznia Wojenna.

The contract for carrying out the work was signed 24 May 2019 by Sebastian Chwalek, vice-president of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA, Radoslaw Domagalski-Labedzki, member of the PGZ SA board, Konrad Konefal, president of PGZ Stocznia Wojennej sp. Z o. O. And dr Jaroslaw Wypijewski, commander of the Gdynia Harbor. The renovation will Oliver Hazard Perry type rocket frigate, ORP "General Tadeusz Kosciuszko". The Polish army will pay PLN 49 million for ORP "General Tadeusz Kosciuszko" for repairs, renovation, maintenance and modernization.

Within a year "General Tadeusz Kosciuszko" would return to ORP's service . The frigate will undergo maintenance and painting of the superstructure and replacement of fragments of the plating, as well as the maintenance and painting of the hull. The following items will be repaired: underwater weapon system, azimuthal propulsors, ship's silencing system, general and special tanks with fittings and installations, exhaust gas aggregates as well as main and auxiliary mechanisms of the propulsion system. Regarding improvements, the ORP "General Tadeusz Kosciuszko" will be modernized, among others internal communication system, alarm system, access control system and television surveillance system and navigation devices.

Kasimir Pulaski, born in Podolia, Poland about 1748 was active in the Polish independence movement and in 1772 fled to Turkey, thence to Paris and Boston in 1777. Joining the Continental Army, he served at Brandywine and Germantown, then led cavalry units during the winter of 1777–78. Refusing to serve under Gen. Anthony Wayne, he resigned his command in March 1778. Forming an independent cavalry corps he continued to serve the cause of American independence. After service along the Delaware, he was ordered south in February 1779 to block British forces moving up from Savannah. After defeat he joined with Gen. Lincoln and the French fleet to attack Savannah. Mortally wounded during the seige of that city, he died aboard the vessel Wasp.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko (KOS-CHOOS-KO) was born in Poland in 1746 to a family of modest noble origin. As a young man he was educated at the military academy in Warsaw, where he later served as an instructor. From there, he moved to Paris for further studies in mathematics, civil architecture, and military engineering. In 1776 the “tall, regal, spectacularly handsome” young man “hastened to America, to throw himself with abandon into the struggle for independence.” The Continental Army had not yet developed a seasoned officer corps; Kosciuszko and a number of other young European men like him helped to fill that breach.

At Saratoga, Kosciuszko’s skill in military engineering helped deliver the Americans’ first major victory of the Revolution. After that battle, George Washington gave Kosciuszko command of military engineering at the stronghold in West Point. He spent two years fortifying that strategic site on the Hudson River, and he was one of the earliest to call for a national military academy to be built there.

After returning home, he found himself in the fight of his life when Russian troops under Catherine the Great invaded Poland. Kosciuszko, now 46, was pressed into service once again. He valiantly led his countrymen in their own fight for freedom, but the Poles were ultimately defeated by the more powerful Russians. Kosciuszko, however, remained “the hope of freedom-loving Poles and revolutionaries everywhere.” He was eventually captured by the Russians, and at first “displayed like a zoo creature in a cage;” then he was “sent to languish in confinement in the Peter-Paul fortress.” When Catherine died he was given permission to emigrate to America.

Kosciuszko played a role in 1798 in encouraging the French government to mend its diplomatic ties with the United States. Upon his arrival in France, Kosciuszko addressed officers of the Polish Legions employed by the French. “I want to be ever and inseparably with you, I want to join you to serve our common country...Like you I have fought for the country, like you I have suffered, like you I expect to regain it. This hope is the only solace of my life.” Led on by false promises made by the French government, Kosciuszko believed Poland had finally found an ally. Napoleon’s rise to power dashed his hopes of a unified and free Poland.

Although Kosciuszko is not as widely remembered now, in the 1790s in the United States, his was literally a cherished household name. And today in the United States, “traces of him are everywhere – bridges are named for him and so are town squares, his statue rises triumphantly in cities like Washington and Boston. He even has a brand of mustard named after him.

OLIVER HAZARD PERRY class guided missile frigate.
Built in Bath Iron Works Shipyard, USA;.

Dimensions:

• Length: 445 feet (133.5 meters);
• Beam: 45 feet (13.5 meters);
• Draught: 25.75 feet (7,7 meters);

Armament:

• Six Mk-46 torpedoes (from two MK 32 SVTT triple mounts)
• One 76 mm (3-inch) Mk-75 rapid fire gun;
• One Vulcan Phalanx close-in-weapons system;
• One guided missile launching systems with Standard Surface-to-Air Missiles, Harpoon Surface-to-Surface Missiles;

Complement: 176

Displacement: 3650 tons.

Propulsion:

• Two General Electric LM-2500 gas turbines, 40,000 shaft horsepower total,
• one controllable reversible pitch propeller,
• two 350-horsepower auxiliary electric drive propulsion units.

Maximum speed: 29 knots;