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Polish Navy - History

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.

Seventeen days after Poland had regained its independence Marshal Józef PILSUDSKI, with his decree from the 28th of November 1918, ordered to form the Polish Navy. Thus the creation of the Polish naval forces as an organizational structure began. The main event of this year's Polish Navy anniversary ceremonies was the naming of a new submarine the ORP "KONDOR". On 28 November 1918, in the reborn Poland, the creation of the naval forces began. In the period between the Wars the Polish Navy have created its own organization, built new ships, formed staffs and services, as well as organized it own officers and petty officers corps and training centers.

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.

The development of the fleet was interrupted for a short period of time by the outbreak of the World War II. The Polish ships have participated continuously in the combat operations from the first to the last day of the War and have contributed significantly to the final victory. The ships made for the only independent Polish territory and they allowed for the persistence of Poland and its armed force at sea. During the World War II the Polish ships have sailed total twelve hundred thousands nautical miles, escorted 787 convoys, conducted 1162 patrols and combat operations, destroyed 45 enemy units and 20 aircraft. 450 seamen lost their lives in action. After the War the Polish Navy, although basing to a great degree on equipment and armament Soviet made or received from the allied contingent, developed the fleet using national shipbuilding industry.

After political changes of the turn of the 1980s and of the defense strategy the Polish Navy intensified the cooperation with the allied fleets, mainly under the auspices of the Partnership for Peace program. Two ships in the Desert Storm operation – hospital ship ORP "Wodnik" and rescue ship ORP "Piast" were first units to participate in allied operations after the WWII. Later came US BALTOPS 1993 in the Baltic as an example of our contribution even before the PfP program came really into existence which in fact initiated our armed forces` being a party to a common cause. The exercised conducted later under the PfP auspices were gradually arranged as more and more complex and with greater diversity in episodes or serials. On the first day of the membership the Polish Navy accomplished all requirements imposed by the agreements undersigned by the Polish Government and the Alliance i.e. personnel training and the procedures applied by the NATO forces and preparation of a Polish contingent to operate within the Quick Response Forces. Years of preparations resulted directly after accession in an effective PN participation in German-Polish missile ships exercises carried out in accordance with NATO procedures. And beginning on 12 March 1999 Polish ships and aircraft operated statistically 217 times in various international exercises, in which 47 times during the first year of membership. The Gdynia Naval Base hosted a submarine allied exercise "Cooperative Poseidon" in 1999 and in November the same year the Polish Navy was for the first time the organizer and coordinator of another submarine exercise codename "Baltic Porpoise". The Navy designated over forty ships in the Rapid and Immediate Forces and the Center of Naval Operations to the NATO command structure.

In 2005 the Navy withdrew from service three missile combat ships, two missile sweeping and submarine command assault ship. Units are part of the coast Defence Flotilla 8 and stationed in the ports of Kolobrzeg and Swinoujscie, Poland in the war. Ceremonial lowering the flag was scheduled for 24 and 25 March. The eldest of the withdrawn units is ORP GRUNWALD "(811). Built in The Northern shipyard in Gdansk, serving in the Navy he began in April 1973. During 32 years under the white-red flag the ship saile 70 000 nautical miles, and carried 600 seamen.It was intended as a command. Currently, this type of job perform a multipurpose logistics support ship ORP Kontradmiral Xawery CZERNICKI.

A further two units withdrawn vessels sweeping "Leniwka"numbers burtowych 625 and 626. Built in the shipyards of Ustka on the trawlersfishing. Commissioned in the Navy in 1983, they were intended to sweep mines. They were also used to training of seafarers reserve and group sports. This is the last of this type of unit in the Navy. The task clearing minefields was taken overcompletely by upgraded destroyers and minesweepers.

The Navy also witdhdrew three, over 20-year-old missile combat ships: KZOP-169-173, KZOP and KZOP-175. The eldest of them, KZOP-169, served in the Navy since 1979, the next two from 1982. Includingthese ships sailed more than 80 000 nautical miles. During service in the Nvy their main task was to seek and combat submarines. Currently, the tasks of this type in the Navy is the frigate OliverHazard Perry, on-board SH-2G helicopters. In the future, potential Navy combating submarines will also can multi-task at high speeds the Corvette "Gawron".