Allied Warships

ORP Sep

Submarine of the Orzel class

NavyThe Polish Navy
TypeSubmarine
ClassOrzel 
Pennant 
Built byRotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij, (Rotterdam, Holland) 
Ordered29 Jan 1936 
Laid downNov 1936 
Launched17 Oct 1938 
Commissioned16 Apr 1939 
End service15 Sep 1969 
History

Sep means vulture in English.

Due to the treat of war with Germany the Polish were nervous that the Germans might pressure the Dutch into not handing over the submarine to the Polish on its completion.

The Polish therefore decided on a rather unusual method of securing the boat, namely "kidnapping" it from the yard before its completion (but during its trials). This worked nicely but the Dutch were rather annoyed but things were settled and everything was paid in full and the 2 Dutch specialists on the boat at the time were duly returned.

She arrived in Poland on 18 April, 1939, just in time for the war.

Interned in Sweden after patrolling the Baltic on 16 September 1939. Decommissioned on 15 September 1969. Scrapped in 1971 / 1972.

 

Commands listed for ORP Sep

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Kmdr ppor. Wladyslaw Salamon, ORP17 Oct 193817 Sep 1939

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Notable events involving Sep include:


2 Sep 1939
At 08.21am Sep (Cdr. Salamon) spotted a German destroyer. Taking good firing position took lots of time because enemy ship was changing her course very often. At 12.28hours the submarine closed to 4000 meters and fired one torpedo. The destroyers lookouts managed to spot the torpedo and a counterattack followed which lasted for hours. 35 depth charges caused lots of damage. At 22.00hours the Germans aborted the attack and leaved the area. (1)

Sources

  1. Personal communication

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