Sir Winston Churchill once made the caustic comment that the pre-World War II German Navy was a "luxury fleet," merely a prestige symbol with no real role in the defense of the nation. If this was true about the Imperial German Navy, it was doubly true of the Polish fleet.

Poland's Navy was not big by world standards. However, given the length of Poland's coastline-90 miles-it was huge. Its four destroyers, one minelayer, three torpedoboats, five submarines, six minesweepers, and about 15 other vessels, along with the facilities required to service them, represented a sizable investment.

Poland's naval base on the Hel peninsula was indefensible for any long period, virtually surrounded by German territory, and therefore useless to the Polish Navy in case of war. One is forced to conclude that this money would have been much better spent in some other way-say, on aircraft or tanks.

The Polish Navy had a ground component and was responsible for the defense of the fortified area surrounding its base on the Hel peninsula. There were two naval infantry regiments (each with two battalions), two naval artillery battalions, and a number of anti-aircraft and coast artillery batteries. Upon mobilization, four more battalions of infantry were formed from reservists and unemployed ship crews. The Navy also operated three squadrons of aircraft.

A much more practical weapon for Poland was her large river flotilla. The Navy had around 34 warships on inland waters; six of these were formidable river monitors. Unfortunately for Poland, most of these craft were in the eastern part of the country and were simply captured when the Russians crossed the frontier because the ground troops they were to cooperate with had been withdrawn.

Poland 1939

Introduction
Infantry
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Artillery
Armor
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Navy
Campaign Overview