The victors of World War I not only promised Poland its independence, they also guaranteed it access to the sea. First, the Poles needed access to Danzig, the major port controlling the mouth of the Vistula. Danzig, however, had a vast Germanmajority population, which made the Allies reluctant to allow Poland to annex the city. Instead, Danzig was made a "free city," removed from German jurisdiction and placed under League of Nations administration.

Second, Poland gained direct access to the sea when the Polish Corridor was transferred from Germany to Poland. The corridor was sparsely inhabited, with a mixed population of Poles and Germans. It did not have an important port, but Poland soon remedied this. The Poles selected Gdynia, a tiny fishing village on the Baltic coast in the corridor, to become a major Polish seaport, the home base of Poland's navy, and the center for Polish shipbuilding. In the years between the wars, the Polish government heavily invested in Gdynia, building both the port and direct rail access to the port from the interior.

Ironically, Poland had to bring in many German technicians and skilled workers to help build the port, as Poland lacked sufficient people with the necessary skills to do the job on its own. At the outbreak of the war, therefore, Gdynia had a sizeable German minority living in the city.

The Polish Navy came into existence when the Allies transferred various small warships from the Imperial German Navy to Poland. In the 1920s and 1930s, Poland augmented its navy with ships and submarines purchased from France, Britain, and the Netherlands. By 1938-39, Poland's shipbuilding industry was sufficiently experienced to be able to build destroyers and submarines itself. Although no Polish-built warship was launched before the German invasion, Poland was building or planning to build two destroyers and two submarines.

The Polish Navy had no illusions to its capabilities. The German Navy, although small in comparison to French or British naval forces, was overwhelmingly stronger than Poland's, and would dominate the Baltic, in the event of war between Germany and Poland. The Polish Navy's response to this situation was "Operation Pekin", in which Poland's destroyer flotilla would sail for Britain when war seemed imminent. War seemed imminent on 30th August 1939, and three of Poland's four destroyers set out for Britain, arriving there a few days later. One destroyer, the Wicher, had engine trouble and remained in Polish waters, where the Germans destroyed it in the opening days of the campaign.

The rest of the Poland's salt-water fleet stayed in Poland. The surface ships provided what coast defense services they could, but German forces, especially the Luftwaffe, rapidly put them out of action. Polish submarines put to sea in the Baltic, where they were to harass German shipping and then seek safety in neutral ports.

Two submarines ended up interned in neutral ports while the other two broke out of the Baltic and made their ways to Britain, joining the Polish destroyers there. These three destroyers and two submarines formed the initial forces of the Polish exile navy, which would fight alongside the Royal Navy against the Axis.

Poland's fresh water navy consisted of river flotillas with a total of 34 river craft of varying tonnage. Total armament was:

8x 100mm howitzers
16x 75mm guns
1x 40mm gun
24x 37mm guns
6x 13.2mm MGs
57x light MGs

The river flotillas operated on the Vistula and Pripet river systems. (The Poles could transfer ships between the two river systems via the Krolewski Canal.) As Poland was defeated, the Poles scuttled their river craft to prevent their capture. The Soviets later raised many of the ships of the Pinsk flotilla, which then formed the Soviet's Pinsk flotilla.

Polish Ships and Submarines

Wicher-class Destroyers
Displacement. 1540 tons.
Speed. 33 knots.
Armament. 4x 130mm, 2x 40mm, 4x MG, 6x torpedo tubes,60 mines.
Notes: The Wicher class were built in France and had numerous problems. Poland planned to upgun and modernize the ships in the early 1940s.

DD Wicher
7.28 Launched.
8.39 Engine trouble, remained in Polish waters while other destroyers went to Britain.
9.39 Sunk by the Luftwaffe.

DD Burza
4.29 Launched.
8.39 To Britain.
x.42 Modernized.
x.44 Transferred to training and depot duties.

Grom-class Destroyers
Displacement. 2011 tons.
Speed. 39 knots.
Armament., 7x 120mm, 4x 40mm, 8x MG, 6x torpedo tubes, 44 mines.
Notes: The two Grom-class destroyers were built in Britain and were excellent warships.
Ships:

DD Grom
7.36 Launched.
8.39 To Britain.
4.40 Sunk by the Luftwaffe off Narvik.

DD Blyskawica
10.36 Launched.
8.39 To Britain

DD Huragan
5.39 Ordered, to be built in Poland.
9.39 Not yet laid down; never built.
x.42 Planned delivery.

DD Orkan
5.39 Ordered, to be built in Poland.
9.39 Not yet laid down; never built.
x.42 Planned delivery.

Gryf
Displacement., 2250 tons.
Speed. 20 knots.
Armament: 6x 120mm, 4x 40mm, 4x MG, 60 mines.
Notes: The Gryf ostensibly was a mine layer, a type of ship not directly represented in Europa. The Polish Navy, however, had the French build the Gryf for multiple purposes, resulting in a ship with the armament of a destroyer.
Ship:

DE Gryf
11.36 Launched.
9.39 Destroyed by the Luftwaffe.

Podhalanin-class Torpedo Boats
Displacement. 381 tons
Notes: These three torpedo boats were all that were left of the ships Poland received from the Imperial German Navy following World War I: "A" class torpedo boats, launched in 1917-18 and quite obsolete by 1939. (Poland also had one ex-German V105-class torpedo boat remaining, but this had be rebuilt as a training vessel and was no longer an operational warship. The vessel, the Mazur, has the distinction of being the first ship to be sunk in World War II, by Luftwaffe bombs on 1 September 1939.)
Ships:

TB Podhalanin 9.39
TB Kujawiak 9.39
TB Slazek 9.39

All three of the above ships were captured by Germans and presumably scrapped by them.

Wilk-class Submarines
Displacement. 980 tons (1250 tons submerged).
Speed. 14 knots (9 knots submerged).
Armament: 6x torpedo tubes, 1x 100mm, 1x 40mm, 40 mines
Notes: All three Rys-class subs were built in France. As with French-built destroyers, of mediocre capability.
Ships:

SS Rys
4.29 Launched.
9.39 In Baltic, escaped to Sweden, interned there.

SS Wilk
4.29 Launched.
9.39 In Baltic, escaped to Britain.
9.40 Assigned to training duties.
4.42 Decommissioned.

SS Zbik
6.31 Launched.
9.39 In Baltic, escaped to Sweden, interned there.

Orzel-class Submarines
Displacement- 1100 tons (1472 tons submerged).
Speed. 20 knots (9 knots submerged).
Armament. 1x 105mm, 2x 40mm, 2x MG,12x torpedo tubes
Notes: The original two Orzel-class subs were built in the Netherlands. Poland planned to build two more subs in this class, in Polish shipyards.
Ships:

SS Orzel
1.38 Launched
9.39 In Baltic, escaped to Estonia. Estonians tried to seize it, but escaped back to sea.
10.39 Arrived in Britain.
6.40 Lost at sea (mined?).

SS Sep
10.38 Launched.
9.39 In Baltic, escaped to Sweden, interned there.

"I"and "II" (unnamed)
x.38 Ordered.
4.39 Work suspended.
9.39 Germans destroyed hull at shipyard.
41/42 Planned delivery.

Inside Europa First to Fight Designer's Notes Part III: Poland [Europa 25]

Introduction and Strategic Situation
Defense in Depth Plan vs. Actual Polish Plan
Orders of Battle: Army
Orders of Battle: Air Force
Orders of Battle: Navy
Table 1: 1939 Polish Tanks and Armored Cars
Table 2: Polish Aircraft

Inside Europa First to Fight Designer's Notes Part II, Section B Germany [Europa 24]

German Army Divisions and Panzer Troops
Mountain Troops and Infantry
Cavalry, Artillery, and Engineer/Construction Troops
Security Troops
The Replacement Army
Luftwaffe
Kriegsmarine
Brandenburgers
SS and SA
Table 1: 1939 German Tanks
Table 2: 1939 German Divisions: Authorized Organizations
Table 3: German Divisions: Authorized Strengths
Table 4: German Aircraft

Inside Europa First to Fight Designer's Notes Part II, Section A Germany [Europa 23]

Introduction
Army Re-armament and Manpower
Strategic Situation
Germany-Allies Strength Comparison
German High Command and the Government
Volksdeutsch Resettlement 1939-1942
The Wehrkreis System
Frontier Defenses and Border Regt Commands