Built by: De Schelde, Vlissingen, Netherlands
Design: Nederlandsche Verenigde Bureaux In The Hague with a team of Polish naval experts
Keel laid: 14 August 1936
Launched: 15 January 1938
Commissioned: 2 February 1939
Arrived in Poland: 7 February 1939
Sunk: lost between 23 May-8 June 1940
Sunk by: believed to have struck British mine
Location sunk: North Sea
Position sunk: 57’ 00ºN 03’ x 40º E [all hands lost 64 men, including 3 British seamen]

The first skipper of ORZEL was Komandor Podporucznik [Commander = U.S.N. equivalent] H. Klockowski, its second and last skipper was Kapitan Marynaka [Lieutenant-Commander] Jan Grudzinski, who was the first to be decorated in WWII with the Virtuti Militari, Poland’s highest award for bravery. Also received the British DSO.

Orzel at Gydnia

On September 1, 1939, the ORZEL was ordered to carry out operational plan code-named “WOREK” [sack]. From its base at Hel, ORZEL took a position in Puck Bay, part of the Baltic Sea. ORZEL was to attack the German Battleship SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, which was shelling Westerplatte, as it left the port of Danzig. After waiting in vain for a few days ORZEL was given new orders to leave the shallow bay called the “pond” by Polish submariners and patrol a sector of the Baltic. Orders were also received to observe all International conventions, i.e. no attacks on unarmed merchantmen without warning or ships in neutral waters.

Because the Luftwaffe controlled the air, ORZEL was forced to remain submerged during the day only surfacing at night to recharge batteries. ORZEL also endured depth charge attacks on Sept. 7 and 8, causing minor damage. News about the war on the homefront tested the morale of the crew. On Sept. 9, the CO of ORZEL became ill [typhus?], decided he needed hospitalization at a neutral part, a decision which after the war led to a court-martial and loss of his commission. Instead of sailing to a Finnish or Swedish part which instructed to do so in his discretionary options, he sailed to Tallinn, Estonia, a country sympathetic to Germany! ORZEL arrived at the port of Tallinn on Sept 15 the day after Gydnia, Poland’s only port city, was captured by the Germans.

After the CO was put ashore command was assumed by Kpt. Mar. Jan Grudzinski. Estonian authorities informed the CO that ORZEL had 24 hours to make repairs and take on non-military supplies before departing or face internment according to international law. When ORZEL prepared to depart the next day they were told by Estonian authorities they must wait an additional 24 hours because a German merchant ship was departing. This was a provision of international law written to protect unarmed merchant ships from being followed and attacked when departing a neutral port.

Later in the day, the Estonians informed ORZEL that because they remained in the port longer than the 24 hours allowed that the submarine would be interned!! Despite the protests of the CO, an armed guard was put on board and the disarming of the sub began. The breech locks for the guns were removed along with maps, charts, and small arms. A crane was brought in to begin removing the torpedoes. During the removal of the torpedoes, a member of the crew managed to file through the hoist cable without being seen. The cable broke, leaving five torpedoes to be removed the following day. That night the CO of ORZEL made plans to escape.

At 2 am, the crew sprung into action. The two armed guards were captured, while at the same time electric lines to a searchlight illuminating the ORZEL were cut. The mooring lines were then severed and the sub made for the harbor entrance. Shouts were heard from the Estonian gunboats moored nearby. Searchlights lit up the ORZEL and the sub was fired on by small arms from every direction. Near the harbor entrance the ORZEL grounded on some rocks, forcing the sub to reverse its engines and blow the ballast tanks before sliding off the rocks - the whole time taking small arms fire, damaging the wireless antenna.

Exiting the harbor into the Baltic, the ORZEL now had to pass a series of small, fortified islands. The ORZEL was spotted by a searchlight from one of the islands. Artillery fire began from the islands forcing the ORZEL to dive. They continued submerged, steering blindly since all of the charts and maps were confiscated. At dawn they stopped and settled on the bottom. All day the crew heard the explosions of depth charges, so many they lost count. The engines of the ships hunting them were also heard all day.

Around 9 pm, all became quiet. The ORZEL waited until midnight to rise to periscope depth to observe their surroundings. No ships were seen. It was judged that the sub was at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. The ORZEL made for the Aland Islands near the Gulf of Bothnia for a safe place to charge batteries. Though not discovered by Germans, the ORZEL grounded on rocks a few times, causing damage. The CO decided to cruise the Baltic and attack German or Russian ships as long as his torpedoes lasted. Five torpedoes were the sub’s sole armament! It must be noted that Russia invaded Poland on Sept. 17, so the ORZEL could not return home.

For the next two weeks ORZEL continued to patrol the Baltic. No ships were attacked because Germany and Russia diverted all merchantmen into neutral waters.

A crewmember developed blood poisoning and drinking water was almost gone. The CO decided to break out of the Baltic and make for England, to be repaired and supplied to fight alongside the Royal Navy. With maps and charts drawn from memory, the ORZEL began its treacherous journey through the Sund and the North Sea. German destroyers were spotted patrolling the entrance to the Sund. ORZEL waited on the bottom for nightfall. At dark, ORZEL surfaced and slowly made way through the shallow Sund. Once again the sub grounded on unseen rocks. The noise of the diesels straining to free the sub attracted the attention of a German destroyer. Freeing itself from the rocks, ORZEL made for deeper water. In the darkness ORZEL saw the searchlight of a destroyer moving closer. The sub submerged, lying on the bottom for two hours until the destroyer’s engines were no longer heard. ORZEL surfaced and continued the journey, going to the bottom at daybreak so the crew could get some sleep.

ORZEL, now in the North Sea, faced not only attack by German forces, but also British forces because they had no recognition signals and a damaged wireless. On the morning of October 14, an English speaking crewman on ORZEL made contact with a British W/T station. A British destroyer found ORZEL a few hours later and escorted them to a British harbor. The CO made three requests; land the ill crewman, replenish the water, and be given breech locks for their guns. ORZEL was then ready to go to sea on whatever mission the Royal Navy had for them. ORZEL was the last regular Polish Military unit to operate in the Polish Campaign. In the words of Winston Churchill, “escape of ORP ORZEL was an epic.”

More Submarines of the Polish Navy [Polska Marynaka Wajenna]

Introduction
Orp Orzel with Polish Navy
Orp Orzel with British Royal Navy