ORZEL underwent a major refit and was assigned to the Royal Navy’s second submarine flotilla based in Rosyth, Scotland. Although ORZEL had no breechblocks for the guns as yet, she was given machine guns and small arms. In mid December, ORZEL was used to escort convoys in British waters. At the end of December, ORZEL escorted a convoy as far as Bergen, Norway. Finally, tube liners were installed to take British torpedoes and ORZEL was ready for patrol.

War Patrols of ORP ORZEL from British Bases

1. Jan. 15, 1940- patrol off coast of Norway no sightings
2. Feb. 2 - patrol southern North Sea no sightings
3. Feb. 16 - patrol southern North Sea no sightings
4. March - patrol near Stavenger stopped and searched Danish trawler
5. Apr. 3-18 - patrol south coast of Norway *see below
6. Apr.25-May11 - patrol off coast of Norway no sightings
7. May 23 - patrol off coast of Norway Lost contact June 5, 1940 Declared lost June 8,1940

Ship Sunk by ORP ORZEL

The 9,800 ton German transport RIO de JANEIRO on 4/8/40

On April 8, 1940 while on patrol off the south coast of Norway at 0945 hours, ORZEL spotted a ship near the entrance Oslofjord. The CO ordered a submerged intercept course. At 1100 hours the CO reported the ship was not showing a flag. A few minutes later the name of the ship was visible.

RIO de JANEIRO was registered by Deutsches Lloyd as a passenger ship out of Hamburg, Germany. At 1103 hours ORZEL surfaced 1,200 meters from RIO de JANEIRO, ordering the ship to halt, which it did. The captain of RIO de JANEIRO was told to bring his ship’s papers aboard ORZEL. There was no response.

At 1112 hours, ORZEL fired a machine gun at the ship. A boat was lowered from RIO de JANEIRO but did not head towards ORZEL. At 1120 hours ORZEL ordered RIO de JANEIRO to be abandoned in fifteen minutes. One more warning was given before ORZEL launched torpedoes at 1145 hours, sinking the RIO de JANEIRO. Later ORZEL observed many bodies in Wehrmacht uniforms. Sixteen sailors and ninety-seven soldiers were killed. Thus the allies were warned of the impending invasion of Norway.

On April 11, while tracking another transport, ORZEL was spotted and attacked from the air. For the next four days, ORZEL was depth-charged by E-boat, trawlers, and planes counting one hundred eleven explosions. However, only minor damage was incurred.

The minefield which claimed ORZEL in June 1940 was just laid by the British. Ships at sea were not yet notified of its location. The CO of ORZEL had no idea of mines in the area.

Thanks to DAVID for this excellent piece of research, and there are more of these stories coming; thanks also to www.polishnavy.prv.pl: for these photos, supplied by DAVID.

These stories done by good researchers, with photos, are a great addition to the memories given to us by the Veterans. We are very happy to see more Members like DAVID CHWALA and DICK GAY come forward with really outstanding articles.

We still have plenty of room for YOUR research articles.

More Submarines of the Polish Navy [Polska Marynaka Wajenna]

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