ORP ''Generał Kazimierz Pułaski'' is one of two ''Oliver Hazard Perry''-class guided-missile frigates of the Polish Navy. Formerly serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as the USS ''Clark'' (FFG-11), after her transfer to Poland she was named for Kazimierz Pułaski, who fought in both the

War of the Bar Confederation The Bar Confederation ( pl, Konfederacja barska; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles (szlachta) formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia (now part of Ukraine) in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish� ...

in Poland and later the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. As the USS ''Clark'', she was the US Navy's fifth ship of the ''Oliver Hazard Perry'' class, and was named for Admiral Joseph James "Jocko" Clark (1893–1971). The ship is propelled by two

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

LM-2500 gas turbines and two 350 horsepower (261 kW) electric drive auxiliary propulsion units. The ''Gen K. Pułaski'' is currently homeported at Gdynia (

Oksywie Oksywie (german: Oxhöft, csb, Òksëwiô) is a neighbourhood of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is older than Gdynia by several centuries. Etymology Both the Polish and then Germ ...

History

US service

Ordered by the US Navy from Bath Iron Works on 27 February 1976 as part of the FY76 program, ''Clark'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 17 July 1978 and launched on 24 March 1979. The frigate commissioned on 9 May 1980. She was the second US Navy ship commissioned with the name USS ''Clark''. The ship sponsor was Mrs.

Olga Clark Olga Clark (September 23, 1898 – 24 April 1994) was a socialite and self-proclaimed princess from Russia who spent most of her life in the United States. She was married four times, including to world chess champion José Raúl Capablanca and Ad ...

, the widow of the ship's namesake. In July 1982, ''Clark'' recovered three sailors that were washed overboard from the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain. A fourth sailor was not recovered and was lost at sea. In December 1992, ''Clark'' was nearby when the crew of an

F-14 The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the ...

was forced to eject during training operations off the coast of Virginia. ''Clark''s helicopter rescued the radar intercept officer and a

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

helicopter rescued the pilot. In April 1994, ''Clark'' changed homeports from

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. The ship had previously been homeported in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from the mid-1980s to 1992 and

Mayport, Florida Mayport is a small community located between Naval Station Mayport and the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. The only public road to Mayport is State Road A1A, which crosses the St. Johns ...

before that. Decommissioned and stricken from the US Navy list on 15 March 2000, she was transferred to the Polish Navy that same day.

Polish service

The ship was commissioned as ORP ''Generał Kazimierz Pułaski'' (after Kazimierz Pułaski) on 25 June 2000, at a ceremony attended by US Secretary of State

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic ...

. Commander Marian Ambroziak was the first Polish commanding officer. Since her transfer to Poland, ''Generał Kazimierz Pułaski'' has participated in numerous

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

exercises in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

Awards as USS ''Clark''

USS ''Clark'' and her crew received the following unit awards, according to the US Navy unit awards website: *

Humanitarian Service Medal The Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM) is a military service medal of the United States Armed Forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under . The medal may be awarded to members of the United States military (includi ...

for the evacuation of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, 23 to 25 June 1982 * Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for Lebanon from 11 December 1983 to 21 January 1984 * US Coast Guard Unit Commendation, 31 October 1984 to 31 December 1984 *

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

, 1 February 1984 to 21 April 1984 * US Coast Guard

Special Operations Service Ribbon The Special Operations Service Ribbon is a service award of the United States Coast Guard which was first created 1 July 1987 by order of Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Paul A. Yost Jr. The award is authorized for certain acts of non-comb ...

, three awards, for April to June 1989, July to September 1989 and 19 January 1990 to 24 February 1990. *

Navy E Ribbon The Navy "E" Ribbon or Battle Efficiency Ribbon (informally the Battle "E" ribbon) was authorized on March 31, 1976, by Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf as a unit award for battle efficiency competition. The service ribbon replaced th ...

, two awards, for the years of 1992 and 1995 *

Joint Meritorious Unit Award The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritori ...

for the year of 1997. USS ''Clark'' was also nominated for the United States Public Health Service Outstanding Unit Citation for operations from 24 June 1994 to 12 July 1994, but did not receive the award. The ship was reported near Haiti in mid-July 1994 around the time many

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

were fleeing Haiti in small boats.

References

External links