ORP ''General Haller'' was a originally built for the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

. She was later acquired by the Polish Navy and served until sunk during the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

on 6 September 1939.

History

''General Haller'' was built at Ab Crichton in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, for the

. She was bought by the Polish Navy in 1921 and subsequently served as a school ship and

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

. In Poland, she was classified as ''kanonierka'' (

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

). On 1 September 1939, under the command of Captain Stanisław Mieszkowski, ''General Haller'' was patrolling the port of

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...

, where she was damaged in air attacks. On 2 September, the gunboat was sent to the naval port at Hel. There she was turned into a floating battery, until on 3 September, after major bomb damage, all the guns were stripped and added to the defences on land. She was left floating until she was sunk on 6 September.

References

Naval ships of Poland Ships sunk by German aircraft World War II shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea Ships built in Turku 1916 ships Maritime incidents in September 1939 Shipwrecks of Poland {{Europe-mil-ship-stub