The improved ''Grom''-class destroyers of 1939 were the third and fourth planned ships of the ''Grom'' class of

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s ordered for the Polish Navy shortly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. They were to be built in Poland, the first destroyers so constructed, and were to be named ''Huragan'' ("

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

") and ''Orkan'' (" windstorm"), respectively. Their design included greater power and displacement than the first two ships of the class. Their construction was interrupted by the beginning of

and they were never completed.

History

In the late 1930s, the Polish Navy decided to expand its destroyer fleet. With positive reviews of the operational service of the two British-built s, '' Grom'' and '' Błyskawica'', the Navy decided to order two more ships of that type. This time, however, the order was given (on 1 May 1939) to the recently expanded Polish Naval Yard (''Stocznia Marynarki Wojennej'') in Gdynia rather than to the British J. Samuel White shipyard in

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

, responsible for the two previous ships. They would have been the first

-class warships to be built in Poland (till then, the Polish shipyards have been building smaller ships, such as minelayers and minesweepers). The White shipyards were to provide the turbines, and some armament was also ordered abroad (main and secondary guns from Swedish Bofors, and machine guns from the French company

Hotchkiss et Cie Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Compagnie was a French arms and, in the 20th century, automobile manufacturer first established by United States gunsmith Benjamin B. Hotchkiss. He moved to France and set up a factory, ...

). The cost of the destroyers was 32 million zlotys, of which 55% was to be spent in Poland. The two new destroyers were planned with several changes in the design. The superstructure and funnels were to be grouped together, and crew quarters layout was changed.

Welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Welding is distinct from lower ...

was to be used more prominently in the construction. Engine power was to be increased by 2,500 horsepower; the displacement would be increased by 70 tons. ''Huragan'' was to be ready for April 1942 (36 months after being ordered), and ''Orkan'', for October of that year. Construction work on ''Huragan'' begun on 15 July 1939, when its

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid down. The German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 interrupted the construction; some materials were diverted to the improvised armoured train "Kashubian Dragon".Tadeusz Krawczak, Jerzy Odziemkowski: Polskie pociągi pancerne w wojnie 1939. Wyd. I. Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza, 1987, seria: Biblioteka Pamięci Pokoleń. . pp. 172–207 Within the next few weeks, the Gdynia and Polish Navy shipyards were captured by the Germans. The construction of the two destroyers, barely started, was never resumed, as the materials were scrapped or re-purposed by the occupier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grom Improved Grom World War II destroyers of Poland