ORP ''Jastrząb''ORP stands for Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej ("Hawk") was a former S-class submarine, originally of 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 ...

, in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

service between 1941 and 1942, when she was lost to

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

Ship history

She was laid down in October 1918 as , and launched in 1922. In 1940 she was set aside as a training vessel, and then earmarked for transfer to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

under Lend-Lease. She was decommissioned from the U.S. Navy on 4 November 1941, and simultaneously transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS ''P551''; shortly thereafter she was loaned to the exiled Polish government, and entered service with the Polish Navy under Lieutenant Commander

Bolesław Romanowski Bolesław Romanowski (21 March 1910 – 12 August 1968) was a submarine commander of the Polish Navy during World War II. Biography Bolesław Szymon Romanowski was born in Varakļāni in Livonia. In 1920 he moved with his family to Grabówno i ...

, due to a lack of trained submarine crews in the Royal Navy at the time. ''Jastrząb'' entered the history of the Polish Navy as its only submarine ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the West to the East, as she came from the US to Europe. During the passage of convoy PQ-15 to

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') ...

, ''Jastrząb'' on 2 May 1942 was mistakenly engaged by the destroyer and the

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

. She was attacked with depth charges and made to surface, there she was strafed with the loss of five crew (including the British

liaison officer A Liaison officer is a person who liaises between two or more organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities on a matter of mutual concern. Generally, liaison officers are used for achieving the best utilization of resources, or empl ...

) and six injured, including the commander. The ship was badly damaged and had to be

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

, near . The incident is a matter of some controversy. One source states ''Jastrząb'' was escorting PQ 15, i.e. travelling with the convoy. Others however state she was covering PQ 15’s passage by patrolling the Norwegian coast against a sortie by German capital ships, one of five submarines so assigned. These sources state ''Jastrząb'' was out of position; Pertek however states that it was the convoy which was out of position, and other sources confirm the convoy had altered course to avoid ice. The position of the incident, 200 miles from the Norwegian coast is inconsistent with a mission to patrol that coast, typically no more than 10 to 20 miles out. Pertek also (after Romanowski's testimony) states ''Jastrząb'' was fired upon despite showing yellow recognition smoke candles; however other sources do not confirm this. Finally Pertek states the commanders of ''St Albans'' and ''Seagull'' were found guilty at a court martial over the incident; Kemp states that the court of enquiry (a normal procedure following the loss of a ship, though not of friendly fire cases) found no blame could be attributed to either commander. It is not possible to reconcile these accounts. On 5 May 1942, the convoy reached Murmansk, where the Polish crew remained resting for two and a half months, then returned to Great Britain on board the Polish destroyer .Jerzy Pertek, p. 325

Notes and citations

Notes

Citations

References

* Kemp, Paul (1993) ''Convoy! Drama in Arctic Waters'' * Pertek, Jerzy (1976) ''Wielkie dni małej floty'', Poznań * Schofield, Bernard (1964) ''The Russian Convoys'' BT Batsford ISBN (none)

External links