ORP ''Rybitwa'' was a of the Polish Navy at the outset of

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 ...

. ''Rybitwa'' participated in the defence of Poland during the Nazi German invasion of 1939. The ship was damaged by a German bomb on 14 September 1939. The ship was later captured by the Germans, but returned to serve under the Polish flag after the War.

History

Construction

''Rybitwa'' was constructed in the riverine dockyard in Modlin between 1933 and 1935. The first commander of the ship was Lieutenant Commander

Jerzy Kossakowski Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. People ...

. The ship was named after the bird tern, "Rybitwa" in Polish.

Service

Lieutenant Commander Kazimierz Miładowski was the captain of the ship during the September campaign. On 26 or 27 August ''Rybitwa'', which together with two other Polish ships had been stationed in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, Latvia, left for Gdynia, along with on full

combat alert Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

. After arriving in Gdynia she conducted reconnaissance operations in Gdańsk Bay, between the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...

and the

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

n coast. On 1 September 1939, after the outbreak of the Second World War, ''Rybitwa'' and all other 5 minesweepers of her class joined with the minelayer and took part in the ''Operation Rurka'', an attempt to mine the entrances of the Gdańsk Bay. Gdansk Bay Details 1939 english

The Polish flotilla, which included the destroyer and two gunboats, was attacked by a large formation of German bombers. ''Rybitwa''s

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, , was hit. Despite the great risk involved, the captain of ''Rybitwa'', Miładowski, made the decision to tow ''Mewa'' into port; the operation was a success.Kozmice Male, website
"Stanisław Tatara - wspomnienia z września 1939 roku"
(Recollections of Stanislaw Tatar from September 1939". Retrieved July 14, 2010. In the next few weeks, the ship was based at the port of

Jastarnia Jastarnia ( csb, Jastarniô, german: Heisternest) is a resort town in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodship, northern Poland. It is located on the Hel Peninsula on the Baltic Sea. It is a popular Polish seaside resort and small fishing port. The m ...

and conducted patrols and mine laying operations at night, while defending the

Hel peninsula Hel Peninsula (; pl, Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; csb, Hélskô Sztremlëzna; german: Halbinsel Hela or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is loc ...

during the day. On 19 September, ''Rybitwa'' was damaged by bombs while still in port - most of the crew were not onboard at the time. In order to prevent capture by German troops, the ship was scuttled soon after. The Polish defense of Hel peninsula lasted until 2 October. The Germans refloated the ship, renamed her ''Rixhöft'' and commissioned her into the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

''. After the end of World War II the Polish naval mission in Germany found ''Rybitwa'' together with three of her sister ships in

Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Bay of Lübeck, Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, an ...

. The Polish flag was raised again and her original name was restored. Though under British supervision, the German crew purposely destroyed much of their equipment but Polish sailors managed to make the ships seaworthy again and the ships returned to Poland. ''Rybitwa'' served in various roles up to 1972 when she was finally decommissioned and scrapped.

In popular culture

''Rybitwa'', along with other Polish ships of the ''Jaskółka'' class, is mentioned in the

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Da ...

novella ''Cat and Mouse''.Günter Grass
Cat and Mouse
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1991, p. 38

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rybitwa Jaskółka-class minesweepers Ships built in Poland Naval ships of Poland captured by Germany during World War II 1935 ships Maritime incidents in October 1939 Scuttled vessels Shipwrecks of Poland