MS ''Sobieski'' was a Polish passenger ship launched in 1939. It was constructed for the South American service of the Gdynia-America Line – GAL to replace the aging and . She was named in honour of the Polish king

Jan III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...

. ''Sobieski'' was to be a sister ship to the .

Maiden Voyage

''Sobieski'' only managed one journey before the war, arriving in Buenos Aires on the 10th of July 1939.

Wartime Service

The ship was used as a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

in the Allied evacuation of western France in 1940 ( Operation ''Aerial''), where she was one of the last ships to leave St Jean de Luz during the final evacuation of Polish troops from France, and in the

Battle of Dakar The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa (modern-day Senegal). It was hoped that the success of the operation cou ...

. During

Operation Streamline Jane The Battle of Madagascar (5 May – 6 November 1942) was a British campaign to capture the Vichy French-controlled island Madagascar during World War II. The seizure of the island by the British was to deny Madagascar's ports to the Imperial ...

, the invasion of Madagascar, in May, 1942, ''Sobieski'' was the flag ship. She was also used to transport the British 18th Division to the defence of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Post-War

At the end of the war she repatriated the remnants of that division's

Cambridgeshire Regiment The Cambridgeshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, and was part of the Territorial Army. Originating in units of rifle volunteers formed in 1860, the regiment served in the Second Anglo-Boer War and the First and Secon ...

that had survived captivity at the hands of the Japanese in Malaya and Thailand. She also returned former

Changi Changi () is a planning area located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah in the East Region of Singapore. Sharing borders with Pasir Ris and Tampines to the west, Changi Bay to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east and the Seran ...

prisoners of war ( POWs) from Singapore, sailing via

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and docking at Liverpool during a dockworkers'

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

. Disgusted, dismayed ex-POWs had to unload their own baggage, such as it was. Between 1947-1950, ''Sobieski'' sailed on the

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

– Halifax – New York route, under the Polish flag. The vessel was sold to Russia in 1950 and renamed ''Gruziya'' and scrapped in Italy in 1975.

Pictures

Men of the 1-6th Duke of Wellington's Regiment chat to naval officers on board the Polish steamer SOBIESKI on their way to Norway, 20 April 1940. N27.jpg, Duke of Wellington's Regiment aboard ''Sobieski'' on route to Norway, 20 April 1940 Gruzja ship 1962.jpg, ''Gruziya'', the former ''Sobieski'', in Helsinki

References

Passenger ships of Poland Ocean liners Cruise ships Ships built on the River Tyne Troop ships World War II merchant ships of Poland 1938 ships Passenger ships of the Soviet Union Ships of Black Sea Shipping Company Ships of the Gdynia-America Line {{Cruise-ship-stub