Eugeniusz Józef Stanisław Pławski (26 March 1895 – 23 May 1972) was a

Polish Navy The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...

officer who served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was the commander of the during the hunt for Bismarck.

Biography

Early years

Born in

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk (, ; ) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities designated by the Soviet Union as a Hero City. The population was History In antiquity, the shores of the ...

he was the son of Aleksander Pławski, a brigadier general in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. Eugeniusz was graduated from the Sea Cadet Corps in

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...

and from the

Sea Cadet Corps Sea cadets are members of a cadets youth program sponsored by a national naval service, aimed for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, he also finished the Naval Aviation School in

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

and the submarine navigation course in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

Great War

He began his career in 1914 as a midshipman in the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

fighting the entire

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

against Bulgarians, Turks and Germans. He became a watch officer on the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

''Derzky''. From 1916 he was the aide-de-camp to the commander of the 2nd destroyer flotilla then he served in the torpedo brigade and in the anti-submarine defense. In 1917 he became the navigation officer on the destroyer ''Gnevny''. After the outbreak of the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

he assumed command of the destroyer ''Zorkiy''.

Interwar period

After the rebirth of Poland he came to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and was accepted to the Polish Navy. He was an operations officer in the

river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers pub ...

Modlin, then he served in the Marine battalion with which he participated in the liberation of

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

. During the

Poland's Wedding to the Sea Poland's Wedding to the Sea was a ceremony meant t‌o symbolize restored Polish access to the Baltic Sea that was lost in 1793 by the Partitions of Poland. It was first performed on 10 February 1920 by General Józef Haller at Puck. In the earl ...

he gave the order to hoist the Flag of Poland. In 1920 he took command of the

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

in Puck. From 1924 he commanded the following ships:

minesweepers 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 ...

''ORP Czajka'' and ''ORP Mewa'' and the

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 ...

ORP General Haller. In 1927 he was appointed as the director of science in the Navy school of specialists. In the years 1928–1931 he led the Polish submarine navigation course in France. In 1931 he became commander of the submarine . In the years 1932–1936 he took command of the submarine flotilla. In 1936 he was transferred to the Polish Navy Command. In 1939 he was sent on a mission to France seeking military assistance in case of

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

's invasion of Poland.

World War II

At the outbreak of

, he stayed in France and tried to form an aid convoy for Poland. Then he was sent to London. In 1940 he assumed command of the

French destroyer Ouragan ''Ouragan'' (French: "hurricane") was a (''torpilleur d'escadre'') built for the French Navy during the 1920s. During World War II, the destroyer began the war in service with the French Navy and was undergoing repairs at Brest during the inva ...

transferred to the Polish Navy. On 24 October 1940 he became commander of on which he escorted convoys on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. During the hunt for the Bismarck, on 26 May 1941, he spotted and engaged the German battleship. From 1941 to 1943 he was a

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

in Sweden. On 15 May 1943 he took command of the cruiser

ORP Dragon HMS ''Dragon'', also known in Polish service as ORP ''Dragon'' (), was a D- or ''Danae''-class cruiser built for the Royal Navy. She was launched in Glasgow, in December 1917, and scuttled in July 1944 off the Normandy beaches as part of the ...

. In 1944 he became chief of staff of the Polish Navy.

In exile

After the dissolution of the

Polish Armed Forces in the West The Polish Armed Forces in the West () refers to the Polish Armed Forces, Polish military formations formed to fight alongside the Allies of World War II, Western Allies against Nazi Germany and its Axis powers, allies during World War II. Poli ...

Pławski gave the banner and the flag of Polish Navy to the

Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum (), known as Sikorski Institute, named after General Władysław Sikorski, is a leading London-based museum and archive for research into Poland during World War II and the Polish diaspora. It is a non-go ...

in London. In 1946–1947 he commanded a transit camp in

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 7,313, which was slightly more than the 7,104 recorded at the 2011 census. Th ...

. In 1948 he moved to Canada. From 1952 to 1972 he worked as a translator for the government of Canada. Eugeniusz Pławski died on 22 May 1973 in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. He was buried in The Gardens of Gethsemani Cemetery. On 16 June 2004 his ashes were brought to Poland and buried in the Polish Navy cemetery in Gdynia.

Awards and decorations

Cross of Valour''Encyklopedia polskiej emigracji i Polonii''. Vol. 4 (P-S), p. 95
Golden Cross of Merit
Naval Medal
DNK Order of Danebrog Knight BAR

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

Stanisław Mariusz Piaskowski: ''Okręty Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej 1920–1946''. Sigma Press, 1984, p. 133

Military promotions

Notes

References

* Julian Czerwiński, Małgorzata Czerwińska, Maria Babnis, Alfons Jankowski, Jan Sawicki. "Kadry Morskie Rzeczypospolitej. Tom II. Polska Marynarka Wojenna. Część I. Korpus oficerów 1918–1947." ''Wyższa Szkoła Morska. Gdynia 1996.'' (), Archiwum rodzinne * ''Pławski Eugeniusz Józef Stanisław'' :"Polski Słownik Biograficzny". Vol. 26 p. 773

External links

Memoriał komandora Eugeniusza Pławskiego na stronie findagrave.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pławski, Eugeniusz 1895 births 1972 deaths Polish military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Polish submarine commanders Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) People from Novorossiysk Polish emigrants to Canada Naval Cadet Corps alumni