Viktor Lomidze, also known by his

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

name of Wiktor Łomidze-Wachtang, was a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

military officer. After the Bolshevik take-over of his country in early 1920s he emigrated to Poland, where he joined the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

and then the

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 ...

. Between 1935 and 1939 he was the commanding officer (in the rank of Lieutenant-Commander) of ORP ''Jaskółka'', a Polish minesweeper and minelayer. Later on he became the deputy commander of the ORP ''Gryf''. At the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War of 1939, on September 1, with other Polish warships, ''Gryf'' left the naval base at

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

for the Operation Rurka, a failed attempt to lay a

minefield A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...

at the entrances to the

Gdańsk Bay Gdańsk Bay or the Gulf of Gdańsk is a southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the adjacent port city of Gdańsk in Poland. Geography The western part of Gulf of Gdańsk is formed by the shallow waters of the Bay of Puck. The so ...

. After boarding

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

s from a floating depot, the flotilla headed for

Hel Peninsula Hel Peninsula (; ; ; or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is located in Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Name The name of the peninsula ...

, assisted by ORP ''Wicher'' and several smaller vessels (among them Łomidze's former ship ''Jaskółka''). En route she was attacked by a squadron of 33 German

Ju 87B The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the ...

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...

s and hit with several bombs. Although the damages were minor, the ship lost 22 sailors, including Commander Stefan Kwiatkowski in what became known as the

battle of the Gdańsk Bay __NOTOC__ The Battle of Danzig Bay () took place on 1 September 1939, at the beginning of the invasion of Poland, when Polish Navy warships were attacked by German Luftwaffe aircraft in Gdańsk Bay (then Danzig Bay). It was the first naval-air b ...

. Kwiatkowski's deputy, Lieutenant-Commander Wiktor Łomidze decided to throw all defused naval mines in the waters for fear of explosion and headed for Hel naval base. There it was decided to use the ship as a floating anti-air artillery battery guarding the harbour. During the final days of the Polish defence 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 ...

, Łomidze, along with several other naval officers, crossed the Baltic on a small fishing

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Cutter (hydraulic rescue tool) * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Pizza cutter * Side cutter People * Cutter (surname) * Cutt ...

. They reached the port of

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

, from where Łomidze got to Sweden and then to the United Kingdom. There he applied to the Polish Navy being reconstructed there by the

Polish Government in Exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovere ...

. Although he was admitted, he was also held responsible for the decision to throw away the mines back in September 1939, a decision that successfully crippled the Polish defensive operations in the Baltic Sea. Because of that, and despite Łomidze's pleas, he was never again given a command over any Polish vessel. Instead he spent the remainder of World War II at various staff duties. He finished his career in the rank of

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomidze, Viktor Polish Army officers Military personnel from Georgia (country) People of World War II from Georgia (country) Emigrants from Georgia (country) to Poland Polish Navy officers