The Polish Navy submarine ORP Orzeł (Eagle) returning to her depot ship at Rosyth in WWII.
Kilo class submarine ORP Orzel (291).
The traditional ship prefix in the Polish Navy is ORP (Okręt
Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - "Ship of the Republic of Poland").
Pre- and WWII
Submarines
Orzeł-class submarine
ORP Orzeł
ORP Sęp
Wilk-class submarine
ORP Wilk
ORP Ryś
ORP Żbik
U-class boats
ORP Dzik - (ex HMS
P52)
ORP Sokół - (ex
HMS Urchin)
Warsaw Pact and
Modern
Foxtrot class submarine
ORP Wilk (292)
ORP Dzik (293)
Whiskey class submarine
ORP Orzeł
(292)
ORP Sokół (293)
ORP Bielik
(295)
ORP Kondor
(294)
M-XV class submarine
ORP Kaszub
ORP Ślązak
ORP Kurp
ORP Krakowiak
ORP Mazur
ORP Kujawiak
Kilo class
ORP Orzeł
ORP JASTRZAB - S
CLASS (1918)
The first three boats of this class were built to competing
designs from Electric Boat (a single-hull type), Lake, and the Bureau of
Construction and Repair (both double-hull types). The Lake design was found
unsatisfactory, and the firm built two series of boats to the bureau’s design,
the original and an enlarged version. Two series of boats also used the
Electric Boat design, the second series being enlarged.
Displacement: EBI: 854 tons (surfaced), 1062 tons
(submerged), EBII: 906 tons (surfaced), 1126 tons (submerged), Lake I: 800 tons
(surfaced), 977 tons (submerged), Lake II: 903 tons (surfaced), 1230 tons
(submerged), C&R: 876 tons (surfaced), 1092 tons (submerged) Dimensions:
EBI: 219950 x 20980 x 15990, EBII: 225950 x 20980 x 16910, Lake I: 207900 x
19980 x 16910, Lake II: 240920 x 21980 x 13950, C&R: 231900 x 22900 x 13910
Machinery : 2 diesel engines, 2 electric motors, 2 shafts. EBI: 1200 bhp/1500
shp = 14/11 knots, EBII: 1200 bhp/1200 shp = 14.5/11 knots, Lake I: 1800
bhp/1200 shp = 15/11 knots, Lake II: 1800 bhp/1500 shp = 14.4/11 knots,
C&R: 2000 bhp/1500 shp = 15/11 knots Range: 2500–5900 nm at 6.5 knots
surfaced, 100 nm at 5 knots submerged Armament: 4 (Lake II: 5) x 210 torpedo
tubes (bow), total 12 (Lake II: 14) torpedoes, 1 x 40 gun Complement: 38
ORZEL CLASS (1938)
These submarines were designed by the Nederlandsche
Verenigde Scheepsbouw Bureaux in‘s-Gravenhage, in cooperation with a team from
the Polish Navy. They incorporated many features of the earlier Dutch O. 16, including
the external trainable mount. The hulls were entirely welded, and all controls
were hydraulically operated. The Orzel escaped the German invasion of Poland to
the United Kingdom and was mined in the North Sea on 8 June 1940. The Sept
escaped and was interned in Sweden until the war’s end, when it returned to
Polish service until it decommissioned on 15 September 1969.
Orzel (15 January 1938) Builder: De Schelde Sept (17 October
1938) Builder: Rotterdamse Displacement: 1100 tons (surfaced), 1650 tons
(submerged) Dimensions: 275970 x 22900 x 13940 Machinery: 2 Sulzer diesel
engines, 2 electric motors, 2 shafts. 4740 bhp/1100 shp = 20/9 knots Range:
7000 nm at 10 knots surfaced, 100 nm at 3 knots submerged Armament: 12 x 550mm
torpedo tubes (4 bow, 4 stern, 1 x quadruple external trainable mount), total
20 torpedoes, 1 x 105mm gun, 1 x twin 40mm AA gun Complement: 60
ORP Kaszub M-Class
SERIES XV (1940)
F. F. Polushkin designed this series of coastal submarines.
They had a single all-welded pressure hull with saddle ballast tanks. The
design was a great improvement on earlier coastal boats with its much greater
range and heavier torpedo battery. None of the class were completed during
World War II. Those remaining in Soviet Navy service were stricken in the
1960s.
Builder: Sudomekh Displacement: 281 tons (surfaced), 351
tons (submerged) Dimensions: 162950 x 14950 x 9900 Machinery: 2 diesel engines,
2 electric motors, 2 shafts. 1600 bhp/875 shp = 15.75/7.75 knots Range: 4500 nm
at 8 knots surfaced, 90 nm at 2 knots submerged Armament: 4 x 533mm torpedo
tubes (bow), total 4 torpedoes, 1 x 45mm AA gun, 2 x 7.62mm machine guns
Complement: 24
ORP Wilk -PROJECT 641
This class of long-range submarines was developed to replace
the earlier Project 611 type. Like the Project 633 type, they were equipped
with a substantially more advanced sonar outfit and could dive deeper than
their precursors.
In addition to the 17 boats built for export, 2 submarines
were transferred to Poland in 1987 and 1988 as the Wilk and the Dzik. All the
boats, both Soviet and foreign, were discarded in the 1990s.
Builder: Sudomekh Displacement: 1957 tons (surfaced), 2475
tons (submerged) Dimensions: 299960 x 24970 x 16990 Machinery: 3 diesel
engines, 1 electric motor, 3 shafts. 6000 bhp/8100 shp = 16.75/16 knots Range:
17,900 nm at 8 knots snorkeling, 400 nm at 2 knots submerged Armament: 10 x
533mm torpedo tubes (6 bow, 4 stern), total 22 torpedoes Complement: 70
ORP Orzeł - PROJECT
613
Design work on this class began immediately after World War
II as a medium submarine to replace the earlier S and Shch types. Detailed
examination of German Type XXI boats strongly influenced the final design,
which incorporated, in a less pronounced form, the figure-eight midsection and
distinctive stern contours of these boats. There were many detail variations
between different series of these submarines, mainly in the exact number and
disposition of the guns.
Large numbers of these boats were modified for special
missions or experiments. Many also went to fleets within the Soviet sphere of
influence: 5 to China (in addition to the 21 assembled there from
Soviet-supplied components), 8 to Egypt, 2 to Bulgaria, 14 to Indonesia, 4 to
Albania, 5 to Poland, 4 to North Korea, and one each to Cuba and Syria. By the
early 1980s about 60 boats of the 215 built in the Soviet Union remained in
service, and 18 still existed 10 years later.
Displacement: 1055 tons (surfaced), 1350 tons (submerged) Dimensions:
249920 x 20980 x 15910 Machinery: 2 diesel engines, 2 electric motors, 2
shafts. 4000 bhp/2700 shp = 18.25/13 knots Range: 22,000 nm at 9 knots
surfaced, 443 nm at 2 knots submerged Armament: 6 x 533mm torpedo tubes (4 bow,
2 stern), total 12 torpedoes, 2 x 57mm guns, 2 x 25mm guns Complement: 52
ORZEL - PROJECT 877 CLASS
(1986)
The Project 877 type was designed as an antisubmarine
warfare platform with good patrol and reconnaissance characteristics. It was
the first Soviet conventionally powered type to use a teardrop hull form. Great
attention was paid to noise reduction through rafting machinery, eliminating
flooding ports, locating the dive planes further aft, and providing an anechoic
coating for the hull. Careful design and choice of materials also drastically
reduced the type’s magnetic signature. These boats also introduced extensive
automation of both ship and fire control to reduce crew size and improve
safety. Later boats incorporated improved fire control systems and the
capability to launch wire-guided torpedoes.
Large numbers of this type were built for export, usually
with a slightly less capable sensor outfit. Most of the Russian boats went into
reserve around 2000, but the export boats are still very active.
Displacement: 2300 tons (surfaced), 3036 tons (submerged)
Dimensions: 238910 x 32960 x 20940 Machinery: 2 1000-KW diesel generators, 1
electric motor, 1 shaft. 5500 shp = 10/17 knots Range: 6000 nm at 7 knots
snorkeling, 400 nm at 3 knots submerged Armament: 6 x 533mm torpedo tubes
(bow), total 18 torpedoes, 8 Strela–3 or Igla missiles Complement: 52