Polish Navy Submarines

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