Thread by @garius

As the last of her crew passes away, it is time to tell the story of ORP Piorun again.

The Free Polish Navy destroyer that faced down the Bismarck, ran supplies to Malta, and fought the Luftwaffe over Clydebank during the Clydebank Blitz. /1

After the fall of Poland, many Polish sailors escape. some with their ships in frankly incredible acts of bravery, but not all.

So in May 1940, the British navy give the Free Poles HMS Nerissa. An N-Class destroyer, small and lightly armoured, with a focus on speed and torpedoes

The Free Polish navy rechristen her 'ORP Piorun' and give command to Eugeniusz Pławski. Pławski commanded destroyers in the Imperial Russian Navy in WW1, then immediately joined the Polish navy when they got independence.

He was a highly experienced officer and a fierce patriot.

On 13th March 1941, Piorun and her all-Polish crew are laid up for repairs at John Browns in Clydebank.

That night, the Luftwaffe launch a devastating attack on the area, home to vital industry and oil supplies.

Thus begins the Clydebank Blitz. It will almost destroy the town.

For two nights bombs rain down on Clydebank. Over a thousand die, but the Clydebankers fight the fires and battle to help survivors.

And alongside them, blazing away at the Luftwaffe prone in her berth, despite the attention it draws and the target it makes her, is the Piorun.

"No one who lived through the Blitz in Clydebank seems likely to forget the terrific barrage on the first night from Ack-Ack guns on a Polish destroyer which happened to be in John Brown’s dock for repairs at that time." - Dr MacPhail, Clydebank blitz survivor

The impact of Piorun's fire was minimal, but to those on the ground it was a defiant answer. A sign that Clydebank was not alone and punching back.

Over two terrible nights, Piorun emptied her magazines in defence of her temporary home. Today she is permanently remembered there.

After refit, Piorun joins the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, alongside four Tribals.

They're escorting a convoy near the Bay of Biscay late on 25 May 1941 when word is received:

Bismarck is escaping. Hunt is on. Stay with your convoy

NARRATOR: The 4th do not stay with their convoy

The 4th Flotilla is led by Philip Vian. One of the finest Flotilla commanders EVER and entirely capable of reading a chart.

He knows Bismarck is fast. The only chance the British have to kill her is if they can find her quick.

Vian is in the right place. Maybe the only flotilla that is. He has 4 Tribals (the most batshit aggressive destroyers in the Navy) and the crazy brave Piorun under Pławski.

He ignores the order and unleashes his pack of sea wolves, ordering them to fan out and find. That. Ship.

On the night of the 26th, in heaving seas, ORP Piorun sights an unknown big ship. She attempts to establish its identity. It answers with gunfire.

Bismarck.

Pławski signals Vian. Vian orders the Flotilla to converge and alerts the Admiralty.

But everyone else is an hour away.

Pławski now faces a choice. One solid hit from Bismarck will disable or destroy Piorun. But if he backs off, they'll lose contact before the Tribals arrive to help.

So he orders a single message sent to the giant battleship unencoded:

"I AM A POLE!"

And then Piorun charges her

For almost an hour, ORP Piorun harries Bismarck alone, her smaller guns blazing, while the bigger ship tries to swat her.

Finally, Vian and the rest of the Flotilla arrive and join in. Together they box her, wearing her down until the British big guns can reach them at daylight.

Indeed knowing Piorun is lower on fuel than the Tribals, Vian (perhaps also feeling the Poles had done enough and were pushing their luck) orders her to withdraw. They don't.

"Radio problem" Pławski later tells Vian.

Vian (who can't really throw stones at that glass house) is:

Piorun's war isn't over. She runs supplies to Malta (notably as part of Operation Halberd) and takes part in the invasion of Sicily. But it's against Bismarck that she claims her place in history.

As it was politely put:

"Piorun did well under difficult conditions."

😆

In late 1944 Pławski becomes Chief of Staff for the Free Polish Navy. At war's end, like many Poles, he refuses to return to a Poland abandoned by the allies to the Soviets.

In a quiet act of defiance he hands the Free Navy's flag to the Sikorski institute. He moves to Canada.

Pławski dies, still in exile, in Vancover in 1973.

But he would eventually make it back home.

In 2004, watched by his son, he was reinterred in the Polish naval cemetery at Gdynia.

It is an honour he thoroughly deserves.

Many of Piorun's crew (including one Richard Polanski) move to Scotland, and Clydebank. The area that had been their home in wartime, now a home in exile.

Often forced to watch as their own country, and their adopted one, largely wrote them out of history. They were inconvenient

In 1960, "Sink the Bismarck!" is released to great acclaim, telling the story of the hunt and destruction of the Bismarck.

Piorun does not feature in it. Instead, the sighting of Bismarck is shown as being made by Vian

(Something the real-life Vian was furious about)

This thread is dedicated to Pławski, the crew of Piorun and all who served in the Free Polish Navy.

In particular to Richard Polanski, who died on 17th December 2022, the last of Piorun's crew.

There can be no greater honour than to say:

He was a Pole. thetimes.co.uk/article/cbe1cb…

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little diversion into a little piece of Polish naval history, which really deserves to be much better known.

As usual, if you'd like to buy me a lockdown coffee (or beer! it's Friday!) you can do so here: ko-fi.com/garius

EXTRA CREDITS:

@SilenceInPolish for flagging up Polanski had passed away to me. She knows more Polish military history than I EVER will. If you like this stuff, follow her.

@MaplanUK whose father served on the Piorun, and who kindly shared with me the photo above.

And next time, if you're REALLY good (or buy me enough coffee) we'll talk about ORP Orzeł, or maybe ORP Sokół and ORP Dzik (The "terrible twins of Malta").

It wasn't just ON the ocean the Free Polish Navy got up to extremely brave shenanigans. It was beneath it as well... /END