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voor de liefhebbers van in Nederland gebouwde duikboten :)

Warship 43 (1987)

With an article about Orp Orzel & Orp Sep

ORP Sep was a Orzel-class submarine serving in the Polish Navy during World War II. In Polish her name means Vulture.

Built at the Dutch shipyard Rotterdamse Droogdok Maatschappij, she was laid down in November 1936 and launched on 17 October 1938. In early 1939 the Polish team supervising the building of the ship noticed a significant slowdown in her construction, which it attributed to the action of German agents. Because of fears that German pressure on Holland would prevent that country from delivering the ship into Polish hands, it was decided to bring the ship to Poland earlier than scheduled. On April 2nd, the ship left for deep water sea trials in Horten, Norway, with a crew of Polish sailors and Dutch technicians, under the Dutch flag. 

After completing the trials, the Polish crew took control of the ship (against the will of the Dutch technicians on board), raised the Polish flag and left Horten to rendezvous with the Polish destroyer ORP Burza outside the harbour. All but two Dutch workers were left ashore in Norway. 

From Burza the submarine received additional crew and supplies, then sailed under her escort to Poland. On the way the ship ran out of diesel fuel and had to be taken in tow by the destroyer. On April 18 Sep arrived in Gdynia, entering the harbour on her electric engines, and was officially commissioned into the Polish navy. 

The remaining two Dutch technicians were released and allowed to return home. The fitting out of the ship continued in Poland, with parts arriving from Holland after the relations with the Dutch were repaired following the "hijacking", but was not finished before the war broke out, hence the ship was not at full readiness in September 1939. A visit to Rotterdam to finish the fitting out was contemplated but the outbreak of war prevented it...

Spot info:
Publisher: Conway Maritime Press
Year: 1987
Format: pdf
Size: 5,6 Mb
Pages: 68
Language: English

Thanks to nerusik & Silent Running :)