Polish Navy

Polish Naval commanders withdrew main surface ships to Great Britain to join the Allied war effort and prevent them from being destroyed. ORP Błyskawica, ORP Grom, and ORP Burza sailed to the British naval base at Leith in Scotland. Also two submarines managed to flee to Great Britain. Three submarines were interned in Sweden, while remaining surface vessels were sunk by German aircraft.

The personnel strength of the Polish ships in British waters in 1939 was less than 1,000, but by the end of the war was over 4,000 strong, 404 of which were lost in action.

During the war the Polish Navy in exile was supplemented with leased British ships, including two cruisers (ORP Conrad, ex-HMS Danae; ORP Dragon, ex-HMS Dragon), seven destroyers (one of which was ORP Piorun). three submarines, and a number of smaller fast-attack vessels. The Polish Navy fought alongside the Allied navies in Norway, the North Sea, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and aided in the escort of Atlantic and Arctic convoys.

The Polish Navy in exile:

sailed a total of 1,213,000 nautical miles
escorted 787 convoys
carried out 1,162 combat patrols
sank 2 U-Boats and 11 probably damaged
sank 39 transports
shot down 20 aircraft

During the course of the war, 1 cruiser, 4 destroyers, 1 minelayer, 1 torpedo boat, 2 submarines and some smaller vessels (gunboats, mine hunters etc.) were sunk; in total, 26 ships were lost.

Polish Navy Members with British Awards - 105 names: The list was sourced from the Admiralty Fleet Orders 1942-1945. The list includes the Family Name, First Name, Rank, and the name of the British Award. (Note Polish diacritic letters are not used in this document).

Students at the Navy School in Landywood - 268 names: This is a list of Navy Cadets who attended the Navy School at Landywood in Stafordshire, UK. The list includes the Family Name, First Name, and the Class #. . (Note: Polish diacritic letters are not used in this document)

Polish Navy Member Names on a Monument in Glasgow - 60 names: The Memorial is the Polish Naval Association Memorial, located at St Peter’s Cemetery, Dalbeth, Glasgow, Scotland. The list includes the Family Name, First Name, Rank, Date of Birth, and Date of Death. (Note Polish diacritic letters are not used in this document).

Polish Navy Personnel murdered in the KATYN massacres - 61 names: The list of names includes Family Name and Initial, and is subdivided between the Katyn, (Note Polish diacritic letters are not used in this document).

Graves of Navy personnel_463 names : This list includes Family and First name, the Rank, the Ship they died on, or where they died on land. The source of this information is the book "Wykaz, Poleglych i Zmarlych Zolnierze Polskich Sil Zbrojnych na Obczyznie w Latach 1939-1946" published by the Sikorski Historical Institute (now known as the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum), London, England, 1952. (Note Polish diacritic letters are not used in this document).