ORP Batory was a patrol boat of the Polish Border Guard

Border Guard (Poland)

Border Guard is a Polish state security agency tasked with patrol of the Polish border. It existed in the Second Polish Republic from 1928 to 1939 and was recreated in Third Polish Republic in 1990.- 1928-1939 :...

 which operated from the 1930s into the 1950s.

Service history

The vessel was built by the State Engineering Works shipyard in Modlin, launched on 23 April 1932, and entered service with the Border Guard exactly two months later at Hel

Hel, Poland

Hel is a town in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, located on the tip of the Hel Peninsula, some 33 kilometres from the Polish mainland.-Early developments:...

 in the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. Her main task was to suppress smuggling in Gdańsk Bay

Gdansk Bay

Gdańsk Bay or the Bay of Gdańsk or Danzig Bay is a southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the adjacent port city of Gdańsk in Poland and is sometimes referred to as a gulf.-Geography:...

. She was the biggest and fastest vessel of the Border Guard, classified also as "pursuit cutter" (kuter pościgowy).

During the German invasion of Poland, the vessel was mobilized into the Polish Navy, and fought in defence of the Hel Peninsula

Battle of Hel

The Battle of Hel was one of the longest battles of the Invasion of Poland during World War II.The Hel Peninsula, together with the town of Hel, was the pocket of Polish Army resistance that held out the longest against the German invasion...

, repelling air attacks on the port of Hel, and ensuring the maintenance of communication with the base in Gdynia

Gdynia

Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...

. On 10 September the boat was disarmed, and the crew incorporated into the defenders of the peninsula.

Just after nightfall on 1 October, on the eve of the surrender of the Hel Peninsula, the crew, taking advantage of a thick fog, escaped across the Baltic to neutral

Neutrality (international relations)

A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...

 Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. There, they and their boat were interned, not returning to Poland until 24 October 1945. Batory returned to Border Defence Army service.

After the war, she was initially named Hel (town of Hel

Hel, Poland

Hel is a town in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, located on the tip of the Hel Peninsula, some 33 kilometres from the Polish mainland.-Early developments:...

). In the Stalinist period she was renamed to 7 Listopada ("7th November", a date of the October Revolution

October Revolution

The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

), then Dzierżyński (Felix Dzerzhinsky). Finally, she was given a neutral designation KP-1 (for Kuter Patrolowy - Patrol Boat 1). In 1949 she captured a West German fishing boat on the Polish waters, commissioned next to the Polish Border Defence Army as DP-53. In December 1957 the KP-1 was decommissioned and given to the paramilitary organization Liga Przyjaciół Żołnierza (Soldier's Friends' League).

From 1959 she served as a training and rescue vessel of the LPŻ on the Vistula

Vistula

The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....

 in Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, and next - of the new paramilitary organization Liga Obrony Kraju (Home Defence League) on Zegrze Reservoir

Zegrze Reservoir

The Zegrze Reservoir is a reservoir in Poland, located just north of Warsaw. It is formed by a dam constructed in 1963 on the lower course of the Narew river...

, under a name KP-1 Batory. She was withdrawn from service in 1969. Luckily, the Batory avoided scrapping, and in the 1970s she was placed on a monument in Hel naval base (not available for public). The hull and superstructure however were lacking equipment. Only in December 2009 she was given to the Polish Navy Museum in Gdynia

Gdynia

Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...

, where she is going to be restored.