ORP Rybitwa was a Jaskółka class

Jaskółka class minesweeper

The Jaskółka class was a class of 6 minesweepers of Polish Navy built during the 30's. They were the first sea going warships of Polish production. The Jaskółka class was a versatile design which allowed the ships to serve in the role of either a minesweeper, small minelayer or a sub chaser...

 minesweeper of the Polish Navy at the outset of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Rybitwa participated in the defence of Poland during the Nazi German invasion of 1939. The ship was damaged by a German bomb on 14 September 1939. The ship was later captured by the Germans, but returned to serve under the Polish flag after the War.

Construction

Rybitwa was constructed in the riverine dockyard in Modlin between 1933 and 1935. The first commander of the ship was Lieutenant Commander Jerzy Kossakowski. The ship was named after the bird tern

Tern

Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...

, "Rybitwa" in Polish.

Service

Lieutenant Commander Kazimierz Miładowski was the captain of the ship during the September campaign. On August 26 or 27 Rybitwa, which together with two other Polish ships had been stationed in Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

, Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

, left that port for 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...

, along with ORP Czajka

ORP Czajka

ORP Czajka was a Jaskółka class minesweeper of the Polish Navy at the outset of World War II. It was built by the riverine shipyard at Modlin. Czajka participated in the defense of Poland during the Nazi German invasion of 1939....

 on full combat alert

Combat readiness

Combat readiness is a condition of the armed forces and their constituent units and formations, warships, aircraft, weapon systems or other military technology and equipment to perform during combat military operations, or functions consistently with the purpose for which they are organised or...

. After arriving in Gdynia she conducted reconnaissance operations 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:...

, between the Free City of Danzig

Free City of Danzig

The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

 and the East Prussia

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

n coast. On 1 September 1939, after the outbreak of the Second World War, Rybitwa and all other 5 minesweepers of her class joined with the minelayer ORP Gryf and took part in the Operation Rurka, an attempt to mine the entrances of the Gdańsk Bay.
The Polish flotilla, which included the destroyer ORP Wicher and two gunboats, was attacked by a large formation of German bombers. Rybitwa's twin ship, the ORP Mewa

ORP Mewa

ORP Mewa was a of the Polish Navy at the outset of World War II. Mewa participated in the defense of Poland during the Nazi German invasion of 1939. The ship was damaged on 1 September 1939 by a Nazi bomb. On 3 September she was again hit by bombs and sank. The ship was later refloated and...

 was hit. Despite the great risk involved, the captain of the Rybitwa, Miładowski, made the decision to tow Mewa into port; the operation was a success.
In the next few weeks, the ship was based at the Jastarnia

Jastarnia

Jastarnia is a small town in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodship, northern Poland. It is located on the Hel Peninsula on the Baltic Sea. Popular Polish seaside resort and small fishing port....

 port and conducted patrols and mine laying operations at night, while defending the Hel peninsula during the day. On the 19th of September, ORP Rybitwa was damaged by bombs while still in port - most of the crew were not onboard at the time. In order to prevent capture by German troops, the ship was scuttled soon after. The Polish defense of Hel peninsula

Hel Peninsula

Hel Peninsula |Nehrung]]) is a 35-km-long sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is located in Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.- Geography :...

 lasted until October 2. The Germans refloated the ship, renamed her Rixhöft and commissioned her into the Kriegsmarine. After the end of World War II the Polish naval mission in Germany found Rybitwa together with three of her sister ships in Travemünde

Travemünde

Travemünde is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, and the Danes subsequently strengthened it. It became a town in 1317 and in...

. The Polish flag was raised again and her original name was restored. Though under British supervision

German Mine Sweeping Administration

The German Mine Sweeping Administration was formed from former crews and vessels of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine for the purpose of mine sweeping after the Second World War, predominantly in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and existed from June 1945 to January 1948.-History:The GMSA was formed on 21...

, the German crew purposely destroyed much of their equipment but Polish sailors managed to make the ships seaworthy again and the ships returned to Poland.

Rybitwa served in various roles up to 1972 when she was finally decommissioned and scrapped.

In popular culture

Rybitwa, along with other Polish ships of the Jaskółka class, is mentioned in the Günter Grass

Günter Grass

Günter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...

 novella Cat and Mouse.

External links

• pics of Rybitwa on www.1939.pl