Description
Book SynopsisPacked with illustrations, this is a study of the Polish warships such as the Grom-class destroyers that were developed and built in the interwar years.
Newly independent Poland''s naval force was created in 1920, initially with six ex-German torpedo boats. However, after German-Soviet exercises off the Polish coast in 1924, funding for warships was hastily allocated. Two destroyers and three submarines were built in France but, disappointed with their quality, Poland ordered new ships, mostly from British and Dutch shipyards.
By summer 1939, the Polish Navy comprised four destroyers, five submarines, one minelayer, six minesweepers and a handful of lesser ships. Although the Grom-class destroyers were two of the fastest and best-armed destroyers of the war, the tiny Polish fleet would stand little chance against the Kriegsmarine, and on 30 August three destroyers were dispatched to Britain, followed by two submarines that escaped internment. The remaining Poli
Trade Review
The early sections, on riverine warfare in the Polish-Soviet war and the waxing and waning of the inter-war procurement relationship with France, are particularly interesting, and not often referred to in other works. -- Andrew Livsey * The Naval Review *
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION Poland regains independence, 1918 THE POLISH–BOLSHEVIK WAR 1919 campaign 1920 campaign POLISH NAVY DEVELOPMENT 1921–39 The navy from World War I remnants, 1921 The first naval programme, 1925 Between the Soviet Union and Germany THE POLISH NAVY IN WORLD WAR II The German–Soviet assault Revival: the Polish naval detachment 1939 The year of dashed hopes, 1940 The Battle of the Atlantic 1940–44 The Arctic convoys The North Atlantic The Mediterranean 1941–44 Invasion of the continent 1944 CONCLUSION FURTHER READING INDEX
