World War II Database

Błyskawica was a British-built destroyer of the Polish Navy. On 29 Aug 1939, she was among the three destroyers that participated in Operation Peking, aimed at preventing the total loss of the Polish Navy in the likely case of a war with Germany. After an uneventful run-in with German light cruiser Königsberg and a destroyer, the destroyers made rendezvous with British destroyers Wanderer and Wallace, then at 1737 on 1 Sep they docked in Edinburgh. She remained in service under the Polish banner (though under command of the British Royal Navy) for the remainder of the war. On 7 Sep 1939, she made contact with a German submarine, resulting in possibly the first combat between Allied and Axis warships. In May 1940, Błyskawica and her sister ship Grom bombarded German positions and downed two German aircraft off the coast of Norway; Grom was sunk during that campaign. During the German invasion of France, she helped evacuate French and British troops from Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo. In 1941, her 120mm guns were replaced with British 102mm anti-aircraft guns.

On the nights of 4 and 5 May 1942, 160 German bombers raided the shipyards at the Isle of Wight town of Cowes; Błyskawica was coincidentally there for repairs and helped to defend the shipyard with her anti-aircraft weapons. Although the shipyards and the town suffered serious damage from the raids, Błyskawica's quick plunge into action possibly saved the town from worse fate.

For the remainder of the war, Błyskawica performed convoy and patrol duties in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. She and other British warships engaged in battle with German destroyers on 8 Jun 1944 off Ushant, France, in the English Channel.

Błyskawica returned to Poland after the war. On 1 May 1976 she became a museum ship in the Baltic port city of Gdynia. She is now the oldest preserved destroyer in world.

Photographs

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