Poniżej zamieszczam list wysłany dziś mailem do NATO w sprawie Orła.
To: Headquarters of NATO
Dear Ladies & Gentlemen,
I am an interpreter, translator and shiplover from Slupsk in Poland, keenly interested in some aspects of the World's maritime history. I know, that the seabed of the North Sea is literally filled with wrecks.
My subject is a specific one - the wreck of the famous Polish WW2's submarine Orzel, built in Holland at Vlissingen by Messrs. De Schelde Yard, launched on Jan 15th '38, commissioned for service on Feb. 10th '39 and finally LOST in May/June 1940.
The loss was one of the most tragic one during the whole war history of the Polish Navy - only the destroyer Orkan (Hurricane, British L/M class, lost early in October '43, torpedoed by a German U-Boat off Iceland) goes before the Orzel by the number of casualties under Polish Navy colours. Officially the submarine had been declared Lost in Action With All Hands after the 8th of June 1940 (the planned date of her return from the fifth war patrol off Norse coasts).
Known a bit is, that the submarine could have been sunk (or have perished) in the North Sea due to at least three causes: bombing by a German plane, hitting one or more mines or even torpedoed by a friendly (i. e. a Dutch?) submarine. The fourth cause is a possible accident.
The Orzel, named after our Polish National Emblem or Coat of Arms and dedicated to one of our greatest heroes of the 20th Century, Marshall J Pilsudski (1867-1935), has been the most famous submarine ever to fly our Polish colours. Still in September '39 she was forced to enter a neutral harbor to land her sick commanding officer and to repair her damages suffered by far. The choice was to call at the Port of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. International laws of war guaranteed her the right of a limited stay at the neutral naval base, but just another day she was forcibly interned by Estonian military authorities. The eagle (as they call Orzel in English) however did not rest, ESCAPED the guarded naval base and then reached British NB of Rosyth without any suitable navigational aids nor intact artillery! The men passed in their ship i. a. through the difficult Danish Straits, then strictly guarded by Germans, and just this part of Orzel her story became to stuff for our best Naval film so far, entitled just "Orzel" (1958). I must admit here, that I have seen the picture several times and will see it eagerly in the future too. Interesting in it was, that the film was made with Orzel her sistership Sep (Vulture) "playing the main part", that of the ship. Previously I was angry with the team because of discrepancies with the facts known to me, but one time I watched the film at a cinema in my hometown, the city of Slupsk (a fair one too) and took it just as a tale. That instant all the bad impressions disappeared...
What I'd like to ask You is to TRY TO FIND ORZEL HER WRECK. Abt. 60 officers, petty-officers and ratings perished with her and their families here would be grateful to know where their beloved rest.
Of course the remnants of the ship will be declared as a war cemetery and Heroes' resting place, but Poland would be grateful to find the Orzel her watery grave in the depths of the North Sea...
Stary wraqu jesteś niesamowity.Mówią iż nadzieja jest "matką głupich" No cóż... Może w końcu rozwiążemy "zagadkę" M.A.Poszukiwawczej?Poszukiwania były czy też tradycyjnie "coś" nie wypaliło. Pozdrawiam wszystkich.I jeszcze pytanie gdzie Orzeł znajdował się 25.V.?
