You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Polish. (February 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 313 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Polish Wikipedia article at [[:pl:ORP Orkan (1942)]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|pl|ORP Orkan (1942)}} to the talk page.
The destroyer was sunk by the German submarine U-378 on 8 October 1943. There were 179 dead and 44 survivors. The sinking of Orkan was the biggest life loss of Polish Navy resulting from a single incident in its entire history.[1]
Description
The M-class destroyers were repeats of the preceding L class. They displaced 1,935 long tons (1,966 t) at standard load and 2,750 long tons (2,790 t) at deep load. The ships had an overall length of 362 feet 3 inches (110.4 m), a beam of 37 feet (11.3 m) and a deep draught of 14 feet (4.3 m). They were powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 48,000 shaft horsepower (36,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). The ships carried a maximum of 567 long tons (576 t) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ships' complement was 190 officers and ratings.[2]
She was transferred to the free Polish Navy based in Britain in December 1942. Orkan served in the Arctic, In early 1943, the destroyer escorted the convoy JW 53 to Russia, returned with the convoy RA 52 and then operated as convoy escort in the North Atlantic. In July 1943, she transferred the body of the Polish Supreme Chief General Władysław Sikorski from Gibraltar to England.
At 07.05 hours on 8 October 1943, Orkan (under Lt. Stanisław Hryniewiecki), serving as one of the escorts of the convoy SC 143, was hit by a GNAT homing torpedo from U-378 while escorting the convoy SC 143 and sank within a few minutes. One officer and 43 ratings were rescued by HMS Musketeer.
The sinking of Okran was the biggest life loss of Polish Navy resulting from a single incident in its entire history.[1]
Notes
^ abKasperski, Tadeusz (201). "Największa strata PMW – zatopienie ORP Orkan". Morze, statki i okręty (in Polish). 10 (138): 50–58. ISSN1426-529X.
English, John (2001). Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-64-9.
Friedman, Norman (2006). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-86176-137-6.
Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-55750-048-7.
March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC164893555.
Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-59114-119-2.
Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-87021-326-1.