ORP Dzik (P52)

ORP Dzik (Boar) was a U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 30 December 1941 as P-52 for the Royal Navy, but was transferred to the Polish Navy during construction. Launched on November 11, 1942, ORP Dzik was commissioned into the Polish Navy on December 12, 1942. Her name meant "Wild Boar" in Polish.

For other ships with the same name, see ORP Dzik and HDMS Springeren.
History
United Kingdom
Class and type: U-class submarine
Name: HMS P52
Builder: Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down: 30 December 1941
Launched: 11 October 1942
Out of service: transferred to Polish Navy
Fate: Scrapped April 1958
Poland
Name: ORP Dzik
Commissioned: 16 December 1942
Decommissioned: 25 July 1947
Out of service: returned to Royal Navy, transferred to Danish Navy July 1947
Denmark
Name: HDMS U 1
In service: July 1947
Out of service: 1957
Renamed: HDMS Springeren in 1950
Fate: Returned to UK 1957
General characteristics
Displacement:
  • Surfaced - 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load
  • Submerged - 730 tons
Length: 58.22 m (191 ft)
Beam: 4.90 m (16 ft 1 in)
Draught: 4.62 m (15 ft 2 in)
Propulsion:
  • 2 shaft diesel-electric
  • 2 Paxman Ricardo diesel generators + electric motors
  • 615 / 825 hp
Speed:
  • 11.25 knots max surfaced
  • 10 knots (20 km/h) max submerged
Range:
  • 4,300 nautical miles (8,000 km) at 11.5 knots
  • 5,203 nautical miles (9,636 km) at 8.5 knots submerged
Complement: 37
Armament:

24 May 1943 Near Cape Spartivento, ORP Dzik fired a 4 torpedo salvo and damaged the Italian oil tanker Carnaro (8357 Gross Register Tonnage). After the attack, two Italian corvettes dropped over 60 depth charges.

21 Sep 1943 ORP Dzik fired torpedoes in Bastia harbour, Corsica, France and sank the German tanker Nikolaus (6397, former Greek Nikolaou Ourania) and the German tug Kraft (333 Gross Register Tonnage).

8 Jan 1944 ORP Dzik sank the Greek sailing vessel Eleni (200 Gross Register Tonnage) with gunfire off Lesbos Island, Greece in position 39.37N, 25.43E.

The Jolly Roger flag flown by ORP "Dzik". The strips indicate sunk enemy ships.

ORP Dzik destroyed or damaged 18 surface ships both German and Italian with a total tonnage of 45,080 tons. She participated in Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, and also engaged enemy surface ships with her 76 mm cannon three times and the crew boarded two enemy ships. The ORP Dzik earned the Jolly Roger.

In July 1946, the Polish Navy decommissioned her and returned her to the Royal Navy.

In 1947, the ship was transferred to the Royal Danish Navy. She sailed as HDMS U-1 and was later renamed to HDMS Springeren. She was returned to the Royal Navy in April 1958 and scrapped.

Commanding officers
  • August 28, 1942 - November 1944: Capt. Bolesław Romanowski
  • November 1944 - December 31, 1944: Lt. Tadeusz Noworol
  • January 1, 1945 - August 25, 1946: Capt. Andrzej Kłopotowski

References
  • "ORP Dzik (P 52)". uboat.net.
  • "P32 to P222". British submarines of World War II. Archived from the original on 2007-07-11.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Submarines, War Beneath The Waves, From 1776 To The Present Day, by Robert Hutchinson


ORP Dzik (Wikipedia)
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