Ships of the Polish Navy - submarines

At long last I'm back to drawing of Polish warships. In the longer term I hope to do (almost) all of them, including the revamping of already made ones. And here's the first part of them - I hope You'll like.

Brief history of Polish submarine force

In November 1918 Poland regained independence after 123 years of foreign rule, but although her access to the sea (in the areas hitherto under German administration) was explicitly mentioned in US presidents' Wilson's Fourteen Points that were basis of Germany's request for armistice and peace negotiations, Poland actually took over the administration of the coastline only in 1920. Unlike today's quite wide acces to Baltic (770 km), in 1920 Poland had just 140 kilometers of coastline (more than 60 of which was Hel peninsula) and no major seaports until construction of Gdynia. That - together with rather poor economical condition of the young state - precluded creation of a large fleet (though some - rather fanciful - plans for such were made from time to time), and forced emphasis on relatively small vessels, such as destroyers and submarines. For financial reasons a purchase of submarines was approved only in 1924, with a plan for 6 patrol submarines of 600-700 tons and 3 submarine minelayers of 950 tons. After a detailed (and prolonged) evaluation decision was made to buy all boats from Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand (French shipyards were preferred from the start for political and financial reasons, but Italian and British offers were also reviewed), but only contract for minelayers was signed in 1926 while purchase of 6 smaller submarines was delayed until dropped altogether. First Polish submarines - 3 boats of the Wilk class (Wilk, Ryś, Żbik) - were commissioned in 1931-1932, forming Dywizjon Łodzi Podwodnych, in 1936 renamed Dywizjon Okrętów Podwodnych (Squadron of Submarines). In 1936 new fleet expansion plan made allowance for 9 new submarines - first 2 of them (Orzeł, Sęp) were built in the Netherlands and commissioned shortly before the war, and further 2 (to broadly similar requirements, but technically unrelated - despite popular misconception) were ordered in France but never built.

In September 1939 all 5 Polish submarines took positions in Gulf of Gdańsk and around Hel peninsula, but unfortunately achieved no immediate successes (thanks to German numerical superiority in the area on one hand and certain faults in tactics on the other) and eventually, after loss of bases in Gdynia and Hel, 3 submarines let themselves to be interned in Sweden, while remaining 2 managed to reach Great Britain, where they constituted Grupa Okrętów Podwodnych (Group of Submarines). From there they conducted number of patrols in the North Sea and along Norwegian coasts, but in June 1940 Orzeł was lost at sea with all hands, and rapidly worsening technical condition of Wilk forced it's removal to reserve in early 1941. As a replacement, first a U-class submarine was leased by Royal Navy in January 1941 as Sokół, and several months later a S-class submarine was leased from US Navy as Jastrząb. The latter was unfortunately sunk by friendly fire on her first war patrol in May 1942 and was replaced by another U-class, named Dzik. For the rest of the war Sokół and Dzik constituted operational part of Polish submarine force, serving both in the North European waters and in the Mediterranean, where they gained their greatest successes (although current research revealed that much smaller than originally thought) that gained them sobriquet 'Terrible Twins'.

After the war, lend-lease boats had to be returned to Royal Navy (Wilk, while still property of Polish state, remained in Great Britain because it's condition was beyond repair, and only in 1952 it was towed to Poland, but only to be scrapped shortly later), and most of their crews (and personnel of Britain-based Polish Armed Forces in Exile in general) were reluctant to return to communist-dominated Poland, so the initially the only source of submarines for the re-constituted Polish Navy (in the Homeland) were 3 boats interned in Sweden, which returned home in October 1945 (although majority of their crews also preferred to remain in exile), where they formed new Dywizjon Okrętów Podwodnych. In early 1950s both remaining Wilk class boats could serve for nothing more than training, leaving just Sęp as combat-worthy asset. For political reasons, Soviet Union was then only available source of submarines, so in mid-1950s 6 small Project 96 (Malyutka) submarines were leased (Kaszub, Mazur, Krakowiak, Ślązak, Kujawiak, Kurp), briefly bringing Polish submarine force to her highest-ever numerical state (9 boats between May and September 1955). In September Dywizjon was raised to 1 Brygada Okrętów Podwodnych (1st Submarine Brigade), directly subordinated to commander-in-chief of the Navy. Malyutkas served until mid 1960s, but already from 1962 they were gradually replaced by 4 much larger and more capable Project 613 (Whiskey) submarines (Orzeł, Sokół, Kondor, Bielik), and Sęp was finally retired in 1969. In 1971 reorganization brought downsizing of the force back to Dywizjon, now as part of 3 Flotylla Okrętów (3rd Warship Flotilla), and that state of affairs, both organizationally and numerically remained constant for around decade and a half. In 1980s Pr. 613's were becoming obviously outdated and it was intended to replace them with 4 modern Project 877 (Kilo) submarines, but dire financial state of Poland in 1980s (with socialist economy in state of near-collapse) permited purchase of only 1 boat (Orzeł) and 'temporary' lease of 2 Project 641 (Foxtrot) submarines (Wilk, Dzik) as a stop-gap until funds for more 877's will be available.

Poland's transition towards democracy (and eventually NATO and EU) in 1989 meant that 'traditional' source of submarines in the Soviet Union has dried up, so the stop-gap 641's had to serve for more than decade (until 2003), until replaced by 4 second-hand Type 207 Kobben submarines (Sokół, Sęp, Bielik, Kondor plus 5th for spares) obtained from Norway (as a 'stop-gap' before something new could be bought). During the last two decades a number of ways to modernize the force were investigated, but so far none brought any fruits. In early 2000's Poland was observer in Scandinavian 'Viking' program, in 2008 TKMS offered a sale of Type 214 submarine S-120 Papanikolis, which Hellenic Navy refused (for a time being only, as it eventually turned out) to accept, with an option to build more subs of the type, better tailored to Polish needs, and finally in 2013 programme Orka for 3 new submarines was initiated, but although a number of times 'the final decision was almost made' (including an idea for a - once again - 'stop-gap' lease of second-hand Swedish submarines), nothing came of it and recently it has been 'suspended' altogether. Unfortunately, all Type 207's are out of service by now (though last 2 nominally remain in commission, but are already being stripped of their equipment), leaving just 35-year-old Orzeł as Poland's sole remaining submarine - and that mostly on paper, as since 2014 she remains almost continuously in some kind of refit or repair...

Note: proper Polish term for a military submarine is 'okręt podwodny', which literally translates as 'underwater warship', but initially term 'łódź podwodna' - 'underwater boat' was officialy used, however (since 1936) while still commonly used by general public, it's technically incorrect, as these vessels raise naval ensign - which automatically makes them '(war)ships' and excludes them from 'boat' category in Polish legal sense.

A note on the drawings. Initially it was my intent to use as many existing SB drawings as possible (subject to alterations to conform to my personal style) - unfortunately, very early I started to have doubts about their accuracy, or more specifically: scaling. Obviously, it would be extremely unwise for me to expect that "only my sources are 100% correct" - but I knew what sources I used, knew that these dimensions are repeated over and over again in them, and didn't knew the sources used by other Artists (and all of them extremely distinguished). Therefore, I ended up doing nearly all the submarines from scratch (with few exceptions). Of course, it could easily turn out that I misplaced my trust in accuracy of sources and am open to discuss the matter. Btw. for each submarine I'll provide the intended length and my calculations of what it should be in SB scale.

Btw. if anybody would want to use any of these drawings to make more pics of their sisterships, then false-color blanks are available upon request.

Part 1 - Pre-war submarines

Wilk-class

Wilk-class submarine minelayers were part of the 1924 major fleet expansion plan that envisaged purchase of 9 submarines - 3 large minelayers and 6 smaller torpedo boats. Design offers were sent from French shipyards Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand, Schneider et Cie., Union de Cinq Chantieres (consortium of 5 shipyards from the Mediterranean), British Armstrong-Whitworth (Naval Yard Newcastle-on-Tyne) and Italian consortium consisting of Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino and Ansaldo. For political and financial reasons, French shipyards were preferred (France was Poland's main ally, source of military aid and of loans), and in December 1926 contract was signed with Normand shipyard for 3 minelayers, loosely inspired on Victor Reveille (ex-U 79) of the German UE-1 type. Construction process encountered numerous delays, that amounted to around 2 years - partially because of various modifications demanded by Polish Navy and partially because of number of shortcomings with work organization and quality control on part of the shipyard.

Three boats were:
Wilk (Wolf) - laid down 1927, launched 12 April 1929, commissioned 31 October 1931, removed from service as reserve vessel 2 April 1942, removed from navy list 1954;
Ryś (Lynx) - laid down 28 May 1927, launched 22 April 1929, commissioned 2 August 1931, decommissioned 8 September 1955;
Żbik (Wildcat) - laid down 1927, launched 14 June 1930, commissioned 20 February 1932, decommissioned 9 September 1955.
They had a displacement of 980/1248 tons, length of 78 meters, speed of 14,5 knots, range of 7000 nautical miles and armament of 1 x 100 mm Schneider Mle 1917 naval gun, 1 x 40 mm Vickers QF Mk II in 1935 replaced with 1 x II 13,2 mm Hotchkiss Mle 1929, 6 550 mm torpedo tubes - 4 on bow and a twin trainable launcher and up to 40 SM-5 type mines.

During their pre-war service Wilk-class submarines were the main striking element of the Polish fleet and therefore were intensively used, but also suffered from numerous technical malfunctions and - very importantly - from the fact they were made of lower-quality steel than designed (and paid for), which resulted in problems with corrosion and leaks. In 1939 they were to take positions in patrol zones to the north and east of Hel peninsula and were prepared, upon receiving order, to lay minefields in designated areas. In September 1939 Ryś (under kmdr ppor. Aleksander Grochowski) was damaged early on, resulting with a visible fuel leak that made the boat subjected to constant harrasment by German warships and aircraft, which forced her to retreat to Swedish waters and eventually to internment on 18 September. Żbik (under kmdr ppor. Michał Żebrowski) twice narrowly avoided being torpedoed by German submarines and achieved some delayed success, as on her mines German lost 2 ships (but only much after conclusion of the campaign), but leaks caused partial flooding of the batteries and prevented attempt to flee to Great Britain, so she was interned in Sweden on 25 September. Wilk (under kpt. mar. Bogusław Krawczyk) also suffered from damage inflicted by constant German attacks, but it managed to lay mines that (much later) sank one small German ship and eventually made a daring escape to Britain despite boat's poor condition. Once in Britain Wilk underwent first - of several, as it turned out eventually - refit (it was due for general refit already in 1938, but constant readiness due to international crises prevented it happening), and between late November 1939 and January 1941 made 9 war patrols - all of them unsuccessful and plagued by constant malfunctions, collisions, equipment failures and the like (and refits after almost every patrol), that gave her a reputation of a jinxed boat. It had also a negative consequences to the morale of the crew (already low due to captain's failures to deal with various grievances relating to conditions of service), who considered sailing on Wilk practically suicidal even without enemy intervention - contrary to the opinion of kpt. Krawczyk, who was very attached emotionally to his command and gradually turned from popular and cheerful personality to loathsome and paranoid (he even believed that boat is in perfect condition and constant troubles are caused by 'sabotage' by the crew, so constant patrols are needed to 'uncover' these 'villains'). That led to complete breakdown of discipline (which Krawczyk attempted to hide from his superiors) and finally to Krawczyk's suicide in July 1941. By then Wilk was already limited to training duties and remained as such until April 1942 when it was put in reserve with just a maintenance crew until 1946.

After the war Wilkt remained in Britain, as Polish government (Poland-based) decided that it's condition makes returning it home impractical, but in 1950 Admiralty demanded from Polish government that it finally recover it's property and in 1952 Wilk was towed to Gdynia, finally struck from navy list in 1954 and scrapped shortly afterwards. Remaining two boats of the class (Ryś and Żbik) returned to Poland from Sweden in October 1946 and were sent for general refit that lasted until late 1948/early 1949. Their combat capabilities were limited by impossibility to adapt their torpedo tubes to longer Soviet 533 mm torpedoes, so they had to rely on a tiny stockpile of original French 550 mm ones. In early 1950s their diving depth was limited to just 20 meters and both had their status downgraded to training boats, until they were finally decommissioned in September 1955.

Poland, Wilk, 1932
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Poland, Ryś, 1938
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Poland, Wilk, 1940
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Poland, Żbik, 1950
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Length: 78 meters (7800 / 15,24 = 511,81 or 512 pixels)

Sources
Bartelski Andrzej S., Dywizjon i Grupa Okrętów Podwodnych 1932-1945, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2012, nr 5,
Bartelski Andrzej S., Tajemnica ataku ORP Wilk, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2013, nr 11,
Bartelski Andrzej S., Wszystko, co zawsze chcieliście wiedzieć o pierwszym przetargu na polskie łodzie podwodne, ale baliście się zapytać..., "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2008, nr 11,
Bartelski Andrzej S., Kaczmarek Rafał Mariusz, Polskiej wojny podwodnej ciąg dalszy, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2008, nr 4,
Bartelski Andrzej S., Rusiecki Dariusz, Miny w Zatoce. Działania minowe na Zatoce Gdańskiej w czasie Wojny Polskiej 1939 roku, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2014, nr 4 specjalny,
Borowiak Mariusz, Polskie okręty wojenne w Szwecji 1939-1945. Suplement. Okręty podwodne OORP Ryś, Żbik i Sęp, Oświęcim 2019,
Borowiak Mariusz, Polskie okręty wojenne w Wielkiej Brytanii 1939-1945. Okręt podwodny ORP Wilk, Oświęcim 2017,
Borowiak Mariusz, Prawda czy fikcja na temat rejsów szpiegowskich?, "Morze" 2017, nr 4,
Borowiak Mariusz, Stalowe drapieżniki. Polskie okręty podwodne 1926-1947, Warszawa 2019,
Borowiak Mariusz, Wielki Leksykon Uzbrojenia. Wrzesień 1939. Okręty podwodne typu "Wilk", Warszawa 2014,
Ciślak Jarosław, Dywizjon Okrętów Podwodnych, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2012, nr 5,
Koszela Witold, Okręty floty polskiej, Oświęcim 2017,
Kaczmarek Rafał Mariusz, Polska wojna podwodna. Sukcesy i niepowodzenia bojowe polskich okrętów podwodnych podczas II wojny światowej, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2004, nr 4, 6,
Pertek Jerzy, Wielkie dni małej floty, Poznań 1987,
Rudzki Czesław, Polskie okręty podwodne 1926-1969, Warszawa 1985,
Soroka Marek, Polskie okręty wojenne 1945-1980, Gdańsk 1986,
Twardowski Marek, Dywizjon drapieżników, "Okręty" 2013, nr 2 specjalny,
Twardowski Marek, "Podwodne drapieżniki" - stawiacze min typu Wilk, Morza, Statki i Okręty" 1998, nr 3.

Orzeł-class

Orzeł-class submarines were ordered during 1936 fleet modernization plan, but due to mixed (politely speaking) experiences with French shipyards, this time offers were sought only from Britain, Italy, Sweden, USA and The Netherlands. Winning offer was presented by Dutch consortium Nederlandsche Vereenigde Scheepsbouw Bureaux (NVSB) composed of N.V. Koninklijke Maatschappij 'De Schelde' in Vlissingen and Rottderdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij and contract for 2 boats (initially as many as 4 were even contemplated) was signed on 29 January 1936.

Class was made of:
Orzeł (Eagle) - laid down 14 August 1936, launched 15 January 1938, commissioned 2 February 1939, lost with all hands at sea late May/early June 1940;
Sęp (Vulture) - laid down 17 November 1936, launched 17 October 1938, commissioned 16 April 1939, decommissioned 15 September 1969.
Their displacement was 1100/1650 tons, length of 84 meters, speed of 19,5 knots, range of 7000 nautical miles and armament of 1 x 105 mm Bofors L/40, after the war replaced on Sęp with 100 mm B-24-P until 1958 (when deck guns were removed from all Polish submarines), 1 x II x 40 mm Bofors (retractable to waterproof well), 12 533 mm torpedo tubes - 4 on bow, 4 on the stern and 2 twin trainables.

While construction of Orzeł proceeded quickly and Polish navy was extremely happy with exemplary cooperation with Vlissingen shipyard, construction of Sęp at Rotterdam was marred by delays, most of which caused by German attempts of sabotage. To prevent further delays, when Sęp was undergoing diving trials at Norwegian naval base in Horten, still with mostly Dutch crew, she was forcibly taken over by Polish part of the crew (and with destroyer ORP Burza as an 'extra argument') and sailed to Gdynia, when she was completed (Dutch anger was quickly soothed out, when Navy paid remaining rate and declared it's not going to raise the matter of - well deserved - penalty fees for delays). In September 1939 Sęp (under kmdr ppor. Władysław Salamon) had the bad luck of being seriously damaged already on the second day of war by depth charges from destroyed Z 14 Friedrich Ihn and after many days spent on futile attempts to repair the damage, she was forced to let herself be interned in Sweden. Orzeł's experiences in September 1939 were much more intense and remain probably most epic chapter in the history of Polish Navy. Initially she was assigned to the patrol zone in the Gulf of Gdańsk, but early on her captain, kmdr ppor. Henryk Kłoczkowski - until then considered a top-class submariner and a rising star of the navy - started to show signs of a breakdown and clearly attempted to avoid fighting, first leaving the patrol zone without authorization (supposedly due to excessive danger, but in fact Orzeł's patrol zone happened to be safest of all five and Kłoczkowski was heard several times saying things like "we need to 'wait out' this war safely") and then feigned an unspecified illnes that made him unable to eat (but it was quickly noticed that some loyal NCO's are secretly providing him with food), but refused to hand command to XO, kpt. mar. Jan Grudziński. Only on 10 September Grudziński obtained authorization from the fleet command to leave captain in some neutral port, but even then Kłoczkowski refused to disembark in Sweden and ordered a course to much more distant Tallin, which was reached on 14 September. There Kłoczkowski left the ship for hospital with all his luggage (which clearly suggested that he didn't intended to return - he stayed in hospital for just 3 days, then was interned in Estonia until it was incorporated to the Soviet Union in 1940, when he was arrested and kept in prison until Poland and USSR re-established diplomatic relations after German invasion in 1941 - Kłoczkowski finally arrived in Britain in 1942 but then was court-martialled, found guilty of gross dereliction of duty, demoted to ordinary seaman, dishonorably discharged from the navy and given suspended sentence of 4 years in prison), while Estonian authorities decided on 15 september to intern the submarine. Although it's commonly repeated that it happened under German and Soviet pressure, already in 1938 governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania declared (in accordance with XIII Hague Convention that permitted such decision) they will not give the customary 24-hour sanctuary period for warships of combatant nations unless they are in the danger of imminent sinking, but Polish navy and ministry of foreign affairs was either ignorant of the fact or disregarded it. During next two days Estonians took away ship's log, maps, gun breechblocks and part of torpedoes (torpedo hoist was deliberately damaged, preventing removal of 6 torpedoes), while the ship officers's were planning escape. At 3:00 am on 18 September Orzeł's crew overwhelmed two Estonian sentries on board and sabotaged lighting of the pier, cut off the mooring lines and, now under the command of kpt. mar. Jan Grudziński, sailed towards the open sea, amid heavy but ineffective fire from Estonian coastal batteries. Orzeł was free again, but with just 6 torpedoes, useless guns and... no maps, until navigator, por. mar. Marian Mokrski managed to create a provisional "Map of Baltic Number 1" from the register of coastal navigational aids, which nonetheless was good enough to enable Orzeł to patrol the Baltic for some time and then safely cross the Danish straits and reach Great Britain on 14 October. In Britain, after the necessary repairs, Orzeł was for some time employed in escorting the coastal convoys around Scotland and to Norway, before replacement breechblocks were obtained from Sweden. Then, between January and May 1940 she completed 5 patrols, mostly to Norwegian waters. During first 3 and 5th of them no enemy ships were spotted, but on 4th - on the eve of German invasion of Norway Orzeł intercepted and sank troopship Rio de Janeiro that was part of invasion fleet sailing towards Bergen. Unfortunately, Orzeł's 6th patrol from Great Britain turned out to be her last, as she was lost at sea with all hands in late May or early June of 1940 in unknown circumstances - either on German minefield or as a result of friendly-fire incident from RAF Hudson of 224 Squadron on 3 June 1940. Several expeditions were made to the North Sea to find the location of Orzeł's wreck, but none were successful so far.

Like Ryś and Żbik, Sęp returned to Poland from Sweden in October 1945. Between September 1946 and September 1947 she underwent a general refit, during which it lost its 105 mm Bofors gun in streamlined mounting for a soviet 100 mm B-24, and her internal torpedo tubes were adapted to use Soviet 53-58 torpedoes. For the next decade and a half Sęp (initially carrying hull number B-11, then P-11 and finally 291) was Poland's largest and by far most capable submarine, so was used intensively, not only for typical duties of a submarine, but she also starred in 1958 as her famous twin-sister in the war drama "Orzeł" (The Eagle). In June 1964 Sęp together with Orzeł (II) made a first post-war cruise of Polish submarines into the Atlantic (beyond Faroe Islands and Outer Hebrides) - a significant exercise, that was to become a constant feature of Polish submarine operations until early 1970s, but just few months later she suffered a tragic explosion during battery charging, that led to 8 deaths and serious damage to the bulkheads, that made any diving fundamentally unsafe. For that reason - after a lengthy repair - submarine spent last years of her service as non-submerging training vessel, until she was decommissioned on 15 September 1969 and scrapped in 1971-1972.

Poland, Orzeł, 1939
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Poland, Orzeł, 1940
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Poland, Sęp, 1950
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Poland, Sęp, 1964
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Length: 84 meters (8400 / 15,24 = 551,18 or 551 pixels)

Sources:
Błuś Marek, Obrona komandora Grudzińskiego, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2008, nr 12,
Błuś Marek, W pogoni za prawdą. Dokąd płynął ORP Orzeł?, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2007, nr 3,
Bartelski Andrzej S., Dywizjon i Grupa Okrętów Podwodnych 1932-1945, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2012, nr 5,
Bartelski Andrzej S., Kaczmarek Rafał Mariusz, Polskiej wojny podwodnej ciąg dalszy, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2008, nr 4,
Borowiak Mariusz, Polskie okręty wojenne w Szwecji 1939-1945. Suplement. Okręty podwodne OORP Ryś, Żbik i Sęp, Oświęcim 2019,
Borowiak Mariusz, Polskie okręty wojenne w Wielkiej Brytanii 1939-1945. Okręt podwodny ORP Orzeł, Oświęcim 2017,
Borowiak Mariusz, Stalowe drapieżniki. Polskie okręty podwodne 1926-1947, Warszawa 2019,
Ciślak Jarosław, Dywizjon Okrętów Podwodnych, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2012, nr 5,
Grzesikowski Tadeusz, ORP Sęp. Geneza okrętu, budowa i technika, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2011, nr 1, 2-3, 4,
Jando Hubert, Miny na kursie ORP Orzeł? Sytuacja minowa na przejściach morzem i w rejonach działania ORP Orzeł podczas jego ostatniego patrolu, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2011, nr 5,
Jando Hubert, Patrole bojowe ORP Orzeł. W 70 rocznicę zatonięcia okrętu, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2010, nr 6,
Jędrusik Ryszard, Internowanie dowódcy ORP Orzeł, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2016, nr 1 specjalny,
Kaczmarek Rafał Mariusz, Polska wojna podwodna. Sukcesy i niepowodzenia bojowe polskich okrętów podwodnych podczas II wojny światowej, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2004, nr 4, 6,
Kasperski Tadeusz, Ostatni rejs ORP "Orzeł" - tajemnice siódmego patrolu bojowego, "Okręty" 2012, nr 4,
Kasperski Tadeusz, Tajemnice piątego patrolu ORP Orzeł, "Wojsko i Technika Historia" 2020, nr 2 specjalny,
Kondracki Tadeusz, Wielki Leksykon Uzbrojenia. Wrzesień 1939. Okręty podwodne Orzeł i Sęp, Warszawa 2013,
Koszela Witold, Okręty floty polskiej, Oświęcim 2017,
van Maanen Ron, 20.000 Mijlen onder zee. Onderzeebootbouw in Vlissingen tussen 1904 en 1940, Vlissingen 2015,
van Maanen Ron, Gent Tobias van, Luctor et Emergo. De onderzeeboten van de Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde 1905-1958, Zelhem 2018,
Ostrowicki Sławomir, Nowak Grzegorz, Okręt podwodny ORP "Orzeł", "Okręty" 2011, nr 7,
Pertek Jerzy, Wielkie dni małej floty, Poznań 1987,
Quispel Hubert V., The job and the tools, Rotterdam 1960,
Rudzki Czesław, Polskie okręty podwodne 1926-1969, Warszawa 1985,
Sammalsoo Peedu, Tallińska epopeja ORP Orzeł we wrześniu 1939 roku, "Technika Wojskowa Historia" 2014, nr 5,
Soroka Marek, Polskie okręty wojenne 1945-1980, Gdańsk 1986,
Skwiot Mirosław, Siedemnaście dni września - działania bojowe ORP "Sęp", "Okręty" 2013, nr 3 specjalny,
Skwiot Mirosław, W poszukiwaniu Orła, "Okręty" 2013, nr 7-8, 9, 10; 2014, nr 1, 3, 4, 6,
Światły Alfred, Początek epopei. Dzieje ORP Orzeł raz jeszcze, "Morze, Statki i Okręty" 2008, nr 5, 6, 7-8, 10,
Trawicki Lech, Wodowanie w małym porcie o wielkiej stoczni, "Morze" 2018, nr 3,
Trubitsyn S., Podvodnye lodki tipa "Ozhel", "Morskaya Kollektsiya" 2012, nr 1,
Twardowski Marek, Dywizjon drapieżników, "Okręty" 2013, nr 2 specjalny,
https://www.orzelsearch.com/

Shipbucket

Ships of the Polish Navy - submarines

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