ORP Orkan
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| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Myrmidon |
| Namesake: | Myrmidon |
| Laid down: | December 7, 1939 |
| Launched: | December 2, 1941 |
| Decommissioned: | November 18, 1942 |
| Fate: | transferred to the Polish Navy |
| Career (Poland) |  |
| Name: | ORP Orkan |
| Namesake: | European windstorm |
| Acquired: | November 18, 1942 |
| Commissioned: | November 18, 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | October 8, 1943 |
| Fate: | sunk with 178 hands, 44 saved |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,935 tons standard |
| Length: | 362 ft (110 m) |
| Beam: | 36 ft 9 in (11.2 m) |
| Draught: | 14 ft 10 in (4.5 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 boilers, 2 shaft geared turbines, 48,000 hp |
| Speed: | 36 knots (67 km/h) |
| Complement: | ca. 200 |
| Armament: | Six 4.7-inch (119 mm) guns (3x2), 1 four barreled pom-pom (40 mm), Eight 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2x4) |
ORP Orkan formerly HMS Myrmidon was an L and M class destroyer in the Polish Navy during World War II. The name translates as "hurricane".
She was originally commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Myrmidon; she was transferred to the free Polish Navy based in Britain in December 1942. She was sunk by U-378 on October 8, 1943 in the Barents Sea. There were 179 dead and 44 survivors.
She was built by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan, Scotland.
Orkan served with the Royal Navy 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.
[edit] Sinking
At 07.05 hours on 8 October 1943, the ORP Orkan (under Lt. Stanisław Hryniewiecki) 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 the HMS Musketeer.
[edit] References
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