Santi's Finding the Eagle expedition ready to go to sea - video

On 20 May 2017, the fourth Santi Find the Eagle expedition will set off from the port of Gdynia. The cyclically organised search aims to find the wreck of the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł.

This year’s expedition will be carried out using the research vessel ‘Mewo Nawigator’, which is used to carry out specialised hydrographic work. The latest Santi Finding Eagle expedition intends to finally verify the hypothesis that the cause of the sinking Polish ship The latest Santi Finding Eagle expedition intends to verify the hypothesis that the cause of the sinking was a bombing attack by a British aircraft.

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Acquired for the expedition by the Gdynia-based Fundacja Odnaleźć Orła (Foundation to Reveal the Eagle), the vessel is adapted to carry out hydrographic works. This includes the search for wrecks. Thanks to the support of the Maritime Institute in Gdańsk, the vessel will be retrofitted for the expedition. This includes a state-of-the-art integrated maritime navigation system. It will also be fitted with specialist research equipment, including a multi-beam echo sounder (MBES). This makes it possible to effectively survey the seabed in a bandwidth of up to 400 metres.

It will also be retrofitted with a set of search and inspection equipment. These will include towed side scan sonar. The device allows detailed imaging of findings and is a reserve in case of failure of the multibeam probe. Another new development worth mentioning is the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). The ROV is equipped with a camera and lighting, which allows for detailed inspections of further wrecks discovered during the expedition.

Since the first expedition, the proper use of the measurement equipment gathered on board has been ensured by a staff of highly qualified hydrographers, employees of the Maritime Institute, whom I have the pleasure to manage on a daily basis – said said Benedykt Hac, Ph.D., one of the co-organisers of the expedition and Head of the Department of Operational Oceanography at the Maritime Institute in Gdańsk

Friendly Fire

This year’s Santi Find the Eagle expedition aims to verify the hypothesis according to which ORP “Orzeł” sunk in the North Sea, in a position located about 120 nautical miles east of the Scottish port of Rosyth – then the base of Polish submarines. The attack was supposed to have taken place on 3 June 1940, as a result of a misidentification of the ship by a British Lockheed Hudson aircraft. It is assumed that the crew of the plane considered the “Orł” to be a German U-boat.

Search area

In search of the wreck of the Polish ship, the members of the expedition intend to explore about 1350 km² of the seabed. They will focus on the area near the place of the air attack. Obviously taking into account the area already searched earlier during the expeditions organised by them. This includes the area of the seabed determined by the navigational error that the aircrew may have made in 1940.

The funds gathered this year by the members of the Foundation will allow us to carry out the longest search in the history of expeditions so far, aimed at finding the wreck of the “Eagle”. The area of the bottom we want to explore is huge, the equivalent of more than three times the area of the Tricity agglomeration. We hope that this season we will be able to verify the hypothesis put forward by our historians in practice. summarized Tomasz Stachura, the head of the expedition and the owner of Santi company, the titular sponsor of the expedition

More information can be found on project homepage and on official profile.