The wreck of ORP "Kujawiak" found!

The Polish expedition “The Hunt for L72″ on 22 September located and identified the wreck of the Polish destroyer ORP “Kujawiak”. On 16 June 1942, the vessel sank off the coast of Malta, where she was on escort duty. It was while protecting one of the transports that the L-72 hit a mine and went down. According to different sources 12-13 Polish seamen lost their lives that day.

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The expedition that found the wreck of the “Kujawiak” is a project led by Roman Zajder and Peter Wytykowski, organisers of the Wreck Festival, among others, who are well known to our readers. As you can see, after expeditions to Gallipoli and Sierra Leone, the gentlemen wanted to discover a bit of Polish history together with their companions.

The wreck is located just a few Mm off the Maltese coast, at a depth of 95m, making it difficult for divers to explore it directly. Identification was possible by taking underwater photographs and comparing the details of the wreck, with shipyard plans of the ship.

According to the leader of the expedition, Roman Zajder, the ship is in good condition and has not fallen apart. Another expedition is planned for next year, which will be carried out together with the employees of the University of Malta. The first dives are also planned for next year.

During her short service, “Kujawiak” participated in missions in the Bristol Channel and the English Channel. The last wartime touch before sinking was the big operation “Harpoon”, during which she escorted supplies to Malta.

The keel for ORP “Kujawiak” was laid on 22 November 1939 in Vickers-Armstrong shipyard, High Walker, Tyne. The Hunt II type destroyer was originally planned to enter service with the Royal Navy as HMS “Oakley”. The situation changed when the Polish government placed an order for 18 ships of this type on 4 September 1939. The order for 18 ships of this type was placed by the Polish government on 4 September 1939. “Kujawiak” was one of the three from this order that went to our Navy.

The L-72 measured 85.34m long and 9.62m wide. The displacement of the vessel was 1050t. The ship was powered by two sets of Parsons steam turbines, 19000 shp; two Admiralty type boilers and two screws. This allowed her to develop a speed of 27 knots and translated into a range of 2000Mm at 20 knots and 3700Mm at an economy speed of 14 knots.

The whole unit was armed with 6 universal guns cal. 102 mm, 4 plot guns cal. 40 mm, 2-4 plot guns cal. 20 mm, 2 machine guns cal. 7.7 mm, 1-2 launchers and 2 depth bomb throwers.

Source: rmf24.pl, wikipedia.org, historia.wp.pl, orpkujawiak.com