Treasures of Narvik - dives on the Polish destroyer ORP "Grom"

The interview with Adam “Zioło” Pawlik, the head of ASTD Poland, who a few days ago returned with his team from another expedition to Narvik. During the expedition, dives were conducted on the historic wreck of the ORP “Grom” destroyer, which is of great importance to Poles.

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D24 Hi, as far as I know this is not the first expedition you have organised to Narvik to the wreck of the Polish destroyer ORP “Grom”….

A.P. Yes, this is another edition and I don’t think I will ever get tired of diving on this wreck. Every time, even though I have done many dives there I discover something new and fascinating.

D24 Do you use any criteria in selecting the team?

A.P. I try to select people with a lot of experience in wreck diving and, of course, appropriate qualifications. This is a difficult wreck and the diving conditions are not easy either.

D24 I encounter divergent values for depth in studies. What depth have you logged?

A.P. The most advanced part of the wreck is the bow, you can admire it already from the depth of 80m, the greatest depth I logged was 110m.

D24 I saw that there was a woman in the team for the first time. I think she’s the first girl to dive on the Thunder?

A.P. Yes, this is Ilona Skwierzynska, ASTD Full Tmx instructor, perfectly familiar with great depths, having done several dives below 170m and doing very well during advanced wreck dives.

D24 What makes the wreck so rarely visited by divers?

A.P. First of all, Grom is a wreck where diving is absolutely prohibited. Getting the permit is not an easy task. Appearing in the Narvik chapter house once again my task is much easier, the more so that during one of the expeditions we did some work for the Norwegians. I remember how many documents and studies we had to provide during the first expedition to get the permit. I think it was also helpful that our expeditions were under the patronage of the Maritime Museum. The captain’s office is very reluctant to take up the subject, because the wreck lies on the route of huge transport ships, which very often anchor in the area of our destroyer’s position. An additional problem is the very intense currents, which are a considerable danger for divers.

D24 Do you follow any special procedures in relation to hazards?

A.P. I think every wreck dive requires proper safety procedures. I put two dinghies in position, with at least two/three support divers staying behind. At least one/two people remain on shore in constant communication with the team on the pontoons. The Narvik captain’s office wishes to keep you informed about the dive, according to the previously established standards.

D24 What is the water temperature in Rombakken?

A.P. At the bottom 5 degrees, above 6 metres 7-8 degrees. For this reason, when diving in windless weather, we used to stop at three metres

D24 Do you use any dive centre on site?

A.P. No, during such expeditions I try to be self-sufficient. We take from Poland pontoons, engines, compressor and cylinders with helium, oxygen and all service equipment.

D24 Do you prefer closed circuits?

A.P. Yes, but this is not a decisive criterion. In order to be able to scuba dive on wrecks lying below 100 m it is reasonable to use sets slightly larger than 2×12. Ilona, that is as a woman endowed by nature with the consumption of 13 litres per minute, dived in a 2×15 set. Most of the guys diving here on the OC use 2×19, 2×20 twinsets. I, of course, dive on the X-CCR and for some time now I have been boilouting with the second rebreather from the IQ-Suba Flex stable.

D24 Grom is not the only attractive diving position in Narvik, have you penetrated other wrecks besides it?

A.P. Yes, this year however we gave up diving on other shipwrecks in Rombakken. Our destination was Lake Arajavri/Hartvik. This is a lake with a very interesting history. During the Second World War, an interesting episode took place. When the Germans invaded Norway to occupy the port of Narvik and take control of the valuable iron ore. Due to the extremely fierce clashes, the Germans began to experience a shortage of ammunition quite quickly. Thirteen Junkers JU-52s were sent to deliver supplies, and it was clear from the start that there would only be enough fuel for a one-way flight. As the Germans had not captured an airfield, the landing took place on the frozen Hartvik Lake. Two of the JU-52s were shot down, but the remaining 11 aircraft, despite being damaged, reached the makeshift landing field and carried out their mission. As there was not much fuel left in their tanks, the remaining fuel was poured into one of the planes, it underwent the necessary repairs and took off in the direction of Germany. The other planes went down with the spring thaw. Some of them were recovered and restored in the 1980s, while others still remain at the bottom.

We decided to scan the bottom of the lake with sonar and possibly check positions. However, scanning took us a very long time, and we didn’t have enough time to view the material on a large enough monitor. We checked only those fragments of the film which aroused our interest during the scanning itself on a small sonar monitor. We are at the stage of laboriously reviewing many hours of material. I can say, however, that two items seem highly promising. There is also hope in the report of a local angler who knew the history of the place from his father and was willing to share it with us.

D24 I understand that you intend to return there…

A.P. It goes without saying, June 2017 is already booked. If anyone would like to join us please contact me. For logistical reasons I am limiting groups to a maximum of ten people.

D24 Will you be editing any video from this trip?

A.P. Yes, I would like to focus on the history of the Junkers though. My video of ORP Grom from 2014 is available below. I will return to this topic when I finally manage to penetrate its interior.

D24 Then I wish you success on both fronts in Narvik

A.P. Thank you and of course I promise to tell the rest of the story.

Participating in the expedition were:
Ilona Skwierzyńska
Artur Nowak
Paweł Duliniec
Sebastian Kaspryszyn
Adam Pawlik

Thanks for your help and support:
WATS company for the pontoons
Messer company for gas
Grzegorz Rutkowski, Grzegorz Forysiak, Michał Lesiak, Paweł Nowacki for help in organisation