Battle of Danzig Bay

Battle of Danzig Bay
	Part of Danzig Bay, Baltic Sea
Result	Strategic German victory Cancellation of Operation Rurka;

Belligerents

Germany

PolandCommanders and leaders Unknown Stefan Kwiatkowski †
Viktor LomidzeStrength 33 Junkers Ju 87B 7 minelayers
2 gunboats
AA units at Hel PeninsulaCasualties and losses 7-10 aircraft destroyed or damaged 52 killed and wounded
2 minelayers damaged

Hel Peninsula

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Location within Poland

Hel Peninsula

Hel Peninsula (Baltic Sea)

The Battle of Danzig Bay (

Danzig Bay). It was the first naval-air battle of World War II.^[1]^[2]

Background

The

Danzig Bay and transit movement between Germany and East Prussia. All submarines were dispatched for their operational zones in the southern Baltic to take part in the Worek Plan

, an attempt to defend the Polish coast against possible German landings.

Prelude

All the remaining surface vessels were to be dispatched from the naval base in Gdynia to Hel Peninsula, from where they were to start the so-called Operation Rurka. The plan was to lay a naval mine barrier between Hel Peninsula and Danzig to prevent any enemy ship from entering the area.

At dusk ten Polish warships left Gdynia for

minesweepers Jaskółka, Czapla, Żuraw, Czajka, Rybitwa and Mewa and gunboats Komendant Piłsudski and Generał Haller. The destroyer ORP Wicher had left for its position earlier that day and did not partake in the battle.^[2]

That afternoon a German reconnaissance aircraft spotted Gryf. Within half an hour a German airstrike was organized and launched.[1]

Battle

While traversing Danzig Bay, the flotilla was surprised by a group of 33 German warplanes, mostly

Junkers Ju 87B Stuka dive bombers. The German aircraft divided themselves into two groups and attacked. The Polish ships zig-zagged wildly to avoid being hit. Concentrated AA fire forced the planes to bomb from a higher altitude.^[1] The air raid was mostly unsuccessful and the Polish vessels suffered only minor losses. The backbone of the Polish flotilla, ORP Gryf with over 300 naval mines

on board, remained unharmed.

However, soon after the first air raid was repelled, the German bombers returned, around 18:00. There were no direct hits, but two Polish

Wiktor Łomidze assumed command. Fearing that her cargo of 300 mines was a liability, he ordered the munitions be thrown overboard.^[3]

Aftermath

After the air raids, the Polish flotilla arrived at Hel. However, since ORP Gryf had abandoned all of its mines and was damaged, Operation Rurka had to be called off. ORP Wicher, did not receive the orders calling off the operation and went straight to the pre-designed zone of operations to cover the minelayers. At night, Wicher, commanded by Lt. Cdr. Stefan de Walden, spotted two German destroyers, and later a ship misidentified as a light cruiser, but did not attack, not wanting to compromise the operation.

After return to Hel Peninsula, Wicher and Gryf were stripped of most of equipment and served as anti-aircraft platforms in the Hel naval base.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Williamson, D. G. Poland Betrayed: The Nazi-Soviet Invasions of 1939 p. 67-68
^
ISBN 9781612513973
.

^ ^a ^b Haar, Geirr H. The Gathering Storm 47.

Sources

(in Polish) Jerzy Pertek, Wielkie dni małej floty, Poznań, 1976.

External links

[DGW-1] Williamson, D. G. Poland Betrayed: The Nazi-Soviet Invasions of 1939 p. 67-68

[VOO-2] 
ISBN 9781612513973
.

[haar-3] Haar, Geirr H. The Gathering Storm 47.

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