ORP Orkan (G90)

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History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Myrmidon
Namesake	Myrmidon
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Scotland
Laid down	7 December 1939
Launched	2 March 1942
Stricken	18 November 1942
Fate	transferred to the Polish Navy
Poland
Name	ORP Orkan
Namesake	European windstorm
Acquired	18 November 1942
Commissioned	18 November 1942
Fate	Sunk by U-378, 8 October 1943
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	M-class destroyer
Displacement	1,920 long tons (1,950 t) ( standard ) 2,725 long tons (2,769 t) ( deep load )
Length	362 ft 3 in (110.4 m) (o/a)
Beam	37 ft (11.3 m)
Draught	14 ft (4.3 m)
Installed power	48,000 shp (36,000 kW) 2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Propulsion	2 × shafts 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range	5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	190
Sensors and processing systems	ASDIC Type 285 gunnery radar Type 290 air warning radar
Armament	3 × twin 4.7 in (120 mm) Mk XI dual-purpose guns 1 × single anti-aircraft gun 1 × quadruple QF 2-pdr (40 mm) Mk VIII AA guns 2 × single Oerlikon 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns 2 × quadruple, 2 × twin anti-aircraft machineguns 1 × quadruple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 42 × depth charges, 2 × racks, 2 × throwers

ORP Orkan, formerly HMS Myrmidon, was an

The destroyer was sunk by the German submarine U-378 on 8 October 1943. There were 179 dead and 44 survivors. The sinking of Orkan was the biggest life loss of Polish Navy resulting from a single incident in its entire history.^[1]

Description

The M-class destroyers were repeats of the preceding L class. They displaced 1,935 long tons (1,966 t) at

She was built by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan, Scotland. She was originally commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Myrmidon and was funded by St Helens as the result of the Warships Week National Savings campaign.^[3]

Service

She was transferred to the free Polish Navy based in

At 07.05 hours on 8 October 1943, Orkan (under Lt. Stanisław Hryniewiecki), serving as one of the escorts of the convoy SC 143, 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 HMS Musketeer.

The sinking of Okran was the biggest life loss of Polish Navy resulting from a single incident in its entire history.^[1]

Notes

References

• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press.
  ISBN 0-85177-146-7
  .
• ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8
  .
• English, John (2001). Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society.
  ISBN 0-905617-64-9
  .
• Friedman, Norman (2006). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
  ISBN 1-86176-137-6
  .
• ISBN 1-55750-048-7
  .
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service.
  OCLC 164893555
  .
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
  ISBN 1-59114-119-2
  .
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
  ISBN 0-87021-326-1
  .

• Polish Navy in Scotland
• U boat.net
• HMS Cavalier website

56°08′N 27°05′W / 56.133°N 27.083°W / 56.133; -27.083