The improved ''Grom''-class destroyers of 1939 were the third and fourth planned ships of the ''Grom'' class of

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s ordered for the

Polish Navy The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...

shortly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. They were to be built in Poland, the first destroyers so constructed, and were to be named ''Huragan'' ("

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

") and ''Orkan'' ("

windstorm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm) ...

"), respectively. Their design included greater power and displacement than the first two ships of the class. Their construction was interrupted by the beginning of

and they were never completed.

History

In the late 1930s, the

decided to expand its destroyer fleet. With positive reviews of the operational service of the two British-built s, ''

Grom The GROM Military Unit ( Polish: ''Jednostka Wojskowa GROM''), is a Polish special forces unit and forms part of the Special Troops Command of the Polish Armed Forces. It is believed to consist of around 250 operatives plus support personnel. G ...

'' and '' Błyskawica'', the Navy decided to order two more ships of that type. This time, however, the order was given (on 1 May 1939) to the recently expanded Polish Naval Yard (''Stocznia Marynarki Wojennej'') in

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

rather than to the British

J. Samuel White J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White (1838–1915). It came to prominence during the Victorian era. During the 20th century it built destroyers and other naval craft for both the ...

shipyard in

Cowes Cowes () is an England, English port, seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked b ...

, responsible for the two previous ships. They would have been the first

-class warships to be built in Poland (till then, the Polish shipyards have been building smaller ships, such as

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

s and

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s). The White shipyards were to provide the turbines, and some armament was also ordered abroad (main and secondary guns from Swedish

Bofors AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms manufacturer BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years. History Locate ...

, and machine guns from the French company

Hotchkiss et Cie Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Compagnie was a French arms and, in the 20th century, automobile manufacturer first established by American gunsmith Benjamin B. Hotchkiss. He moved to France and set up a factory, first ...

). The cost of the destroyers was 32 million zlotys, of which 55% was to be spent in Poland. The two new destroyers were planned with several changes in the design. The superstructure and funnels were to be grouped together, and crew quarters layout was changed.

Welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...

was to be used more prominently in the construction. Engine power was to be increased by 2,500 horsepower; the displacement would be increased by 70 tons. ''Huragan'' was to be ready for April 1942 (36 months after being ordered), and ''Orkan'', for October of that year. Construction work on ''Huragan'' begun on 15 July 1939, when its

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

was laid down. The

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

on 1 September 1939 interrupted the construction; some materials were diverted to the improvised

armoured train An armoured train (Commonwealth English) or armored train (American English) is a railway train protected with heavy metal plating and which often includes railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns, and autocannons. Some have also h ...

"Kashubian Dragon".Tadeusz Krawczak, Jerzy Odziemkowski: Polskie pociągi pancerne w wojnie 1939. Wyd. I. Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza, 1987, seria: Biblioteka Pamięci Pokoleń. . pp. 172–207 Within the next few weeks, the Gdynia and Polish Navy shipyards were captured by the Germans. The construction of the two destroyers, barely started, was never resumed, as the materials were scrapped or re-purposed by the occupier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grom Improved Grom World War II destroyers of Poland