The ''Grom''-class destroyers were two

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s, built for the Polish Navy by the British company of J. Samuel White,

Cowes Cowes () is an English 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 by the Cowes Floa ...

. They were laid down in 1935 and commissioned in 1937. The two ''Grom''s were some of the fastest and most heavily armed destroyers of World War II.

Design

Despite having ordered its previous pair of destroyers ( and ) from France, a country with which it had strong ties, Poland decided to acquire the second pair from the United Kingdom, possibly in recognition of the excellence of British destroyer designs at the time. The selected design resulted in large and powerful ships, superior to German and Soviet destroyers of the time, and comparable to the famous British of 1936. The main armament was changed from the 130 mm used on the to the standard British destroyer calibre of 4.7 inch (120 mm). However, the guns were not British, but were instead Swedish Bofors 50cal QF M34/36, the same as those used previously on the minelayer . Approximate cost for refurbishing of the ORP Blyskawica is around 650million zlotys.

Original ''Grom'' class

There were two ships built: * - Sunk on 4 May 1940 in Ofotfjord near

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ball ...

* - Currently preserved as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

in Gdynia

Improved ''Grom'' class

Two more ships of this class (''Huragan'' and ''Orkan'') were ordered in 1939 to be built in Gdynia, but war broke out soon after the first was laid down. They would have been the first major modern warships to be built in Poland.

Operational service

Just before the war broke out, the two destroyers were evacuated to Britain to fight alongside the Royal Navy. Since they were designed for Baltic operations, they had to be modified soon after their arrival there to improve stability, to enable them to operate successfully in the rough waters of the North Sea and the Atlantic. ''Grom'' was lost in this state in 1940. In December 1941 the remaining ship, ''Błyskawica'', had the original 4.7 inch guns replaced by eight 4-inch (102 mm) guns in twin mountings. Various other modifications of armaments and sensors were made as the war progressed.

Specifications

*Displacement: 2,144t, 2,560t full load *Dimensions: 114 m x 11.3 m x 3.3 m *Armament (initial): 7-4.7 in (120 mm) (3 × 2,1 × 1), 4–40 mm AA (2 × 2), 8 13,2 mm MG (4 × 2), 6-21 in (533 mm) TT (2 × 3), DCTs *Propulsion: 54,000 shp Parson geared turbine engines = 39 kt *Complement: 192

References

{{WWII Polish ships Destroyer classes