The Worek Plan (or ''Operation Worek'', , literally ''Plan Sack'') was an operation of 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 ...

in the first days of

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 ...

, in which its five

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s formed a screen in order to prevent German naval forces from carrying out landings on the Polish coast, and to attack enemy ships bombarding Polish coastal fortifications, in particular the base on the

Hel Peninsula Hel Peninsula (; ; ; or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is located in Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Name The name of the peninsula ...

. The operation came to naught, as the Germans did not have any plans for naval landings. It caused the submarines to operate in a confined area near the shore in shallow waters, making them vulnerable to strong enemy anti-submarine forces. As a result, despite making a number of attempts, the submarines were unable to directly sink any enemy ships during the operation, although a mine placed by the ''Żbik'' did sink a German

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 ...

. No Polish submarines were lost to enemy action, but they suffered progressive wear and tear, and technical problems, forcing the submarine commanders to break off their actions, effectively ending the operation by the middle of September 1939.

Plan

The plan was created for the five Polish submarines ''Orzeł'' (Eagle), ''Wilk'' (Wolf), ''Sęp'' (Vulture), ''Żbik'' (Wild Cat) and ''Ryś'' (Lynx) to use in the event that superior enemy surface forces took control of the Baltic Sea (the Polish surface navy consisted only of four

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, some minelayers, minesweepers, and gunboats). The submarines were to operate near the Polish coast, in the area of the Danzig Bay and the

. They were to conserve their limited munitions for "significant military targets" (destroyer or larger) shelling the Polish coast or attempting to land forces on it and interdict naval traffic between the German mainland and

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

. ''Wilk'', ''Ryś'', and ''Żbik'' were to mine the

Gulf of Danzig A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of salt water that ar ...

. The plan explicitly stated that the submarines were to act according to

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

, and single, unarmed ships had to be warned before being attacked. In the event that all Polish naval bases were overrun, the submarines were to operate in the Baltic before evacuating to Britain. If that wasn't possible, the plan called for them to seek internment in a neutral port. ''Orzeł'' was to take the position furthest inside Danzig Bay, from

Jastarnia Jastarnia (, ) is a resort town in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodship, northern Poland. It is located on the Hel Peninsula on the Baltic Sea. It is a popular Polish seaside resort and small fishing port. The place was mentioned as "Osternese" in ...

to the estuary of the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

river. East of ''Orzeł'', in the entry to the Bay, was the place for ''Wilk''. The remaining three submarines were to operate north of the Bay: ''Sęp'' was further West near Rozewie, ''Ryś'' was further east, and ''Żbik'' in the middle. They had separate areas for recharging batteries during the night: ''Orzeł'' even deeper within Danzig Bay, and the other ships north of their positions. At the beginning of September, ''Sęp'', ''Ryś'', and ''Żbik'' were at Hel, while ''Wilk'' and ''Orzel'' were in

Oksywie Oksywie (, ) is a district of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is older than Gdynia by several centuries. Oksywie is notable as the location of the Polish Naval Academy and one of th ...

Execution

The Worek Plan was put into action with 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 ...

, after a distress call was received from the garrison at Westerplatte on the morning 1 September 1939. Several hours after hostilities started, the submarines received communications by radio to open the envelopes containing orders to implement the Worek Plan. ''Wilk'' loaded 10 torpedoes, 22 mines, and 114 100mm shells (for the deck gun) before departure. Due to heavy air activity, the submarines had to approach their positions submerged. ''Orzel'' was ordered to attack the ''

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

'', should the

pre-dreadnought Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively appl ...

leave Danzig. By the evening of the same day the last submarine (''Sęp'') arrived in its sector. On the morning of 2 September ''Wilk'' attempted an attack on the German destroyer Z15 Erich Steinbrinck, but was forced to withdraw after being attacked by supporting vessels. Later that day ''Sep'' launched a single torpedo at the

German destroyer Z14 Friedrich Ihn Z14 ''Friedrich Ihn'' was a built for Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' in the mid-1930s. The ship was named after the First World War German naval officer Friedrich Ihn. At the beginning of World War II, the ship was initially deployed to block ...

from 400 yards out. The torpedo missed and the destroyer dropped depth charges, severely damaging the submarine.Haar, Geirr H
The Gathering Storm
40-55. The next day the German submarine U-14 (1935) launched a torpedo at ''Sep'', but it exploded prematurely. On 4 September ''Orzels captain, Lieutenant Commander Henryk Kłoczkowski, deemed it impossible to continue with the operation in his sector, and decided to withdraw into the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. The submarine was attacked by the German minesweepers ''M3'' and ''M4''. One

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

exploded just above ''Orzel'', knocking out all lights and sending it crashing into the sea bed. The submarine escaped that night under the cover of darkness. Faced with an oil leak, Kłoczkowski chose to seek refuge in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. The next day ''Wilk'' attempted to lay mines off of Hel, but was forced to abort in the face of an attack by German vessels. After this, its captain, Lieutenant Commander Krawczyk decided to withdraw northward. On 7 September the German submarine U-22 made a failed torpedo attack on the ''Żbik''. On 11 September ''Wilk'' prepared to attack the

German cruiser Admiral Hipper was the lead ship of the of heavy cruisers which served with Nazi Germany's during World War II. The ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1935 and launched in February 1937; entered service shortly before the ...

, but the ship made an unexpected course change and the submarine wasn't able to proceed. Later that day, the Polish Naval Command issued an order to all of the submarines to seek British waters. ''Wilk'' surfaced off the Swedish coast. Three days later it spotted the

German destroyer Z4 Richard Beitzen The German destroyer ''Z4 Richard Beitzen'' was one of four Type 1934 destroyers built for the German Navy (''Kriegsmarine'') during the mid-1930s. Completed in 1937, the ship spent most of her time training although she did participate in the ...

and torpedo boat ''T107'' in

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; ; ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Denmark–Sweden border, Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width var ...

. Believing ''Wilk'' to be a Swedish submarine on a

neutrality patrol On September 3, 1939, the British and French declarations of war on Germany initiated the Battle of the Atlantic. The United States Navy Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) established a combined air and ship patrol of the United States Atlantic co ...

, the German ships didn't take any action. ''Wilk'' proceeded to withdraw through

Kattegat The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Swede ...

. ''Sęp'' didn't receive the order to abort the operation until 13 September. With the submarine heavily damaged, and Hel being too dangerous to return to, the crew headed for Sweden. ''Ryś'', also damaged, interned itself in Sweden on 18 September. ''Żbik'' followed suit on 25 September. On 1 October one of the mines ''Żbik'' had laid sank the German

M-85 with a loss of all 24 hands.

Aftermath

''Orzeł'' docked in

on the night of 14 September for rest and repairs (international law allowed 24 hours before the ship was to be

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

). Under German pressure the Estonians interned the submarine and its crew. In an event known as the ''

Orzeł incident The ''Orzeł'' incident occurred at the beginning of World War II in September 1939, when the interned Polish submarine escaped from Tallinn, in neutral Estonia, to the United Kingdom. Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union used the incident as one of ...

'', the crew reassumed control of their vessel and escaped into the Baltic. After several fruitless weeks at sea, the submarine reached the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 14 October and continued fighting under Royal Navy command.Haar, Geirr H
The Gathering Storm
p. 53 ''Orzel'' went missing in 1940. ''Sęp'' surfaced outside of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

on 17 September and was from then on interned. ''Ryś'', damaged and unable to engage German units, eventually was interned in a Swedish port from 18 September. ''Wilk'' successfully navigated the

Danish straits The Danish straits are the straits connecting the Baltic Sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. Historically, the Danish straits were internal waterways of Denmark; however, following territorial losses, Øresund and Fehmarn B ...

and arrived in the

on 20 September. The submarine survived the war. ''Żbik'' was low on provisions and the crew interned the submarine in a Swedish port on 25 September.

Assessment

The Germans had no intention to carry out the landings which the Worek Plan was designed to oppose. However, an operational plan failed mainly due to its pure defensive nature, as an opposite to the aggressive nature of submarines, by their characteristics not intended and prepared to fulfill defensive roles.Andrzej Makowski: ''Dywizjon okrętów podwodnych Polskiej Marynarki Wojennej w kampanii wrześniowej. Ocena operacyjno-taktycznego użycia. „Studia z Dziejów Polskiej Historiografii Wojskowej''. 13, 2012. WIH UAM w Poznaniu. ISSN 1234-2041 According to contemporary research, Polish submarine campaign in September 1939 failed due to misunderstanding of the nature of modern submarine warfare in high command of Polish Navy, particularly by Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Naval Command

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Józef Unrug Józef Unrug (; 7 October 1884 – 28 February 1973) was a German and Polish admiral who helped establish Poland's navy after World War I. During the opening stages of World War II, he served as the Polish Navy's commander-in-chief. As a German P ...

, who refused to accept any of a few offensive operational plans prepared by the Chief of Submarine Squadron

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Aleksander Mohuczy. One of them, the best known today, was an offensive operational plan codenamed Burza (Thunderstorm), that assumed independent search of targets, with free maneuvering and attacking of enemy ships and transports between

Świnoujście Świnoujście (; ; ; meaning " Świna ivermouth"; ) is a city in Western Pomerania and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, in the extreme north-west of Poland, mainly on the islands of Usedom and Wolin, and Karsibór island, once ...

() and

. In consideration and planning was also a plan of actions on the sea routes between harbors of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

port of

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...

As a result, Polish submarines deployed along Polish coast, in proximity to their own naval base, were deprived of chances to find targets – while they were exposed there to operations of German air and light naval antisubmarine units. Therefore, although no Polish submarine was sunk in this stage of war, the operation had no discernible impact on the September campaign.

Notes

References