Stefan Kwiatkowski was a Polish commander of the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

and a recipient of the Silver Cross of the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

. He was known for being killed on the first day 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 ...

during the Battle of Danzig Bay while commanding the .

Biography

He was born on 8 November 1894 in Korelicze,

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

, in the family of Wacław. In 1915 he graduated from the Kiev River School, then he attended the Junkier School, which he did not graduate. In 1918, he was part of the

Polish I Corps in Russia 1st Polish Corps in Russia (; ) was a military formation formed on 24 July 1917 in Minsk from Polish and Lithuanian personnel serving in the Western and Northern Fronts of the Russian Army. In the chaotic period at the end of World War I on ...

, commanded by General

Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki (Iosif Romanovich while in the Russian military; sometimes also Dowbór-Muśnicki; ; 25 October 1867 – 26 October 1937) was a Polish general, serving with the Imperial Russian and then Polish armies. He was also the m ...

and was a standard-bearer of the First . In 1919 he joined the emerging

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 ...

as a second lieutenant. He took part in the

, initially as a liaison officer of the

Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy The Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy (), better known as the ''Pinsk Flotilla'', was the brown-water navy, inland branch of the Polish Navy operating on the Vistula river and in the area of the Pripet Marshes, Pinsk Marshes (Dnieper–Bug Can ...

from 24 March 1920 as the commander of the captured transport ship ORP ''Ataman'', on which he participated in the clash near

Łomczewo Łomczewo () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Okonek, within Złotów County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Okonek, north-west of Złotów, and north of the regional ...

. Later he commanded the tug ''Champion'', which he sank during the retreat on 21 July near Kaczanowicze. From August 1920, he commanded the armed ship in the Riverine Flotilla. On 30 August 1920 he was decorated by General

Józef Haller Józef Haller (''de Hallenburg''; 13 August 1873 – 4 June 1960) was a Polish lieutenant general and legionary in the Polish Legions during the First World War. He was a harcmistrz (the highest Scouting instructor rank in Poland), the p ...

for participating in the Battle of Warsaw With the Silver Cross of the Order of the

. The ID of the Cross was made on a piece of printed paper. In 1921 he commanded the armed ship ORP ''Warneńczyk''. In 1922, he was verified as a naval lieutenant with seniority on 1 June 1919. In the following years, he served, among others, in the command of the Riverine Flotilla, a course officer at the

Polish Naval Academy The "Battle of Westerplatte, Heroes of Westerplatte" Polish Naval Academy (PNA) is a naval university supervised by the Ministry of National Defence (Poland), Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland, with a history, uninterrupted b ...

and the commander of . In the years 1928–1930, he was a navigation officer and then the deputy commander of the training sailing ship during three consecutive training voyages, including to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and the United States. In 1929, he was promoted to the rank of naval captain. Later, until 1933, he was the deputy commander of the destroyer . He participated in a cruise to

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

after Marshal

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

and the

Danzig crisis The Danzig crisis was an important prelude to World War II. The crisis lasted from March 1939 until the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939. The crisis began when tensions escalated between Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic over the Fr ...

. On 1 January 1935 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant commander. From May 1936 to May 1937, he commanded until March 1939 where he served in the Fleet Command. On 1 April 1939 he became the commander of the minelayer . On 1 September, during the execution of the Operation Rurka, the ship was attacked in the

Gdańsk Bank Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdańsk lies at t ...

by Ju 87 dive bombers. Stefan Kwiatkowski was fatally wounded by a fragment of one of the bombs that exploded at the side. He was buried in the cemetery in Hel.

Awards

, SIlver Cross (1921, No. 3942) * Cross of ValourFotografia kmdr. ppor. Stefana Kwiatkowskiego
Retrieved 3 February 2022 *Golden Cross of Merit * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwiatkowski, Stefan 1894 births 1939 deaths People from Karelichy Polish Navy officers Polish military personnel killed in World War II Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Recipients of the Cross of Merit (Poland) Polish military personnel in the Imperial Russian Army of World War I Deaths by German airstrikes during World War II