The Polish Navy: 1918 - 45
By Przemysław Budzbon
The history and development of navies in smaller countries typically receive less attention than the major maritime and continental powers. The Polish Navy (Marynarka Wojenna), founded in its modern iteration along with the Polish state after the First World War, is today a growing and increasingly capable naval force in Eastern Europe within the context of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union (EU). Addition of warships by foreign purchases and indigenous planned shipbuilding has gained urgency since Poland stands as a bulwark against increasing Russian bellicosity and regional threats, especially as viewed by the United States and its allies. The Poles have experienced fighting for national existence and defying the odds
with the military and naval forces available to them up against far superior adversaries. Przemyslaw Budzbon, a naval architect resident in Poland with several naval-related publications in Polish and English over many years, has researched and written this latest offering in Osprey's well-regarded New Vanguard series (no. 307), accompanied by Paul Wright's customary first-rate color ship profile drawings, cut-away views, and original artwork.
Following Osprey's standardized format, this small book incorporates an engaging, readable narrative alongside pertinent photographs, information tables for particular ships and ship classes, and art illustrations, which pack an amazing amount of detail for just 48 pages in total. The book is divided into three distinct sections covering campaigns and battles during Polish Soviet hostilities in 1919-20, build-up of the navy during the interwar years up to 1939, and participation and organization of Polish naval units during the Second World War serving a government in exile dependent on material and training assistance from allies.
Poland was land-locked in 1918, and the first naval forces originated with flotillas of river craft and armed steamers used to support the Polish Army and counter similarly equipped Soviet river flotillas. Offensives and counter offensives depended on the seasons and the initiative of local commanders. The Poles managed to prevent the Soviets from crossing certain key rivers long enough for progress on land and signing of the Treaty of Riga in March 1921, ending the war and preserving the country's territorial integrity. As part of the Treaty of Versailles, Poland also received access to the Baltic Sea via a corridor that split Germany from its eastern territories and commissioned a small number of hand-off torpedo boats, river monitors, and minesweepers. Shore facilities for the navy duly developed at Gydnia. Naval missions from Great Britain and then France arrived in Poland to offer assistance and advice for the nascent Polish Navy and its expansion.
Based on a three-pronged political, military, and economic alliance between France and Poland backed by loans and other financing with French bankers and industrialists, three submarines (from a planned nine) and two destroyers were constructed in French shipyards and delivered to the Polish Navy, headed after 1925 by Admiral Jerzy Swirski. Selected Polish naval officers attended courses and training in France to increase their professional competence. The Polish approach was to acquire or build warships superior in their respective classes, manned by well-trained crews, to guarantee a measured advantage over any other naval forces that the Polish Navy might come up against in reading focused on the Polish Navy and general Polish military history.
The book cites neither academic journal articles nor Polish source materials, which the author no doubt used in his research. The Polish Navy 1918-45 provides a good general overview for English readers interested in the Polish Navy up to the end of the Second World War as well as ship enthusiasts and scale modelers. In the modelling community, Poland is known for some diverse ship kits, multi-lingual information publications, and detailed ship plans. Making a model of a Polish warship from the period relies on such sources or modifying French and British variation ship kits similar in design type and function.
- Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2022
- 7-1/4” x 9-3/4”, softcover, 48 pages
- Illustrations, tables, maps, bibliography. $19.00
- ISBN: 9781472847003
Reviewed by: Edward Fanning, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
