Submarine Squadron was a tactical unit of the Polish Navy that was part of the , established on 30 April 1932 by order no. 724 of the Chief of the Naval Command as the Submarine Boats Squadron. On 23 September 1937, the unit's name was changed to the Submarine Squadron.
The unit was directly commanded successively by Lieutenant Commander Eugeniusz Pławski and Lieutenant Commander . Legally, the squadron functioned as an administrative unit subordinate to the Fleet captain. Its composition included the submarines ORP Ryś, ORP Wilk, and ORP Żbik, the torpedo boat ORP Kujawiak, and the hulk Lwów. Starting in November 1938, began serving as a permanent base for the squadron. In 1939, the squadron was supplemented with two new Orzeł-class submarines, ORP Orzeł and ORP Sęp. The squadron's permanent base was the , and the squadron captain reported directly to Fleet captain Rear Admiral Józef Unrug. The submarines participated in goodwill visits to Stockholm, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Oslo, Copenhagen, Karlskrona, Tallinn, and Narva.
In September 1939, all submarines of the squadron participated in the defense of the Polish coast. However, instead of engaging in offensive operations for which they were suited, they executed primarily defensive operational plans, Worek and , focusing on the circular defense of Hel as the Fleet's main base. Consequently, during the initial days of the war, all squadron units were detected, tracked, and attacked by small surface ships and aircraft, and occasionally by U-boats. These encounters caused significant damage to the submarines and strained the crews' mental condition. As a result, ORP Żbik, ORP Ryś, and ORP Sęp were interned in Sweden, while ORP Wilk and ORP Orzeł managed to evade the German blockade and reached the United Kingdom. These events marked the end of the squadron's existence.
Formation and organization of the squadron After the arrival of the first two newly built Wilk-class submarines – ORP Ryś (19 August 1931) and ORP Wilk (25 November 1931) – the Chief of the Naval Command issued an order on 9 December 1931 to form a submarine group under the joint command of Captain Aleksander Mohuczy, the captain of Wilk.
Following the arrival of the third new unit, ORP Żbik, from France on 15 March 1932, the Chief of the Naval Command issued a directive on 30 April 1932, establishing a new tactical unit of the Fleet called the Submarine Boats Squadron, effective 1 May 1932.The fleet was the strongest operational unit of the navy, subordinate to the Naval Command (). Due to an official change in naval terminology, on 23 September 1937, the squadron was renamed the Submarine Squadron, and submarines of this class were thereafter referred to as submarines.
Organization The division was an administrative unit formally subordinated to the Fleet captain. The division captain, holding the rank of lieutenant commander, directly reported to the Fleet captain and had disciplinary powers similar to those of a regiment captain. From the moment the unit was established, the division captain was appointed Lieutenant Commander Eugeniusz Pławski. The command staff also included officers: flagship, signal, navigator, underwater weapon, mechanic, and electrician.
As a result of the explosion of rechargeable batteries aboard Ryś on 1 April 1936, a change occurred in the division's command structure. Lieutenant Commander Aleksander Mohuczy replaced Captain Pławski, who took up the position of Head of Underwater Weapons at the Naval Command in Warsaw. The captains of the submarines directly reported to the division captain. Commanders of the Submarine DivisionLieutenant Commander Eugeniusz Pławski1 May 19326 July 1936Lieutenant Commander Aleksander Mohuczy6 July 19362 October 1939
Commanders of the ships and their deputies on 31 August 1939 Ship classShip nameHull numberCommission dateCommanderDeputy CommanderWilkWilkW31 October 1931Lieutenant Commander Bogusław KrawczykLieutenant Commander Borys KarnickiRyśR2 August 1931Lieutenant Commander Aleksander GrochowskiLieutenant Commander Jerzy ReknerŻbikŻ20 February 1932Lieutenant Commander Michał ŻebrowskiLieutenant Commander Wilhelm KamudaOrzełOrzeł2 February 1939Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant Commander Jan GrudzińskiSęp16 April 1939Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant Commander Justyn Karpiński In terms of function, the division was divided into two branches: ships and the base. The first branch focused on training ship crews both in motion and during stops. The main areas of training included operating main and auxiliary machinery, ship systems, and armament, maintenance and repairs of ships, watch duties, and carrying out training tasks at sea. The second branch handled all matters related to the crew's life on land, including satisfying the material and spiritual needs of the officers and sailors. The land base served for these tasks, where crews were transferred after returning from the sea, except during their watch duties on ships.
Ships of the division
In the early stages of its existence, the division consisted of the submarines ORP Wilk, ORP Żbik, and ORP Ryś, the torpedo boat ORP Kujawiak, and the hulk Lwów. ORP Kujawiak served as a target ship for torpedo training attacks, while the already old and worn-out sailing ship Lwów was designated on 22 August 1932 as floating barracks for the forming division. However, Lwów did not fully meet the needs of the unit, so on 15 November 1932, the passenger-cargo steamship was assigned as the permanent base for the future division. After the construction of a permanent land-based barracks, both units were removed from the Fleet's list of ships.
The initial Polish plans developed under the "Small Plan for Fleet Construction" envisioned the purchase of 9 submarines, but due to the fact that these units were to be built based on a French loan, French industrial lobbies, through corrupt actions, convinced French politicians to impose conditions on the loan's use that differed from Poland's expectations. Ultimately, instead of 9 submarines, France granted a loan for three submarines and two destroyers, which Poland did not intend to purchase from France, as it was not considered a technological leader in the production of such vessels at that time. However, the Naval Command did not abandon the idea of strengthening the submarine division with additional units, so from the beginning of 1939, newly built submarines constructed in the Netherlands according to Polish specifications for the Orzeł class began to join the division: ORP Orzeł and ORP Sęp. Shortly before the outbreak of the war, the Naval Command once again signed a contract with France for the construction of two additional submarines based on the Dutch-Polish Orzeł design. Despite negative past experiences, the decision to entrust the French shipyard with the construction was influenced by the strong pro-German sympathies already present in the Netherlands at the time. However, due to the outbreak of war, this contract was never realized, and in June 1940, after the German invasion of France, the hulls of the new submarines of the division were destroyed.
Base of the division The home port and main support base for the submarines was the in Oksywie, where the Northern Basin was adapted for the division's needs. The administrator of this area and organizer of material and technical supplies was the Military Port Command of Gdynia. The command was responsible for providing essential equipment, fuels, food, and other materials to the ships. To fulfill these tasks, the port commander had at his disposal technical, supply, armament, submarine weapons, navigational supply, communications, automotive, and medical services, as well as repair shops and facilities. The port commander was also the direct superior of the hulk ORP Bałtyk, which housed the Fleet Specialist Training Center and the Fleet Personnel, which was the parent unit responsible for training newly recruited personnel.
In 1937, barracks blocks were built near the division's basin, designed by Professor Marian Lalewicz. The total area of the barracks, training, administrative, and staff rooms built in the 1930s was 4,919 m². The division also included an infirmary and an administrative and economic section, both managed by officers. As part of cost-saving measures in the navy in 1935, the administrative and economic section was disbanded, and an officer of the supply service was assigned to the unit's command to advise on quartermaster matters.
Personnel
When forming the submarine division, the Chief of the Naval Command established the personnel composition at 24 officers and 192 non-commissioned officers and sailors. Of the total number of 216 people, 162 officers, non-commissioned officers, and sailors were part of the active crews of the submarines. However, the high technical level of the ships meant that not only officers and non-commissioned officers but also a significant portion of the sailors had to possess specialized qualifications, which were impossible or very difficult to achieve during the two-year compulsory military service. Therefore, the crews of the submarines consisted to a much greater extent than personnel in other units of professional and extended service personnel. Professional non-commissioned officers made up 40%, extended service non-commissioned officers and sailors made up 50%, and sailors on compulsory service made up only 10% of the crews.
The specialized training was also facilitated by the fact that sailors volunteered for submarine service, and they were generally individuals with a higher than average general education – every crew member of such a ship had to have completed at least seven grades of elementary school and vocational secondary school. This made the structure of the navy distinct from the rest of the armed forces, with the submarine division differing from other units within it.
The compulsory military service on submarines lasted 27 months, both for conscript sailors and volunteers. Its terms were defined by the decree of the President of the Republic of Poland of 7 March 1928 on the basic duties and rights of the naval servicemen and the decree of the Minister of Military Affairs of 12 September 1929 regulating the procedure for calling up and serving active duty, and from 1938 – compulsory service. In terms of territorial structure, nearly 50% of the division's personnel came from the Poznań and Warsaw voivodeships.
Extended service sailors were accepted into service after completing their compulsory service if they volunteered to join the extended service. Candidates for extended service committed to serving for another two years, after which they could extend their service annually. Professional service was open to those non-commissioned officers who volunteered and committed to serving at least 11 years. After this period, they could voluntarily extend their service for at least another three years.
The highest professional value for the navy came from the young professional non-commissioned officers, typically aged 24–35, who had undergone underwater training in France. As they gained experience, they became excellent specialists in their fields. They also acquired knowledge from "junior" and "senior" maritime specialist courses and completed non-commissioned officers' school. They were also characterized by a passion for naval service and high morale.