- Yes
- No
History:
The FM class were a class of German minesweepers made near the end of WW1. Originally 66 were planned but the number actually built was 47 across 21 shipyards. They would operate in shallow waters until the end of the war.
After WW1 had ended, many of the survivors would be sold to civilian service and would see a relatively uneventful existence. However, 7 of these vessels would end up seeing new military service. FM 24 was sold to Iran under the name Fatiya. FM 16 and 23 were sold to Albania being renamed Shqipnja and Skanderbeg respectively.
The focus of this suggestion, FM 27 was sold to Poland and renamed Jaskółka alongside FM 28 (Czajka), FM 2 (Rybitwa) and FM 31 (Mewa) in 1920 for the cost of 7,200,000 German marks.
The class was sold unarmed to Poland so Jaskółka (and likely her sister vessels) so she would be rearmed with 2 Maxim Mk. 08 machine guns and a single wz.95 gun (Hotchkiss 47mm). Jaskółka was initially named Finlandia II, then Trawler no.1 before settling with Jaskółka (Polish for sparrow).
After entering service on June 24th 1921, she was assigned to the training squadron tasked with training maritime specialist and assisting in patroling territorial waters.
Her career was uneventful. By 1931, She became obsolete and due to repairs and refits being uneconomical, she would be replaced by the Jaskółka class, the first Polish made minesweepers. On October 12th 1931, she and her sister vessels would officially be struck from the naval register. After attempts to sell her fell through and Jaskółka being unfit for the Riflemen’s Association maritime branch, she would be converted to a motor vessel to transport cargo across the Vistula River in 1933. What happened to her afterwards is unknown.
Specifications:
Crew- 32
Armament- 1x 45mm wz.95 Hotchkiss gun and 2x Maxim Mk. 08 machine guns
Max speed- 22.2km/h
Length- 43m
Draught- 1.6m
Breadth- 6m
Sources:
Jerzy Miciński : Book of Polish Ships: 1918-1945.
Jan Piwowoński: The Fleet from the White and Red
Jan Andrzej Bartelski. The first Polish “birds” . “Seas and Ships”
Erich Gröner, Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945.