- Yes
- No
- Regular tree
- Premium vehicle
- Event vehicle
- I said No
- Great Britain
- France
- i said No
Short story & few facts:
ORP Grom (name mean ‘thunderbolt’) was ordered in march 1935 in british John Samuel White & Co. Ltd, located in Cowes. Keel laid down in July 1935, launched in July 1936. Ship was was commisioned into the Polish Navy 11 May 1937, 6 months later to the Grom joined her sistership ORP Błyskawica (name mean ‘lightning’). It was an original project, designed by the English according to Polish guidelines. Grom & Błyskawica in the late of 1930’s was a most powerful, fastest and advanced destroyer not only in Baltic Sea, but on the world too. Just before beginning WW II, on August 31, 1939, she was sent to England (together with ORP Błyskawica and Burza - sistership of ORP Wicher) as Polish Navy operation codenamed ‘Pekin’ (mean in polish ‘Beijing’). This solution was dictated by the high probability of unproductive destruction of these ships, if in the situation of the expected war with Germany they would remain in the Baltic Sea. British Navy gave Grom’s own pennant number: H 71. She was the sister ship of famous ORP Błyskawica, which survived the war and serves the honorable function of a museum ship in Gdynia for nowadays (it is the oldest surviving destroyer). Although less known than his famous sister, he was no less brave than her. ORP Grom took part in the Norwegian campaign, during which he fired to the positions of German troops near Narvik.
However, his fate was tragic - he was sunk on May 4, 1940 in the Rombakkenfjord, hitted by 2 bombs dropped from He-111. 60 seamens (59 polish, 1 british) were killed, 154 were survived and saved by british ships.
Few (lesser known) facts:
- One of the fastest destroyers ever built in the world,
- One of the most heavily armed WWII destroyers, also with anti-aircraft weapons,
- These ships were so powerful in the destroyer-class, that German pre-war propaganda called them ‘torpedokreuzer’ (mean ‘torpedo criuser’). It was an exaggeration, of course,
- Grom-class had reductors in torpedo tubes and can use french 550 mm and british 533 mm torpedoes,
- Grom-class were constructed including hydrometeorological conditions of the Baltic Sea, where the waves are smaller than in the open ocean. Therefore, after the cruise to England, unnecessary weights were removed from them in October 1939 (e.g. the funnel cap, main mast was changed to lighter, most of the lifeboats were replaced with dinghys), to improve stability on a larger waves. In total, 56 tons of equipment unnecessary in war duty was removed, without weapons changing,
- German soldiers fighting at Narvik gave him the nickname ‘Menschenjäger’. It mean ‘Manhunter’,
- Wreck rest at about 80 m in bottom the Rombakkenfjord to nowadays, was found in 1986,
- In Narvik town, there is a memorial to Polish seamen’s from ORP Grom, who died in the Battle of Narvik. Memorial is located at Grom’s square,
- Most of the surviving crewmembers was manned ORP Piorun destroyer - commissioned in the Polish Navy six months after the Grom’s loss,
- Names ‘Grom’ and ‘Piorun’ sound the same in English (thunderbolt) and both mean this same. It had a war propaganda and disinformation meaning, as if the Polish Navy had not lost any ship ! ;)
Photos & plan (Appearence - september 1939):
Podsumowanie
https://krakow.ipn.gov.pl/dokumenty/zalaczniki/82/82-418605.jpg
https://s-trojmiasto.pl/zdj/c/n/9/251/600x0/251598.jpg
https://s-trojmiasto.pl/zdj/c/n/9/251/3000x0/251594__c_9_7_788_395.jpg
https://www.graptolite.net/Facta_Nautica/images/Grom-2-787x538.jpg
Technical data :
Displacement standard: 2144 metric tonnes
Displacement full: 3383 metric tonnes
Length: 114,0 m (o/a)
Breadth: 11,3 m
Draught: 3,3 m
Machinery and power: 2 sets Parsons geared steam turbines, 3 boilers, 2 shafts, 54,000 shp
Max speed: 39,6 knots
Range: 3500 nmi at 15 knots
Fuel: 350 tons of oil
Crew: 192 - 212 man
Armament (September 1939):
7 × 120 mm (4.7 in) Bofors wz. 34/36 guns, 2 × double 40 mm (1.6 in) AA Bofors guns, 4 x double 13,2 mm NKM wz. 30 (polish name of Mitrailleuse Hotchkiss de 13,2 mm modèle 1929) heavy AA-machineguns, 2 × triple 550 mm/533 mm torpedo tubes, 2 × single internal depth charge ramps with 40 of 200kg depth charges, 44 naval mines wz. 08.
Why september 1939 appearance? Because ORP Grom before ‘slimming’ have more beautiful and dynamic silhouette!, than after (‘slimmed down’ looks like ‘bald’ ;). And she armament configuration was unchanged for all duty time.
Comparison silhouettes ORP Grom before and after october 1939 ‘slimming’:
Podsumowanie
before ‘slimming’:
https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints-depot-restricted/ships/destroyers/orp_grom_1937_destroyer-65566.jpg
after ‘slimming’ in 10.1939:
https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints-depot-restricted/ships/destroyers/orp_grom_1940_destroyer-65569.jpg
IMO would be a nice, interesting addition to French naval tech-tree as premium.
Sources:
- Marek Twardowski: Niszczyciele typu Grom. cz. 1, „Grom”, „Błyskawica”. AJ-Press (publishing house), seria: Encyklopedia Okrętów Wojennych, nr 24. Gdańsk: 2002
- Marek Twardowski: Niszczyciele typu Grom. cz. 2, „Grom”, „Błyskawica”. AJ-Press (publishing house), seria: Encyklopedia Okrętów Wojennych, nr 25. Gdańsk: 2003
- Witold Koszela, Niszczyciele Polskiej Marynarki Wojennej, Almapress (publishing house) 2013, Warszawa (Warsaw)
- Stanisław Piaskowski: Okręty Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1920-1946. Album planów. Wydawnictwo Lampart (publishing house), Gdańsk 1996
- M.J. Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two. An international encyclopedia. Annapolis, Naval Institute Press, 1988