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ORP Jaskółka is the first of the Jaskółka (or swallow) class minesweeper which was also able to act as a small minelayer or a sub chaser. The Jaskółka class came around as a result of filling in the gaps left by the Polish operated FM class vessels being retired. Initially 2 Wodorez class gunboats would be used those being ORP Generał Haller and ORP Komendant Piłsudski but were deemed insufficient so Rear Admiral Jerzy Świrski tried to convince Marshal Józef Piłsudski for more funds. Jozef wasn’t interested so the naval leadership looked elsewhere for funds.
To avoid the complications of having the French build the vessels, it was decided that the Jaskółka class would be domestic built.
Jaskółka was built at Gdynia was launched 11 September 1934; and commissioned in 27 August 1935.
She would be incorporated into the Mine Laying Squadron on the 20th of January 1936. Jaskółka would visit Visby and Karlsham in August of 1936. September of the same year would see Jaskółka visit Karlskrona and the Gulf of Finland.
On April 18th 1939 Jaskółka suffered minor damage in a collision with ORP Sęp after the latter entered the port Gydina incorrectly and collided with the sides of Jaskółka and her sister ship ORP Mewa.
On the outbreak of ww2 Jaskółka alongside it’s sister ships, ORP Gryf, ORP Komendant Piłsudski, ORP Generał Haller and ORP Wicher carried out Operation Rurka, attempting to lay a minefield at the Bay of Gdansk which resulted in failure after Gryf, Mewa and Generał Haller all suffered damage and casualties from German air attacks.
While defending Hel, Jaskółka would be sunk on the 14th of September after a German air attack on the port of Jastarnia. She would be one of two of swallows to be permanently lost as a result of WW2 along with ORP Czapla. The rest would return to Poland post war as patrol or hydrographic vessels.
Model of ORP Jaskółka
Specifications:
Crew- 30
Length- 48m
Width-- 5.5m
Draught- 2.4m
Armament- 1x 75 mm Canon Ml1928 gun, 2x 7.92mm Maxim model 1908 machine guns and 20x Model 08 mine or depth charges
Top speed- 33.33km/h (2 diesel engines with 550hp each)
Sources:
Piaskowski, Stanisław M. Okręty Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1920-1946.
Twardowski, Marek. “Pod trzema banderami: Dzieje trałowców typu Jaskółka”.
http://smw.ocalicodzapomnienia.eu/index.php?o=pokaz&katid=1&pkatid=26&jid=1&postid=511&podkategoria=Varia
Andrzej Olejko. The First Day… or the Small Fleet versus the Luftwaffe. Part II .