SS Narwik

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History
Poland
NameNarwik
NamesakeBattle of Narvik
OwnerGdynia-America Line
Port of registry Gdynia
Launched1942
Out of service1972
FateScrapped, 1970s
General characteristics
Tonnage
  • 7031 BRT
  • 4967 NRT
Length136 meters (446 ft)
Speed10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Crew41

SS Narwik, formerly Empire Roamer, was a Polish general cargo ship built in 1941 to the order of the British government, as one of the Empire type ships. In 1942, together with four others (Tobruk, Bałtyk, Białystok, Borysław - since 1950 Bytom),[1] it was transferred to the Polish Government in Exile for the Polish Merchant Navy. In Polish service, the name of the ship was changed to "Narwik" to commemorate the Polish contribution to the Battle of Narvik. The transferred ships formally became the property of GAL (Gdynia-America Shipping Lines SA), but in practice they were at the disposal of the War Transport Administration. Narwik sailed under the Polish flag to 1972.

On October 10, 1942, during a cruise to the United States, Narwik received an SOS signal from the SS Orcades that was torpedoed by the German submarine U-172. Despite the presence of a German submarine, a rescue operation was launched, which resulted in 1022 survivors being taken on board. It was the most effective and largest rescue action carried out by one ship during the Second World War. At that time, the ship was temporarily commanded by its First Officer Czeslaw Zawada, because the captain had to disembark before the cruise due to illness. Czeslaw Zawada and his crew were honored with Polish and British decorations for the rescue operation.

During the war, the ship took part in numerous convoys and military operations (e.g. landing in Sicily). After 1945, the ship returned to Poland from where it continued to make transatlantic voyages. Since 1967 she sailed in a charter in Polish-Korean company Korpol. On 16 February 1972 it was sold for scrap to Spain. Scrapped in Bilbao.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ Piwowoński, Jan. (1989). Flota spod Biało-Czerwonej (Wyd. 1 ed.). Warszawa: Nasza Księgarnia. ISBN 83-10-08902-3. OCLC 22187034.
  2. ^ Piwowoński, Jan. (1989). Flota spod Biało-Czerwonej (Wyd. 1 ed.). Warszawa: Nasza Księgarnia. ISBN 83-10-08902-3. OCLC 22187034.
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