ORP Ślązak
Survived
Polish Navy, then Royal Navy
| Type | Destroyer |
|---|---|
| Class | Hunt (Type II) |
| War | Second World War |
| Main guns | 6 × 4″ guns |
Service
| 1942–1946 | Ślązak Lent to the Polish Navy while building as HMS Bedale | |
| from 1946 | Bedale |
Hunt-class escort destroyer laid down as HMS Bedale and commissioned by the Poles in 1942. At Dieppe she took 85 soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Canada off the beach, and off Normandy she supported the landings at Sword. Returned in 1946; later the Indian Navy's Godavari, she was wrecked in the Maldives in 1976.
Armament and specifications
Armament
- 6 × 102 mm QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval guns (3 twin turrets)
- 4 × 40 mm pom-pom cannons
- 2 to 4 20 mm Anti-Aircraft cannons
- 2 depth charge launchers
- 4 depth charge throwers
| Builder | Hawthorn Leslie, Newcastle |
|---|---|
| Laid down | 25 May 1940 |
| Launched | 23 July 1941 |
| Commissioned | 17 April 1942 |
| Displacement | 1050 tons standard 1490 tons full load |
| Length | 85.3 m (280 ft) |
| Speed | 27 kn (50 km/h; 31 mph) |
| Complement | 160 |
As built, from the ship's Wikipedia article. Figures there may cover later refits too.
Career
Launched
23 July 1941
Dieppe Raid
Survived
19 August 1942
Took 85 Canadian soldiers off the beach
Normandy landings
Survived
6 June 1944
Off Sword
Renamed HMS Bedale
1946
Fate
Survived
Scrapped in 1979