ORP Błyskawica - Guide 101

[@GrumpyGrobbyGamer]

So refreshing to hear a review end with something other than “sold for scrap”. Well done!

[@lancerevell5979]

I can well appreciate this, as my own US Navy ship, the ASW frigate USS Ainsworth FF-1090, was transferred to Turkey as the TCG Ege, and is now preserved there as a museum ship.

[@iamnadexey]

Thumbs up for that flawless Bohemian Rhapsody reference

[@thatpatrickguy3446]

I laughed so hard at this reference. Kudos!

[@Dogwatern00b]

I'm really really late to the party but this is the comment I expected to find.

[@mattblom3990]

My Polish stepmother told me last year she had been on the Blyskawica as a teenager. I excited asked "Was it awesome?! What was it like? Did you go everywhere?!" She simply replied, "Just a boat." -_-

[@willrogers3793]

I wouldn’t have expected any different, to be honest. The Poles showed themselves to be an exceedingly hard-bitten and unflappable folk throughout the war; it stands to reason that even such feats of badassery as Blyskawica displayed would just be seen as “normal”. 😅

[@jacobhamselv]

@@willrogers3793 Well it is just a boat, its the hard motherfuckers manning it, then made the ship we know.

[@Deevo037]

After seeing the Polish pilot scene in Battle of Britain its good to see that some Brits appreciated the Poles. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHbGfWmJq8-ohqc

[@karbak2793]

part, I'm from Poland and I was on lightning it is a decent destroyer, except you probably do not know how many times ORP BŁYSKAWICA protected Great Britain and the town of Cowes. Błyskawica even shot down 6 bombers during the war, which even Bismarck did not do. Bismarck destroyed but torpedo planes and it did not a lot because he did not swim for a long time, he drowned the hood. ORP PIORUN ORP BŁYSKAWICA and ORP Grom participated in the sinking of Bismark. if you want to know more, watch the movie World of Warships naval legends: Błyskawica is a game, a channel, producer that can appreciate. Unfortunately, not every Englishman appreciates the Polish Navy. Poland is not some battleship of the Yamato type is needed, all of these 'mighty' drowned and lightning NOT for that it is a real strong, persistent Legend. And not only the boat your stepmother lied to you is better than the hood :).

[@damianbisha6712]

I always give her a little pat on the armor plate when im passing by to drink on the beach, but I hate the paint job it currently has, someone fucked up and its now kinda neon blue

[@spookyshadowhawk6776]

Another Example of the Dedication of the Polish exiles and their Determination to fight for their Homeland! An Example for us all!

[@gamingpro9520]

For Poland!

[@gamingpro9520]

Halfcan Tan Poland saved Europe many times so shut up

[@Bill_Falsename]

@@halfcantan1208 I didn't know that the Poles were English

[@dotboy9080]

​@@halfcantan1208 thank goodnes we keep those things mostly within our nation

[@blackrabbit212]

@@gamingpro9520 When was this?

[@laszlokaestner5766]

"White's built, Well built" was the motto of the shipyard and Blyskawica certainly proved their point. She was the biggest and fastest Destroyer in the world and is held in high regard by the town of Cowes and by Polish people everywhere. There are indeed annual commemorations on the Mayday Bank Holiday Sunday which is when the raid happened and which I have attended nearly every time in the last 25 years. The Polish Embassy normally sends their Naval Attache to represent them and for larger milestone anniversaries the Polish Navy sends a ship and often the Navy band as well to attend. Fun fact the preserved HMS Cavalier was also built at White's of Cowes.

[@michaelkrol4671]

My father Teodor Krol served on Blyskawica during WW2.My father told me that they had a monkey as a mascot who used to lock himself in the washroom and turn the taps on and flood the place

[@bsdetecter2556]

Growing up, one of our neighbours was a Polish fellow named Victor. He had served as a crewman on Blyska and had a few interesting stories. Married an English girl and immigrated to Canada after the war. RIP Victor

[@jannegrey593]

One thing: Grom - Thunder (the sound of lightening bolt), Błyskawica - Lightening (visual part, though it is used for everything also), Piorun - Lightening bolt (so both theoretically - audio-visual experience ;) ) The problem is that most Polish people use this 3 (and especially latter 2) as synonymous.

[@peceed]

When you are hit, it doesn't matter what the world do you use.

[@jannegrey593]

@@peceed ?

[@ptonpc]

The ship ORP Piorun defended Clydebank during the blitz, She was laid down as HMS Nerissa before being acquired by the Polish Navy as a replacement for Grom. She also took part in the battle with Bismark. There is a memorial to her and her crew in the town.

[@whateverthisis389]

The Destroyer that trolled the Bismarck XD

[@xsoniczek]

ORP Piorun took part in the same battle of Ushant against German destroyers

[@johnson8276]

Also radioed I am a pole to Bismarck

[@powellmountainmike8853]

I am glad such a valiant ship has been preserved.

[@piotrd.4850]

Too bad, she's not in working order. It it was mobile and navigateable (screw the armament) - it would be even more epic.

[@Moorbote]

Good to see that the cold can't keep your humour down :D Almost sounds like you lost your nose lol

[@theallseeingmaster]

Thank you for puffing up my Polish soul. I had no idea.

[@jorgenbrandt5739]

Two years ago I worked in Poland and went to see Blyskawica over a weekend in Gdynia, with two good friends (we play WOW). Gdynia is nice and the ship is a pretty sight from the dock, but unfortunately it was not open for the public that weekend. The guard on the ship said that we were not the only ones to go there in vane. It said nowhere that it was closed, not in the hompage nor nowhere... A bit disapointing, but we did enjoy the weekend though, and I have a good reason to go back to Gdynia 😆😊

[@AbleOneOne]

My grandfather served on Błyskawica in 1951-53, he totally loved this ship

[@lucybenton7341]

Thank you Blyskawia, your captain and crew for saving my home town, you have our enternal thanks xx

[@toroon]

My uncle served aboard a Tribal (HMCS Athabasca) He told me that the only thing keeping you from the freezing Atlantic was about 1/2 inch of rusty steel.

[@tjzp]

Thanks for this review. Blyskawica is a true beauty, and has remarkable history!

[@OkaNieba]

she is still aflote?! thats SO good to hear :)

[@Arthion]

She is a museum ship in Gdynia

[@OkaNieba]

@@Arthion well, time to go to Poland^^

[@S7midnight]

Check out this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXzHmpSIa9yCask

[@michaelphillips8238]

Just a minor note - the name of the destroyer is pronounced "Bwiss-ka-VEET-sa" - since so much of Polish culture is so close to European it's easy to forget that their alphabet is not really Roman. The L with the line through it is a Polish "W" and the C is actually a "T-S" sound. I think most Polish speaking people let it slide, but I'd like to help correct some misconceptions.

[@rxt1366]

Hey as you talked about coastal defense ships / coastal battleships recently. Could you make a video on Väinämöinen class coastal defence ships of Finland. They have some interesting history and the ships are not well known even in Finland.

[@DaiReith]

Didn't that ship run into it's own mines and sink?

[@rxt1366]

@MasterOfDiamonds //SteamGames, Minecraft, etc Ah true. Thx for pointing that out.

[@Edi_J]

Nice & balanced short review! As a Pole I would love to see a bit more emphasis on Błyskawica being really strong compared to all her contemporary competition. Polish Navy could not afford many ships, so those few ordered had to be the best. Swedish guns were chosen as the top world design at this caliber, torpedo launchers could use both 533 and French 550mm torpedoes, and being built in 1937 those ships had anti-air potential equalized only by Allied destroyers somewhere in 1942-43. It was one of the first cases in the world when 40mm dual Bofors were used on a warship, which was only to become a standard during the war. The maximum speed was measured during trials on 22 Nov 1937 as 40.4 knots, so she was then also one of the fastest large warships in the world. Her pre-war "rivals", like Tribals, Leberecht Maass or US ships were no match for her in any aspect. French Le Fantasque was faster and had stronger guns, but was troubled with gun reload problems, Soviet Leningrads were failed designs and although theoretically were faster too, their speed was not practically attainable.

[@73North265]

Have to disagree with you a bit there (not having a pop at you or the ship - just inputting some context as you made the claim other ships were 'no match in any respect'). Taking the UK for example - whilst personnel in the RN did get annoyed with seeing export versions seemingly better armed than their own kit, there was a lot of reasons why the RN did not commission the building of copies (which clearly they could have as they were UK built) - the most obvious being where they were expected to operate. Cost was also important, but the records show that the RN would spend the money if it thought it would get a tactical advantage with large and well armed destroyer. For a start (as you focus on the guns) the RN did have a 50 cal version of the 4.7" used on the L & M classes, but experience showed that it was not significantly a better gun, especially considering the main benefit of it ie. range, was not really exploitable on a small platform like a destroyer moving at speed due to stability. The Grom class were not particularly stable (as demonstrated by the need to reduce the weight of the guns) which would clearly have been a handicap against a similarly armed but more stable opponent (therefore being a better gun platform). Ergo the size of the guns does not make the ship better (as the big german destroyer showed). Whilst the high top speed clearly would give some tactical advantage, experience in the Mediterranean with the fast Italian destroyers didn't suggest that speed was the major factor in an engagement. However the Groms have fairly poor range for their displacement - something which the RN prized even if it meant a smaller armament in many cases. I'm not saying that any ship is better or worse- my point is naval combat was not a game of 'Top Trumps' and you have to consider the other less tangible characteristics e.g. sea keeping, endurance (of ship and crew), how does a ship operate in different weather conditions (e.g. can it operate its guns in a strong sea?), how stable is it as a gun platform, sensors, rangefinders and lots more. Clearly also the role of the ship has an impact on the judgement of these priorities.

[@JaneCobbsHat]

@@73North265 Well said. I am a Blyskawica fan and have visited her in Gdynia I fully agree that these were not ideal ships for other navies. These were just about perfect ships for a Baltic navy in late 30s. They would do well in the Med. They would do ok in the North Sea but sea keeping was average. They were too short legged for North Atlantic and for the same reason would be useless in the Pacific.

[@piotrd.4850]

@@73North265 Your very valid comments boil down to fact, that Groms were initially tailored to BALTIC not Atlantic.

[@whispofwords2590]

Good to see such a beautiful and hard working ship got preserved

[@EzilfromPL]

Thank you for this video. Keep up good work. Greetings from Pland

[@anthonyryan923]

My dad was an apprentice who helped build this ship’s boats. Called up in 1941, he spent 37 years in the Royal Navy and Abu Dhabi Defence Force. Of all the ships that he served in he only ever talked about HMS Victorious (after her reconstruction) and ORP Blyskawica. Says quite about those two vessels.

[@justinarchibald3857]

This is an awesome story I have never heard before. Thank you for the good work. Also good on Poland for the valiant ship and for preserving her.

[@TS1225X]

A very nice video, it was fun to learn that Grom and Błyskawica mean thunder and lightning. As a side note my Great Granddad was serving on the ORP Grom when she was sunk at Narvik.

[@ape3774]

Galileo Figaro Magnifico .... lol...

[@shoootme]

I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

[@LazyTestudines]

I'm just saying, I'm disapointed in the Italian navy for still not having a ship called the Magnifico. Also, how come neither the Austrians nor the Italians named a single ship the Figaro. At least the Italians had a submarine called the Galileo.

[@Tuning3434]

after this comment I ended up in the part of the internet with the original cover of Bicycle race / Fat bottomed girls. I was not disappointed.

[@damianbisha6712]

Hey, im looking at it from my window watching it, pretty fun experience :D

[@Tony_7791]

Really modern looking ships for their era.

[@johnfisher9692]

Great to see such a ship featured. This ship fought from the start to the finish of the war and obviously never backed down from a fight. Fantastic to see the town of Cowes honor the ship which fought so hard to save it. This ship deserved to be preserved

[@sreckocuvalo8110]

This destroyer has done more for Allies than entire French navy.

[@2serveand2protect]

Well! ...I am Polish, but I can tell you that!... ALL DUE RESPECT! - but the story of the French Navy during the 2nd WW is a VERY "complex" and - quite frankly - a very SAD one, too!... PLUS - the Poles and the Polish ships that fought with the Allies, were never actually ATTACKED, BOMBED, TORPEDOED and (some) even SUNK by the Royal Navy, like it happened to the French ones at Oran, so...I cannot put myself in the position of any French sailor, who would have seen his comrades shredded to bits by Royal Navy guns...if I was that sailor - I don't know what would I have done...

[@funnyman3620]

Finally, SOMETHING that was good for Poland during WW2

[@falloutghoul1]

Besides, you know, Polish volunteers in the RAF.

[@brentgranger7856]

I suggest reading about the brave Polish stands against the 1939 German invasion, the story of the Polish submarine Orzel, the Polish squadrons in the RAF, the badass life of Witold Pilecki, Polish paratrooper actions in Arnhem during Operation Market Garden, and the Polish tankers during the advance on Germany. You'll find there is much more for Poland to be proud of during the war than just the Blyskawica.

[@JaneCobbsHat]

@@brentgranger7856 While at it I'd like to mention one Witold Urbanowicz, a leading fighter Polish Ace. He was possibly the only allied pilot who scored kills against Soviets, Germans and Japanese aircraft. Oh and he also personally kicked Willy Messerschmitt in the ass. True story.

[@OchotaJack]

@@falloutghoul1 RAF did nothing good for Poland. Saving London was no relief for Warsaw, however tough fighters our boys are.

[@jimtaylor294]

@@falloutghoul1 ...and those that fought in the French & British armies.

[@jordankashuba3467]

Galileo.....repeatedly. lol Drach's sharp British wit has made me chuckle on many occasions. On a sidenote Polish Tier 1 Spec Ops Team is also called Grom. They are reputably extreamely proficient in the art of direct action warfare and reconaissance. Lightening speed and ghostly silence, dispatching advisories and blowing things up with terrifying efficiency

[@dreamer466569]

Great information, as always. I still fail to see how anyone could dislike anything informative. Unless it is all hogwash. But these videos are always top notch. Please keep up the great work.

[@keithterry2169]

I can't believe that this story is not publicised more, I only heard about this ship and her valiant crew two years ago when we visited Cowes.

[@DavidConnor]

An excellent read. The Good Shepherd (1955) is a nautical and war novel by C.S. Forester, best known as the creator of fictional Royal Navy officer Horatio Hornblower. The story is currently being adapted into a motion picture, Greyhound, scripted by and starring Tom Hanks, directed by Aaron Schneider, produced by Gary Goetzman. Principal photography began in Spring 2018 aboard the USS Kidd. The film is due for release on March 22, 2019. A Polish destroyer is part of the escort group. The escort commander often refers to her odd silhouette. She is often assigned the most arduous tasks during the crossing.

[@alexeveryman5080]

Thank you for the heads up. Release is to be in 2020 now, hope it will be worth the wait.

[@piotrd.4850]

That would be a nice change, though I don't expect it - even such venerable show as Band of Brothers dropped entire Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade from MarketGarden episode, presenting with Pole in SS insted.

[@carriertaiyo2694]

A warship with a happy ending! What a nice change, after all the "sunk with all hands" and "pointlessly wasted at operation crossroads" stories mentioned in other videos...

[@antonfarquar8799]

thank god she wasn't scrapped

[@rogerhwerner6997]

It's nice that this very cool destroyer has been preserved as a museum ship. This should happen more often.

[@spyrosvassilakis4212]

The Royal Hellenic Navy had some ships with cool names. I am talking about the Aetos class destroyers. The sailors and officers called them "The beasts". The ships were Αετός (Eagle), Πάνθηρ (Panther), Ιέραξ (Falcon), Λέων (Lion)...

[@piotrd.4850]

There's something inherently epic, in warship coming back to cradle and putting hell of the fight in its defence. (Błyskawica was built in Cowes). Also: I'd be super cool with Poland hooking to Type 26 order and calling them Garland-class, and respectively, Garland,Piorun,Grom.

[@trentonarney6066]

So glad to hear it survives to this day.

[@TheSzatanshow]

Small corection there was 3 ships that go to England Grom, Blyskawica, and Burza (Thunderstorm) build in France With fourth ship called Wicher (Gale also build in France) that was ordered to stay and with minelayer Gryf (Griffin) -both sunk in port after damaging 2 german ships Z1 Leberecht Maass and Z9 Wolfgang Zenker and constant air raids .

[@Drachinifel]

Yes, but in this video I was only covering the Groms, hence why the others weren't mentioned. :)

[@NickHey]

Time to book a trip to Poland to visit :)

[@jorgenbrandt5739]

It is docked in Gdynia, also a pretty nice town... North of Gdynia there is a pininsula where it is worth to spend a vacation right at the baltic see 😊 For europe, the prizes in Poland are low, local food and beer is good.

[@SynchroScore]

I like the steel-wire guides at 3:37, to remind the anti-air gunners to please refrain from shooting off their own ship's funnel. And these destroyers, along with other units like the Polish II Corps and the various RAF squadrons, show that while their country may have been defeated, the Polish people were far from done fighting. "Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle (of Britain) would have been the same." -- Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding

[@chrishamer1322]

Hi, another brilliant video. It would be great if you could do a video on HMS Onslow. I believe she was involved in a very important action protecting a convoy to Russia which led to her captain at the time receiving a VC, and Hitler becoming so frustrated at his own navy's ineffectiveness against even small Royal Navy ships that's he plucked the big guns off their decks and set many of them as coastal defences, therby greatly reducing the German surface ship threat at sea. Or so I've read!

[@paulpeterson4216]

The German U-555 is at the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago. It was captured intact during WWII. It may not only be an interesting story, but could also be a possible sponsor for the episode, as it is one of the vessels that is possible to actually visit and the museum would enjoy the publicity.

[@SteamCrane]

U-505. Got aboard while it was still out on the lawn, beautiful preservation even then. Now she's in a beautiful glass roofed room at the basement level, looks like a sub pen. Very worthwhile exhibit.

[@paulpeterson4216]

@@SteamCrane Thank you for the correction, yes, U-505, and I too got the tour back in the day. I would bet that Drachinifel could get inside if he asked nicely.

[@Arecki882]

Thank you,Dzienkuje,Love from Poland

[@e-care-books9867]

Brilliant illustration around 2:02

[@GutkowskiMarek]

ORP Błyskawica served from till 1975 when she became a museum ship replacing the even more distinguished ORP Burza in that role. I'm surprised you didn't even mentioned anything between 1945 and 1975. like the 30 years of post war service didn't even happened. On the other hand she didn't do all that much in that time and you also didn't say much about her pre-war service. So I guess all is good. Just an observation on my part.

[@piotrtrypus]

Thank you so much for this episode!

[@slawko67]

There is underwater movie from Narvik. ORP "Grom", the twin of "Blyskawica" has been sunk May 4. 1940 by bombs from Junkers 88. Good view for 120 mm guns.

[@felix25ize]

What a very honorable ship!

[@ImpedanceEurobeat]

Finally! I love you so much for making this vid.

[@admiraltiberius1989]

Love your videos.... glad you decided to do this particular ship.

[@barrylucas505]

Love this channel...really lets me get my nerd on

[@N0rdman]

Ah, Swedish steel in the form of Bofors 4.7" guns... I've rarely been so impressed when you are towing naval gunnery targets in waves around 6" mark and you see the ships who come bouncing in consistently group the shells from three to four kilometres away, while they are bobbing and rolling as well as the target, as tight as a football! Once while clearing a 4.7" shell we did a test; we build up sandbags to chest height with four or five bags in the bottom and piled it up and see what protection that afforded a manikin dressed in proper combat uniform. The distance between the pile of sandbags and the shell was roughly two metres. Then we went into the observation bunker that had armoured glass in the openings so we could watch the explosion. Guess what; the grenade when it blew absolutely obliterated the sandbags and spread it evenly around the field, only the empty sandbags, shredded, as well as a severely mauled and naked manikin was left. So yes, a 4.7" is plenty of bang for the money!

[@maugustyniak]

To simplify pronounciation: Bwiskaveetzah. The "i" being pronoynced like its equivanlent in "wind". Thanks.

[@coenisgreat]

From what i’ve seen, the name’s pronounced ‘Bwee-ska-veet-sa’ because Polish

[@AWMJoeyjoejoe]

Saw this ship in person last year. Unfortunately they were just closing the museum when I got there so we couldn't go on board. Beautiful ship though.

[@Diego-zz1df]

Congratulations on reaching 20K subscribers!

[@aethertech]

Blys was one of my favorite ships to play in World of Warships (yes, I know, 'that' game.) I do wish she had been given the 4x2 4" gun option, in game she has the 7x 4.7, which is powerful - but some variety is always fun.

[@iwantcrawfish6110]

a serious note though, that little ship did some big fighting. Happy to know her and her sister is still around for everyone to enjoy!

[@macdam11]

Great video! Btw why did she have 3 guns in the front instead of 4? And of those 3 guns, why the single gun on the lower deck instead of the higher deck (would assume the ship is more stable with the single gun higher than the twin guns)?

[@Norbert_Sattler]

I'd just like to point out that Poland was not the first victim of the Nazis. That dubious honour goes to others. While historians have different views on whether the "Anschluss" of Austria was a hostile take-over or a mutual reunification, the case of Czechoslovakia is generally agreed to have been a military conquest. What makes Poland different from the other two countries that Germany annexed prior was that this time around other countries actually gave a shit. When Austria was annexed, only Mexico put in a formal protest, with every other country of the globe not even doing that and when Czechoslovakia was conquered, the allies still did nothing to help that country, but at leas told the Germans that if they pulled off another invasion, there would be war. And that other invasion happened to be in Poland. And there was war.

[@ghut487]

the real difference was the welcome Germans got having crossed the border.

[@piotrd.4850]

Yeah - one and only country invaded by GERMANS in WW II. Not Nazis from Moon Naziland.

[@Deaddirewolf42]

I'd love to see a episode on the Soviet cruiser Murmansk, if you ever move into the post WW2 era ships.

[@lexmaximaguy8788]

its an omaha class cruiser...nothing soviet about it.

[@Deaddirewolf42]

@@lexmaximaguy8788 Source?

[@lexmaximaguy8788]

@@Deaddirewolf42 If your talking about the one built in 1955 than never mind.. i was thinking about the ww2 one leased from the usa..... its too early in the morning for me man.

[@Deaddirewolf42]

@@lexmaximaguy8788 No problem mate, the ship is fascinating more for her death than her life.

[@lexmaximaguy8788]

@@Deaddirewolf42 yeah that murmansk rotted for what 15 years before it was finally scrapped from its watery tomb.

[@Napalmratte]

Congrats on 20 k subs from germany

[@sarjim4381]

Thanks for another great video. It's too bad the British didn't pay closer attention to the class when it was being built. In terms of length, tonnage, speed, and armament, they could have served as the basis for a fast escort class of well armed ships for the RN, something the British sorely lacked in the first two years of the war.

[@Galvars]

Irony right, they design it and build it.

[@Peorhum]

Not sure about that. The RN has plenty of good quality destroyers as far as surface combat went. Once the Błyskawica was converted to carry the DP 4in guns she became something more special with the increased anti aircraft fire, which RN destroyers lacked until the new destroyers with the 4.5s entered service. Sure she was faster then most RN destroyers but that wasn't that big of a deal really. Despite what Drachinifel said, the average RN destroyer of WW2 could very easily keep up with fast troop transports, which tended to only be escorted as they got close to Britain anyways. Having them escorted by destroyers across the Atlantic was stupidity and not done. The Tribals and J-Ns were easily her match in all but AA fire once she took on the twin 4s. PS-I should add she was likely given the role of escorting troop transports at times for AA protection, to protect them from attacking Condors. As the old C class cruisers converted to AA role also played the role and Błyskawica once given the twin 4s had similar armament.

[@Drachinifel]

@@Peorhum a lot of destroyers could keep pace with a fast troop transport in a flat calm, but destroyers quickly lose speed if the weather gets rough, and the Grom classes speed meant it could also drop behind and/or pull ahead in good time to investigate a sighting.

[@sarjim4381]

@@Peorhum The original Bofors 4.7"/50 was a better dual purpose gun than the British 4". They were removed because the British had no ammunition for those rare guns, not because the 4" was superior. The British 4.7" guns used on the Tribals and other classes up to the C class weren't dual purpose weapons, and were pressed into service as such because the admiralty considered the 4" gun too small for main armament. It wasn't until the superb 4.5" DP gun started being standard on RN destroyers that there was a true DP main gun. Sustained top speed was an important asset for that last dash to Britain by troop convoys in the first three years of the war. It wasn't the top speed of the large liners like the Queen Mary that was the issue. It was the fact that they could maintain 29 to 30 knots in almost all weather and could do so while zigzagging. A destroyer had to be faster to keep up through the zigzags while maintaining her station. The Błyskawica was better able to do so because of her few extra knots of top speed, and could do so on a sustained basis. If the RN had recognized the importance of a fast antiaircraft destroyer, a class like the Błyskawica could have been valuable, not only for the Atlantic, but even more so in the days of the Malta convoys.

[@Peorhum]

@@Drachinifel I agree and disagree. Having a surplus of speed does give you some flexibility in that regards and allows for a quicker overhauling speed. BUT I disagree at the same time. RN destroyers were good sea boats that proved themselves again and again. They had a close to 8 knot advantage over the fastest of these troop transports, more over the slower ones, and since it was just escorting the last part of the trip to prevent a repeat of the Lusitania, either due to air or U-boat attack, that 8 knots was good enough. Błyskawica was perfect for the role with her twin 4s which was likely why she was given the job. You yourself said she had to be worked on to make her stronger for the North Sea and Atlantic, while RN destroyers were already strong enough. As for handling in a rough seas at speed, modern RN destroyers of the time were pretty good for that. I read an eye witness account from a crew of a the Matchless (if I am not mistaken), and the account said that in a normal case in high seas you would reduce speed to reduce the changes of damaging your ship but given the situation of needing to torpedo the Scharnhorst they had to increase to full on the order of Fraser. The account said that it was rough as the Matchless built up speed but once she reached a certain speed she took on an almost speed boat attitude and took the seas very well. Of course in this case having the extra speed the Błyskawica had would have been handy as she was 3 knots faster and would have overhauled the Scharnhorst quicker.

[@avragetrinidadian3787]

Who didn't see the Queen reference coming when he said Thunderbolt and Lighting.

[@matthewmckinney5387]

Should have way more museum ships

[@ritchiemx7391]

Thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening, me!

[@TheKaczor13]

Very well done story of the very brave crew & ship ORP Blyskawica... Let's not forget other ships of Polish Navy in the UK during IIWW... Cruisers: ORP Dragon (Danae class) ORP Conrad (Danae class) Destroyers: ORP Burza ("Storm") (Wicher-class) ORP Grom ("Thunder") (Grom class) - lost 1940 ORP Błyskawica ("Lightning") (Grom class) ORP Garland (G class) ORP Orkan (M class) ORP Ouragan ("Hurricane", also known in some Polish sources as Huragan) (Bourrasque class) ORP Piorun ("Thunderbolt") (N class) Escort destroyers ORP Krakowiak ("Cracovian") (Hunt class escort) ORP Kujawiak ("Kujawian") (Hunt class) ORP Ślązak ("Silesian") (Hunt class) Submarines: ORP Orzeł ("Eagle") (Orzel Class) ORP Jastrząb ("Hawk") (S class) - lost 1942 ORP Wilk ("Wolf") (Wilk class) ORP Dzik ("Boar") (U class) ORP Sokół ("Falcon") (U class) As well as the above, there were a number of minor ships, transports, Polish Merchant Navy vessels, and patrol boats.

[@cabbage4372]

That was magnifico.

[@chaszczek]

Great episode now can you made one about ORP Orzeł?

[@77thTrombone]

Until _Orzeł_ works its way to the front of Drach's queue: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWeUcn9opa-eo7M

[@diegoviniciomejiaquesada4754]

Thunderbolt and Lightning ... We just needed the HMS Frightening and the Italian Submarina Galilleo Galilei to sail with them.

[@thhseeking]

Magnifico-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!

[@derekmcmanus1423]

Very interesting and informative

[@-_-9440]

I am pround that you said her name almost perfectly

[@peterthooft3823]

Oerlikon is such a fun word, Also can't wait for Yorktown class.

[@misterjag]

Speaking of destroyers, HMS Campbelltown of St. Nazaire Raid fame is subject of Gift Horse (1952) on KZbin.

[@Kamperus]

Thank you for this video. Just one little thing, before the war three polish destroyers (ORP Grom, ORP Błyskawica and ORP Burza) have been sent to the UK not two.

[@chaszczek]

He talks only about grom class ships not on entire polish navy in exile

[@pillowkaiser5444]

YES probably one of the most fun ships in world of warships tbh.

[@jfrorn]

Very handsome ship the Blytza

[@craigpalmer9196]

well done !

[@WadoViceMan]

yesterday, 16 XI 2023 ORP Błyskawica went out to sea again to help in moving ORP Orzeł submarine to the museum

[@jazeroth322]

Love that ships story!

[@Kramerthetroll]

Thank you very much for the video!

[@rudboypaintbrawl]

Thumbs up, keep on doing good job :) Cheers :D

[@Brocuzgodlocdunfamdogson]

I don’t know about the Galileo, but I did hear something about a ship called ORP Very Very Frightening

[@androot69]

My workbench needs brought me here... Thank you

[@piotrd.4850]

Also: still fastest largest and most heavily armed ship of Polish "Navy". Even standing at the pier.

[@brettryan3298]

Excellent video.

[@fnglert]

Good video! Beautiful ship, my favorite tin can in World of Warships. Horrible mispronunciation on the name btw. :P It's closer to 'Bwis-ka-veet-sa', with the emphasis on 'veet'.

[@nomar5spaulding]

ALERT!

[@csours]

Blyskawica - Bless you!

[@kris220b]

Finally best boat is here.

[@nitehawk86]

My favorite ship in WoWs

[@RedXlV]

Do you have any info about Błyskawica's postwar service in the Polish People's Navy ? Obviously less eventful than her wartime service, but still. The only thing I really know that happened during that time is that the British 102mm guns were replaced with Soviet 100mm, with the British mounts and gun shields being retained. Presumably that required some adaptation, since the Soviet guns were nearly half a ton heavier.

[@Galvars]

It was a typical post war service for decimated navy that very slowly try to rebuild itself. Different friendship visits in different ports and overall training of new personnel, she was for many years the most combat worthy ship. And she did not avoid like her old crew the repression from new regime. With time they did remove British made equipement and replace it with Soviet made. But in second part of 50's here engine room start to have problems, maintenance was more and more difficult, she was in that time old and war weary ship. In 1974 ship was removed from Navy roster and docked to be remade as museum ship. Happily there was enough of influential people that support this and this symbol of "capitalistic regime" was not put to the blowtorch but preserved.

[@Aelvir114]

WoWs Legends: *Błyskawika is available for purchase for a limited time!* Me: Why would I want a random Polish Destroyer? WoWs Legends: *Błyskawika no longer available.* Me: *Watches this video, finding out just how badass she was in 1942* Me: ....I’ve made a terrible mistake.

[@markwhitney555]

I would love to see a video on the original USS Texas, "Old Hoodoo" which served in the Spanish American War.

[@thatkancolleguy]

I would like to know where you find all the information. Because ship specifications can be pretty easily looked up online or in books but the depth you go into especially about the different combat patrols and the details of them for all the ships points towards some sort of online database or website and it sounds like a treasure trove that I would love to get my hands on.