February 12, 1941
Atlantic Ocean
2nd Squadron of Transport-Mining Ships
ORP Poznań
Captain Wojciech Żal gazed with satisfaction at the surface of the Atlantic Ocean; everything had gone smoothly. The ship had completed its mission and was now calmly returning home. Of course, it was amusing that the ship, strictly speaking, was a landing craft, serving as both a transporter and a primitive minesweeper.
Nevertheless, it suited Żal just fine, even though for over a year he had been forced to navigate through the rather unusual route across the Atlantic Ocean. It was problematic, and to some extent, symptomatic of a broader problem within the navy.
In simple terms, landing ships like the Lublin were not designed to traverse oceans; their intended purpose was to have sufficient maritime capabilities for the Baltic Sea and perhaps the North Sea. It's no wonder; the goal of the People's Polish Army was to land in Denmark, so the ships were designed for such tasks.
However, the conversion of the Lublins to transport duties was the result of a political change after the fall of communism. Poland no longer needed landing craft, so those under construction were canceled, and the rest were "converted" on paper to transport and minesweeping duties.
For three decades after the fall of the Navy, such a state of affairs sufficed, but now it was biting them in the ass upon their return.
Due to the lack of alternatives, Lublins were still used as transporters, even though it was becoming increasingly absurd, like now from Poland to Zamorze and back. ORP Poznań, on its fixed course, had to constantly stop at ports to refuel, and the journey from the Cape Verde Islands was only made with the assistance of the tanker ORP Bałtyk. This, of course, tied up the only decent ship of its kind in one operational area at the expense of everything else. Luckily, it was not needed elsewhere.
Fortunately, someone at the Ministry of National Defense noticed that this was not very practical and placed an order for real transport ships for the Polish Navy. It was supposed to happen soon, but it was one of many projects awaiting implementation.
The expected time for commissioning was one or two years. It was unknown; all sufficiently large shipyards were swamped with work. Complaints about labor shortages were often repeated mantras in response to why things were moving so slowly.
Of course, the government tried to solve this problem through various means, such as increasing incentives for training in relevant professions, contributing to the development of domestically produced industrial robots, or bringing in skilled workers from abroad whose training in new construction methods is easier than starting from scratch.
And they are investing money in rebuilding the shipbuilding industry, even more than before, trying to compensate for the lack of EU funding, which paradoxically turned out to be possible. Few ordinary Poles realize that all EU subsidies were actually subsidies from the Polish state. Because all the EU did was create legal-psychological coverage, effectively for additional issuance of złoty.
If anyone had doubts about how bad a decision it was to stop funding Polish shipyards by the Tusk government to save them in 2008 during the crisis, as part of a broader capitulation to the EU, they had to completely dispel them now. If they had that power then, it would be much easier today. Much easier because it must be known that until the fall, Polish shipyards were in the top 10 largest shipbuilders in the world in terms of size.
The wave of understanding was shown in the recent elections. But there's no use crying over spilled milk; you have to focus on doing what needs to be done, and there's plenty of it. One example is the ORP Żubr sailing alongside in the formation, a 249 project Submarine Chaser, commonly known as the Kormoran III or Tur type.
It was, of course, a rather uncomplicated modification of the Kormoran-class mine destroyers for anti-submarine warfare tasks, but that doesn't mean it was limited to just that. The second, and essentially intertwined, task is escort duty. It's no wonder; the Kormoran IIs are very good ships with excellent maritime capabilities and a considerable range. It was decided only to improve these parameters while adapting them to new tasks.
Nevertheless, the Kormoran IIIs have a series of important and differing modifications. One of them is a completely different stern, redesigned to have a full-fledged helicopter hangar as opposed to the regular helipad on the Kormoran IIs. Each Kormoran III is equipped with an AW109/PZL 109 helicopter for anti-submarine warfare and maritime search and rescue.
Another noteworthy change is the fact that they have two OSU-35 Tryton guns at the bow, instead of one. Although eventually, one of them will be replaced by a 76 mm gun, similar to those used on former American frigates and the ORP Ślązak. Until then, as part of increased firepower, there will be two 35mm Trytons.
These were not bad guns; in fact, they were really good, but unfortunately, they had a relatively short range, a maximum of 5 km, which posed a threat in combat against adversaries. Of course, this drawback is compensated by excellent accuracy, which the enemy can only dream of. And Trytons are universal guns, meaning they can just as easily combat enemy maritime aviation.
In addition to this, the Kormoran IIIs also had two Wróbel III anti-aircraft guns caliber 23mm supported by attached Piorun anti-aircraft missile launchers. As a complement, they also had 12 multiple-barreled 12.7mm machine guns, a significant increase in firepower compared to the Kormoran IIs, which only had eight such single-barrel ones.
For enhanced anti-aircraft defense, the crew had access to eight PZPR Piorun missiles, just like the original.
Another thing was a new, much stronger propulsion system, produced by the old reliable Cegielski. The new propulsion was necessary; the original mine destroyer sailed at a maximum speed of 15 knots.
The new Submarine Chaser had to achieve greater speed if it wanted to safely outpace any submarine and be able to maneuver efficiently in the event of a confrontation with enemy surface units. Ultimately, four high-powered engines from Cegielski with a total power of 18,000 horsepower resulted in an increase to 26 knots.
The last noteworthy change was the increase in range from 2500 nautical miles to 4000 miles. This gave the impression of a larger ship, more bloated in its volume. This was reflected in a displacement of a whopping 1270 metric tons. An increase of 440 tons, but nothing surprising; two turrets, a hangar, more powerful anti-aircraft armament, and a more powerful propulsion system all added to its weight.
As a result, abroad, both the Kormoran III and Kormoran II, interestingly, are classified as corvettes. Of course, this was not the case for the Poles; they had their two corvettes, the old ORP Kaszub, which was amusingly lighter than the ORP Żubr by over 100 tons, and the ORP Ślązak, which in an act of truly amusing irony, is commonly classified as a destroyer abroad.
No wonder, the ORP Ślązak has a displacement of 2200 metric tons, which essentially makes it a large destroyer. If you overlook the fact that it is relatively poorly armed for such a large vessel.
Speaking of the Ślązak, initially, in the rush to reorganize the Polish Navy for the new reality and modernization plans, this unfortunate vessel was completely forgotten. Truly, the Ślązak, or as it was originally named, Gawron, had terrible luck; it took eighteen years to build one small, multi-purpose corvette, only to end up as a patrol corvette in a desperate attempt to push it out of the dock. The Ślązak itself was a perfect encapsulation of all the Navy's problems over the last three decades.
But it's not time to dwell on the painful past; it's worth mentioning why the ORP Ślązak has returned to the discussion worth noting. Specifically, it was noticed that in foreign fleet registries, many renowned publications of this kind had to issue updates for the year 1938, with the emergence of the new Polish fleet, which commonly led to a truly dizzying race to be the first to do so. Many Polish vessels are classified upwards, with a notation explaining that the Poles consider them a different class of ships.
Among them, in the destroyer category, ORP Ślązak stood out like a sore thumb, alongside, of course, the ORP Błyskawica, which is formally still in service but not active. This sparked an idea among the relevant officers.
Since, in fact, the Ślązak has the displacement of a World War II destroyer, why not make it a corvette-destroyer? The Mieczniks and Huragans have the displacement of cruisers, although they are respectively a frigate and a destroyer; there will be relatively few of them, and their construction will take some time. Furthermore, they will be constantly modified as Poland gains missing capabilities, mainly in the segment of guided missiles.
While a class of smaller, cheaper, and rather mass-produced vessels will be useful as an ideal fill-in for numerical deficiencies, especially since the Air Force has done something similar with the PZL 106M Jastrząb, a retro-fighter used as a stopgap and numerical supplement for expensive and elite jets.
After heated discussions among navy officers, it was ultimately decided to implement the plan. The plans for the 641 project corvette, popularly called the Gawron-class corvettes, were taken out, subjected to numerous modifications, jokingly referred to as "destroyerization," and ultimately, four keels were laid for the new version of the multi-purpose corvette. Or, as it was commonly referred to, the Destroyer Corvette.
ORP Ślązak was finally to have its sisters, incredibly numerous ones, I might add. An order was placed for over 50 vessels of the Ślązak/Gawron II type, or Corvette Destroyer project 642. The count included the ORP Ślązak itself, which as a prototype was to return to its task and serve as a test platform for the new version of the Gawron.
As a result, the valuable vessel also became a testbed for all new large-caliber armament, which was also intended for the Mieczniks and Huragans. It was the first to carry the new main gun, a modified turret and gun from the AHS Krab, known as the OSU-155 Chrobry, as well as newly designed torpedo launchers WT-24, a complete novelty as Poland had never built anything like them before, so they are quite archaic as they were copied from the ORP Błyskawica and underwent appropriate modifications.
Ultimately, after many adventures, the future armament of the Gawron II was finally established. Four OSU-35 guns, two near the stern and two near the bridge. Two OSU-155 Chrobry guns in superposition at the bow. Four Wróbel III guns on the upper deck, twelve WKM 12.7 mm machine guns, and two quadruple 533mm torpedo launchers.
Let's pause here for a moment. One of the things that amused Captain Żal was a curious fact: Poland had never produced torpedoes for itself throughout its long history. As a result, there was, as one might easily guess, a problem with arming its submarines and a conscious avoidance of torpedo tubes as armament for surface vessels in contemporary ships.
The solution to this problem came from three sides. The first was to go to The Whitehead Torpedo Company Ltd. in Weymouth, Great Britain, which produced a torpedo specifically developed for the interwar Polish Navy's needs, the wz. AB Torpedo, and to purchase additional torpedoes from them along with all the documentation needed to provisionally produce them. Of course, such torpedoes were quite primitive compared to the rest of the armament. From the very beginning, it was known that this would be armament to meet needs, rather than preferred or ultimate armament.
The second solution came from Japan. Knowing the reputation of Japanese inventions in this type of armament, cooperation was established with them to develop much better torpedoes for Polish needs. The Japanese, who had already positively developed military and research cooperation with the Poles, were greatly surprised by this request. They were more interested in learning from the Poles, aiming to develop much better torpedoes for themselves because they believed that Poland had and produced such equipment.
The information that, in fact, they had never done this until now was, well, shocking, but the Japanese quickly got down to business, seeing this as a unique opportunity for a significant technological leap, thereby increasing their advantage in this field over the Americans. Not that it didn't already exist, but hey, everyone wants to increase their advantage, not decrease it.
The agreement was simple: the Japanese would provide the Poles with appropriate torpedoes, and in return, the Poles would give them access to stocks and reverse engineering research of their torpedoes, and together they would develop new torpedoes according to requirements.
Did the Poles hesitate for a long time to give access to modern torpedo construction technology to an extremely militaristic country known for war crimes and maritime aggression, just to fill their own gap with the most advanced torpedoes of the time? No. On the contrary, Prime Minister Morawiecki's decision took three seconds.
A long time ago, in a conversation with the Prezes and President, of course, nobody except this trio knew about it, a decision was made with disastrous consequences to strengthen Japan by all means. It was believed that for Poland to survive, it needed Japan to attack the USSR from the other side. Hence, they turned a blind eye to the extreme militarism, brutality, and imperialistic tendencies of their ally. In fact, they were counting on these traits to be able to use them against the Soviets.
Of course, it was anticipated that such an approach would cause a lot of problems. The problem, however, is that Poland didn't care, and even better, it counted on the loud behavior of the Japanese to constantly divert attention from the Poles themselves.
So, the third part of the solution, reverse engineering of possessed torpedoes to develop their own, was done in collaboration with Japan. And there were quite a few of them: American, Soviet, and Swedish torpedoes. Each of them was a demonstration of capabilities and solutions. What valuable lessons could be drawn from this? Quite a lot.
One could say that this program stands out, but contrary to appearances, it disappeared amidst the dozens of such programs that Poland conducted with its allies and partners. The next-generation torpedo program escaped special attention from foreign intelligence services. Nothing surprising; after all, what is more frightening and resource-intensive? That Poles and Japanese are creating new torpedoes or that Poles are teaching Japanese about contemporary ship engineering principles?
So, Japanese Type 95 torpedoes began to arrive in Poland as the preferred torpedo, along with the production method, becoming the basic armament of this type for the coming years.
Captain Żal noted in the state propaganda that it was not particularly praised; he simply stated that it was not surprising. What was there to boast about? That they mastered the domestic production of torpedoes? Well, there was indeed something to be proud of, as they achieved what no one else had done before. However, the information that this was very old and not very modern weaponry for Polish standards somewhat spoiled the satisfaction with it.
Of course, from what Żal heard, it wasn't as if nothing was being done with the Type 95; on the contrary, from the very beginning, attempts were made to modify these torpedoes provisionally but still modernize them. Everything, of course, with the consent of the Japanese, who watched the Poles as a picture when it came to military matters. Many things could be blamed on them, but not that they didn't want to learn.
In fact, they probably wanted the Poles, to the extent of their capabilities, to improve this equipment. After all, there were rumors that a few designated Japanese ships were to sail to Polish shipyards to undergo modernization to contemporary standards. And that the Japanese wanted to place an order here for their Navy.
The latter was particularly close to Żal's heart because rumors had it that the Lublin II Program, aimed at acquiring the first new landing ships in many years and the planned modernization of all originals to the new standard, was also related to the desire to sell such ships abroad.
There were various speculations; some said that the Romanians wanted such ships because there was no shortage of Romanian officials in ports and shipyards; others said the Japanese, who were everywhere; others said the French or Italians. There was a lot of it.
Especially with the launch of the Gawron II, interest surged. Let's be honest: who wouldn't want a corvette capable of sinking ships even two or three classes larger than itself? Especially since the Gawron II was currently at the top, small but tough, built with readily available blocks and in large numbers because it was much cheaper than its larger siblings.
It's enough to say that soon four such vessels will set sail to Zamorze to reinforce the defense of the Forward Squadron of Guiana and Suriname. If the Brazilians were wary of three Orkans, they should have one approach to the four newly built Corvette Destroyers, namely OORP Kaszub, Krakowiak, Kurp, and Kujawiak: fear.
Żal hoped that this would be enough to deter the Brazilians from any foolish moves. So far, they were still teasing the Poles in the territorial waters, occasionally venturing briefly into Polish waters and fleeing from them when the Orkans approached.
"Captain, sorry for interrupting your admiration of the Atlantic and contemplating our Navy. I understand you probably want to be the captain of something bigger, which will most likely happen soon, but you have work to do," his deputy, Lieutenant Ewelina Lisowska, spoke behind his back, in her characteristically dry tone.
"Of course, Lieutenant, I'm listening," he turned to her with a slight smile.
"Captain, I report that we're approaching a dangerously low level of fuel in the tanks. Furthermore, ORP Żubr reports that a storm is coming from the northeast. I'd advise dealing with this matter now while the weather is still clear," she replied dryly, without adopting her superior's good mood.
"I understand," Captain Żal acknowledged. "Is that all?"
"Yes."
"You can return to your duties," he instructed his subordinate.
She didn't need to be told twice; she turned on her heel and headed towards the bridge from the observation deck. The captain followed her, shaking his head at the overzealousness of the young officer.
Perfect in every way, Lieutenant Lisowska was not an easy woman, least of all approachable. Normally, anyone would complain, but not in the Polish Navy, which has been fighting for recruits for almost forever. Everyone wants to be an infantryman, paratrooper, artilleryman, logistician, tank soldier, pilot, or mechanic. A sailor? Not so much.
Therefore, the Navy doesn't complain about recruits; it takes whoever comes its way and tries to turn them into sailors. Hence, the ratio of women to men in the Navy is quite high compared to other branches of the military.
Of course, it doesn't mean that every recruit stays; after all, emphasis was placed on quality, and those deemed unsuitable were rejected. Nevertheless, the effects of having fewer volunteers were noticeable.
Żal understood this perfectly, as did everyone else in the crew. Who couldn't grasp this simple truth must have been asked first, how did they end up in the Navy? Because it's almost impossible not to notice a significant number of female colleagues during training, isn't it?
The rest of the events were uneventful, without any major adventures. ORP Bałtyk was summoned, supplies were replenished, and then they set off to face the storm. Forecasts revealed that they wouldn't make it to the Cape Verde Islands before the storm caught up with them.
Żal sighed before ordering the ship to prepare for the storm. He had had an unpleasant experience with Atlantic weather on one of the previous voyages. Suffice it to say, he didn't wish to relive it, at least not aboard ORP Poznań. Unfortunately, fate seemed deaf to human desires.
The small convoy, consisting of two Lublin-class ships, one Kormoran III, and ORP Bałtyk, was caught by the storm tens of miles before the islands. While ORP Żubr and Bałtyk passed through the storm relatively calmly, the two "transports" were tossed left and right without any mercy.
Fortunately, the crews of both ships kept their cool, acting in accordance with their naval training, carefully navigating through the turbulent ocean towards safe shelter.
After several hours, they managed to reach Sao Filipe on the island of Fogo. There, they waited out the storm before continuing on to Western Sahara, specifically to Ad-Dakhla, where they replenished their supplies once again, mainly with oil extracted by ORLEN HISZPANIA in the region. Here, the escort turned back to Zamorze, waiting there for the next course, while both Lublin-class ships sailed on alone.
The route was long with frequent stops, approximately every 800 nautical miles, allowing for a small margin for additional maneuvers. Thus, from Spanish Sahara, they traveled to French Morocco, stopping in El Jadida to replenish supplies before heading to A Coruña in Spain, which was the next stop.
Then they sailed to Zeebrugge in Belgium, where they stayed longer before continuing on to Denmark, specifically to its capital, where the first overseas base of the Polish Navy was located. There, they made a simple stopover before sailing straight to their home port in Świnoujście.
Sometimes they bypassed the stopover in Denmark and headed directly to Świnoujście. The distance allowed for it because from Zeebrugge to Świnoujście was exactly 850 nautical miles, which was the maximum range of Lublin-class ships. Therefore, the auxiliary Z-8 serving in their flotilla could easily catch them and supply them with the necessary fuel to complete the journey.
Żal didn't prefer this method because it always involved nervously waiting for assistance. What's more, it was done in close proximity to German territorial waters. There, German ships always lurked, although they didn't enter Polish territory for fear of retaliation, they ruthlessly tried to intercept any ship or vessel that entered their territory, even accidentally.
Suffice it to say that Germany has converted the small resort town and NSDAP training camp, Sassnitz, into an outpost of the Kriegsmarine over the past two years, which closely monitored everything the Polish Navy did near its port.
As for Stralsund, located safely behind Rügen, it served as a full-fledged naval base for the Kriegsmarine. Suffice it to say that it's no secret that it's the cause of sleepless nights for Rear Admiral Piotr Nieć, the commander of the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla.
No wonder Germany has amassed powerful forces in Stralsund: two battleships, three cruisers, ten destroyers, thirty minesweepers, and ten U-boats, ready to fall upon the relatively modest forces of the 8th Flotilla in case of a conflict. And that's just one German fleet!
Żal knew well that the name of his flotilla was greatly exaggerated. Most of the ships were transport ships, minesweepers, and Kormoran II-class destroyers. Among the stronger ships, they only had two Kormoran III-class ships, ORP Żubr, which, as we know, was assigned to the Forward Squadron, and ORP Tur, which fortunately was in the country.
A great force for coastal defense.
Enough sarcasm; squirrels whispered that two new Miecznik-class frigates, four new Huragan-class destroyers, and the first eight Gawron II-class corvettes were to bolster the ranks of the 8th Flotilla. When was this to happen? Well, when they finish building them, which could vary. It could happen this year if everything goes as planned.
Of course, on paper, it doesn't look overly great; there are still more Germans. But as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.
OSU-155 Chrobry, equipped on the AHS Krab, has a range of 32 to 40 kilometers (19 to 24 miles) depending on the type of projectile used. What's more, in mass production, precision APR 155 Szczerbiec projectiles were also available. What does this mean?
Well, it's no secret that when it comes to fire control systems, Poland outpaces the competition by over a century. Although the Polish computer industry has suffered due to being cut off from its suppliers, it is quickly getting back on its feet. Already, they've managed to offer computers at a level of development from the 1990s. While they may not be cutting-edge, they suffice for their purposes.
Moreover, computer technology straight out of the 1990s (but not the software!) is sufficient for the purposes of Polish Fire Control Systems manufacturers. Especially since these systems are designed on old Polish Odra series computers. And as humanity has come to realize, FCS changes everything.
To install such a system on, say, a World War I-era vessel would give that ship the capability to engage even Cold War-era vessels with much older and more primitive FCS.
Add to that Polish radars, which already belong to the world's top tier, and you have a significant shift in the balance of power.
Consider that Bismarck and Tirpitz could fire their guns at a range of 54 kilometers, yet the chances of hitting anything from such a distance were virtually zero. Their effective range was 36.5 kilometers, and that too largely depended on luck that the calculations were absolutely correct.
Meanwhile, a Miecznik or Huragan with its Chrobrys has practically the same range and effectiveness. As a result, the Polish Navy can open fire directly from its territorial waters and hit departing Germans from the port of Sassnitz or those sailing in the western part of the Pomeranian Bay under Rügen. Under the fairly obvious condition that they see them first.
Suffice it to say, the entire Polish naval doctrine, when it comes to naval warfare, commands leveraging the advantage of accuracy and range over the enemy. If possible, one should avoid close contact, and if it comes to it, try to break it off.
Of course, information about such capabilities sounds so absurd that many powers take it as Polish propaganda rather than fact.
Which only favored the Poles and was one of the assets compensating for the very small size of the Polish Navy.
But the most powerful asset of the Polish Navy was flying in formation above the Lublins sailing to their home port. Eight PZL 106M Jastrząbs escorting twelve PZL M28 Bryzas, in which Żal recognized the torpedo variant, mainly because torpedoes were attached under the Bryzas.
The Maritime Aviation of the Polish Navy, the long arms and main edge of Poland on the waters. No one had any illusions that sailors would have the main work in naval battles. They were, for the time being, too weak and too few in this regard. Therefore, the navy pilots will bear the brunt of the work. Important but dangerous work.
Very dangerous, especially considering that Poland had just begun to regain its ability to produce jet aircraft. As a result, makeshift solutions were needed, such as retro-fighters and new specialized versions for the Bryzas, which turned this transport aircraft into a bomber or torpedo bomber.
If someone who didn't know the current realities saw this formation, they would consider it either a real formation of Polish aviation from a past era or a quirky historical reenactment. But it was a sad reality, requiring patching up the gaps in a makeshift way.
Of course, the Poles wouldn't be themselves, especially the "know-it-all" military experts, if they didn't criticize this decision, as well as hundreds of others, as stupid and senseless. And it would be best if the Ministry of National Defense didn't have its own mind, but simply fulfilled the wishes of experts who, if something went wrong, wouldn't take responsibility because it's the Ministry's fault.
Żal had these wise men deep in the part of his back that loses its noble name. Especially since, for his flotilla, it was the biggest and most powerful argument against the Germans. It hadn't happened that Polish and German machines clashed, but both sides constantly met in the sky.
Moreover, what's there to say? The radar operator informed him not long ago that he detected an airborne formation from the west. The course they had, compared with the course of Polish aircraft, clearly gave the answer as to why they were flying.
But that wasn't a problem for the Captain; ORP Poznań was slowly entering the crowded Świna Strait, from which the city took its name, Świnoujście. The port, both civilian and military, was located as if in distant Paramaribo in Suriname, deep in the channel. Incidentally, this pleasant coincidence was an advantage in facilitating acclimatization in South America.
The city itself was a modest town with around 50,000 inhabitants, incredibly close to the Polish-German border, which in this case wasn't a significant problem given the nature of the area.
Because Świnoujście lies on three large and forty-one small islands. It was the only city in Poland with such a character. The Polish-German border ran through the Uznam Island, a fairly large but insignificant island in the Baltic Sea. Its only significance lies in the fact that it, together with Wolin, forms a barrier defending the Szczecin Lagoon from foreign naval forces.
A very useful thing, as it protected this powerful port and its valuable shipyards from enemy ships, giving the owner a private waterway. Of course, on the condition that no one threatened from the land side.
And here, things weren't so cheerful; to say that the Germans were displeased that the best seaport for servicing Berlin and the entire East (or Middle, as they called it) Germany fell into Polish hands would be an understatement.
As a result, the entire import, or rather its main part, passed through Polish hands, ultimately giving huge profits from customs duties and trade to the Poles, and costs to the Germans. Another important issue was the obvious economic burden on the localities in the region, which, unlike in the GDR, had not had a period to adapt to operating with Roztoka, so it naturally drew the economy of this region towards Poland.
This inevitably led to the flooding of the region with Polish goods or necessary contacts with Poles. It meant that the influence of Berlin weakened in this area, especially since these were typically tourist destinations, reluctant to increased military activity in the region.
This deterred tourists, fearing that there might be an armed incident. The most reluctant were the inhabitants of Uznam Island itself, who naturally, due to the lack of solid bridges to the rest of Germany, directed themselves towards Świnoujście as the main metropolis of the island.
This, of course, meant that they were directly influenced by Polish culture and pop culture, and therefore propaganda. The best example of this is the fact that even in the leisure resort for NSDAP officials on Uznam, the main radio station is Radio Świnoujście, covering the entire island.
This was facilitated by the fact that this radio station played entertainment music not only from the present day but also from past eras, creating a strange mix of old and new music. And there were broadcasts in German.
Add to that the steadily growing German economic immigration from the German part of the island to the city, and many German connoisseurs of female beauty came to Uznam to gaze at the city beach in Świnoujście through binoculars.
Combining this with the constant and frequent adoption of Polish fashion and goods throughout the island, because it was easier, created an increasingly glaring problem for the authorities in Berlin.
The problem of Polish influence on the entire border region, and in such, let's not hide, remote holes like Uznam, where tourism was the main source of livelihood, inevitably created Polish strongholds that were difficult to eradicate without deeper international trouble.
Żal was well aware of this, after all, he wasn't blind. Germans were never lacking in the city, and in those times, it was even easier to spot them. But one shouldn't be overly trusting, especially those who hung around the strait area, so they could have a clear view of the 8th Flotilla's naval port.
The general order was clear: report and, if necessary, detain such individuals of German nationality. Particularly watch out for young men with an "Aryan" appearance; it was no secret that ambitious SS men came to the city as part of grassroots intelligence operations. The proximity to the Party resort only increased this risk.
That's why he didn't rejoice as much as before at the sight of the ORP Poznań moored at the quay. Even if the ship itself wasn't anything special.
Nevertheless, regardless of that, he knew one thing. You just had to do your job and focus on what you could influence.
Welcome back, I apologize for the lack of response. Unfortunately, computer problems and then a new toy I got for myself caused me to lose interest in writing for a while. Finally, I finished the chapter that I wrote a long time ago, and after many attempts, it turns out that the first version of it, which you just read, is the best one.
From the parish announcements, I want to add that I plan to add two new stories, both set in the Second Polish Republic. The first will be a fun exploration titled "What if Poland participated in the 1905 war," and the second (ATP, I summon you) will be a variation on the Isekai theme titled "What if not one person but the whole country was transported to another world." I have one (or two?) stories from this world on this site; if anyone wants to familiarize themselves with the general setting, you can look them up. But be warned, I intend to stir things up a bit in the new story.
