ORP Wicher

ORP Wicher (II) was a Polish destroyer of the Soviet Project 30bis (Smiełyj-class), which served in the Polish Navy from 1958 to 1974. Built in Leningrad, it was launched in 1950 and entered Soviet service in 1951 as "Skoryj". Transferred to Poland in 1958, initially on lease and later purchased in 1965, it operated with the 7th Destroyer Division in Oksywie. The destroyer participated in numerous foreign visits, calling at ports such as Portsmouth, Rostock, and Helsinki, highlighting its role in international naval cooperation. From a technical perspective, ORP Wicher had a displacement of up to 3,181 tons, a length of 121.5 meters, and a maximum speed of 36 knots. Its armament included four 130 mm guns and ten torpedo tubes, making it a modern vessel for its time. After being decommissioned, the ship was repurposed as a breakwater near Hel, and its preserved components, such as the steam turbine and gun turrets, can be found at the Coastal Defense Museum and the Polish Navy Museum in Gdynia. Interestingly, ORP Wicher was the second vessel to bear this name, and its history is part of the broader context of Polish-Soviet cooperation during the Cold War, reflecting both military technology and cultural interactions at sea.