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The story of the Polish minesweeper.

When Schleswig-Holstein's cannons sounded in Gdańsk on September 1 and German troops crossed the Polish border along its entire length, this meant the only thing for the roughly 17,000 men on the coast - we are alone from now on. Separated from the rest of the country, they fought fierce battles with the German superiority, defending their window to the world and national pride - the new port city of Gdynia. According to a carefully prepared German plan, the capture of the Polish coast should not take more than about 1 week. However, the exemplary courage and military skill of the defenders extended this period to a whole month. And this article is especially dedicated to them.

The original "Y" hour, the moment of the invasion of Poland, was set at 4:30 on the morning of August 26, 1939. The units were already ready in the boarding areas, when the order came to cancel the attack. In many places, this caused considerable problems, when part of the patrols and diversion teams had already set out and had to be repaired by quick couplings to cancel the event. Admiral Albrecht's ships were already at sea, slowly closing the blockade of the Gulf of Gdansk.

The fog finally lifted, so there was nothing to stop him from carrying out the planned attack. Shortly after lunch, the noise of aircraft engines echoed at the Pomeranian airports, and more than a hundred fully loaded bombers with the appropriate fighter escort gradually rose into the air.

Neither side could be satisfied with the course of the first day. Worse were Polish sailors, who were badly affected by the experience of dive bombing, the fiasco of Operation Rurka, and the transformation of the largest ships into floating batteries. It is certainly a good sign for the Polish officer corps that it has managed to maintain discipline, re-evaluate the defense system and restore the crew's fighting spirit in a short time. But Admiral Albrecht also had considerable reservations about his performance so far. It was mainly the Luftwaffe operational air force, which, despite the deployment of considerable forces, did not achieve any significant success.

So far, we have not focused on the operation of the strongest component of the Polish fleet - submarines. On paper, the Polish submarine fleet was a relatively significant fighting force that every potential adversary had to reckon with.

After the destruction of the core of the Polish fleet, the intensity of fighting in the waters of the Gulf of Gdańsk decreased significantly. Not so on land. Units of the 207th Infantry Division had just completed their move and were heading north against Polish positions. At first, they advanced relatively quickly - after all, the attacking units had in their way the only infantry battalion at Kartuz ( IV. MBON ). Two days later, however, they hit the main line of defense and fierce fighting broke out along the entire front.

As the German staff feared non-existent mines, Polish commanders lived in constant fear of the Germans landing on Hel. They constantly strengthened Hel's anti-santine defenses, often at the expense of ship's crews and armaments. Gradually, all warships were permanently anchored, with the exception of minesweepers. The released crews reinforced the divisions on the coast, the artillery armament was removed and used to create improvised batteries.

After the surrender of LOW, the fighting around the Gulf of Gdańsk almost subsided. The commanders in chief in both Albrecht and Kaupisch could be satisfied. The main task in the form of the destruction of Colonel Dąbek's ground forces was accomplished, the Polish Navy basically no longer existed and there was plenty of time for the final pacification of Hel. So they gave their already tired men a little rest and then began to prepare for the final finals of the entire campaign - the conquest of the Hel peninsula.