ORP Piorun: "I AM POLE" | Polish Folk-Metal

⚓ Upcoming ships & member-only songs➡️Playlist➡️    • Members-only videos   👇 Click "...more" for the full ship description All music on this channel is royalty‑free and copyright‑free. You are allowed to use these songs in any videos or live streams, without restriction! ____________________________________________ The Story of ORP Piorun and Bismarck ORP Piorun was an N-class destroyer of the Polish Navy during the Second World War. Originally ordered for the Royal Navy as HMS Nerissa, she was transferred to the Polish Navy before completion and commissioned in November 1940. Fast, heavily armed for a destroyer, and crewed by Polish sailors who had continued the fight after the fall of their homeland, Piorun would become one of the most famous warships in Polish naval history. Her most celebrated opponent was the German battleship Bismarck. Commissioned in August 1940, Bismarck was one of the largest and most powerful battleships ever built by Germany. Displacing more than 41,000 tons standard and armed with eight 15-inch (380 mm) guns, she was designed to dominate any ship she could catch and had already shocked the world by sinking the battlecruiser HMS Hood on 24 May 1941. The Ships: ORP Piorun (G65) Type: N-class Destroyer Standard displacement: 1,773 tons Speed: 36 knots Armament: 6 × 4.7-inch guns, torpedoes, depth charges, AA weapons Crew: approximately 180 men Bismarck Type: Battleship Standard displacement: about 41,700 tons Speed: 30 knots Armament: 8 × 15-inch guns, 12 × 5.9-inch guns, numerous AA weapons Crew: over 2,200 men The Encounter On the evening of 26 May 1941, Allied forces were racing to find and shadow the damaged Bismarck before she could escape to occupied France. Among the ships searching through darkness, rain squalls, and heavy seas was ORP Piorun, commanded by Commander Eugeniusz Pławski. Shortly before midnight, Piorun made visual contact with the German battleship. The difference in strength was enormous. Piorun displaced less than 2,400 tons fully loaded. Bismarck displaced more than twenty times as much and carried guns capable of firing shells weighing around 1,800 pounds (800 kg). A single direct hit could have destroyed the Polish destroyer. Yet Pławski chose not merely to report contact. He closed the range and engaged. As the destroyer maneuvered near the German giant, a famous signal was reportedly sent toward the enemy: "I AM A POLE." The exact wording and method of transmission remain debated by historians, and the signal does not appear in surviving official logs. However, the story became part of naval tradition and is widely associated with the action. What is beyond dispute is that Piorun aggressively challenged Bismarck and maintained contact despite the overwhelming danger. The Duel Piorun fired several salvos at Bismarck and repeatedly illuminated the battleship while reporting her position to the pursuing British fleet. Bismarck responded with her main and secondary batteries, huge shells splashing around the Polish destroyer in the darkness. For nearly an hour, Piorun remained in contact with the battleship, shadowing and harassing an opponent that could have destroyed her with a single lucky hit. The Polish destroyer was never expected to sink Bismarck. Her mission was to keep the German ship under observation and prevent her escape until heavier Allied units could arrive. Eventually, fuel considerations and the arrival of other Allied destroyers ended the close engagement. Throughout the encounter, Piorun avoided serious damage despite repeated German fire. Legacy The following morning, 27 May 1941, British battleships and cruisers caught Bismarck and sank her after a fierce final battle. Piorun was among the warships participating in the operation. ORP Piorun did not fire the shells that destroyed Bismarck. Her achievement was something different. At a moment when most commanders would have focused solely on survival, Pławski and his crew deliberately closed with one of the most powerful warships in the world. Their actions helped maintain contact with the German battleship and contributed to the success of the operation. Whether or not the famous signal was transmitted exactly as legend remembers it, the story captures a deeper truth. A destroyer flying the flag of an occupied nation stood in the darkness of the Atlantic and challenged a battleship that symbolized the power of Nazi Germany. That act of courage ensured that ORP Piorun earned a place among the most celebrated ships in the history of the Polish Navy. ____________________________________________ #bismarck #piorun #metalmusic #folkmetal #wwiihistory #navalhistory