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ORP ''Błyskawica'' is a ''Grom''-class destroyer which served in the Polish Navy during World War II and is the only ship of the Polish Navy awarded the Virtuti Militari medal. It is preserved as a museum ship in Gdynia, the oldest preserved destroyer in the world. She was the second of two ''Grom''-class destroyers, built for the Polish Navy by J. Samuel White, Cowes in 1935–37. The Polish word błyskawica translates to lightning, while her sister, ''Grom'', translate to thunderclap. The ''Grom''-class were two of the most heavily armed and fastest destroyers on the seas during World War II. ==Construction and design== In 1934, the British shipbuilder J. Samuel White won a competition to design and build large destroyers for the Polish Navy, beating a proposal from fellow British shipbuilder Swan Hunter. (A design by the French shipyard Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire had been rejected in 1933).〔Friedman 2009, p. 35.〕 An order for two destroyers of the ''Grom'' class was placed on 29 March 1935.〔Gardiner and Chesneau 1980, p. 349.〕 At the time of their construction, the ''Grom''s were amongst the fastest and most heavily armed destroyers to be built.〔〔Whitley 2000, p. 219.〕 ''Błyskawica'' was long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of . Displacement was standard and full load.〔Kolesnick 1977, p. 5.〕 Three 3-drum boilers fed steam to two sets of geared steam turbines which were rated at , driving two propeller shafts to give a design speed of .〔〔 Main gun armament consisted of seven 120 mm (4.7 in) guns (50 calibre M34/36 guns supplied by Bofors of Sweden) in three twin and one single mounts, with an anti-aircraft armament of two twin Bofors 40 mm guns and eight 13.2 mm machine guns. Six 550 mm torpedo tubes were carried, compatible with the French torpedoes used by the preceding s. Anti-submarine armament consisted of two depth charge chutes with 40 depth charges, while rails were fitted to permit up to 44 mines to be carried. The ship's crew consisted of 180 officers and men.〔〔〔 ''Błyskawica'', the second of the two destroyers, was laid down on 1 October 1935 at J. Samuel White's Cowes, Isle of Wight shipyard, and was launched on 1 October 1936.〔 Sea trials were successful, with the ship exceeding the design speed of 39 knots.〔Kolesnick 1977, p.3.〕 ''Błyskawica'' was commissioned on 1 October 1937.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「ORP Błyskawica」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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