1/400 ORP "Gryf" (Fly Model)
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by Katarzyna Manikowska viltianus |
1/400 ORP "Gryf" (Fly Model)
The minelayer ORP Gryf fell fighting in the evening of 3rd September 1939.
On 1 September 1939, with six minesweepers, Gryf left the naval base at Gdynia for the Operation Rurka, a failed attempt to lay a minefield at the entrances to the Gdansk Bay. After taking aboard naval mines from a floating depot, the flotilla headed for Hel Peninsula, assisted by ORP Wicher and two gunboats. En route she was attacked by a squadron of 33 German Ju-87B dive bombers and damaged with several close misses. Although the damages were minor, the ship lost 22 sailors, including its captain in what became known as the Battle of the Gda?sk Bay. His deputy decided to use the ship as a floating anti-air artillery battery guarding the harbour. In the morning of 3 September 1939, ORP Gryf and ORP Wicher, moored in the harbour, were attacked by two German destroyers, Z1 Leberecht Maass and Z9 Wolfgang Zenker. Polish warships and a shore battery repulsed the attack, with Gryf scoring at least one hit on Leberecht Maas. Gryf herself was slightly damaged with one shot. Later the same day, after three attacks of German bombers, Gryf was heavily damaged, and sank in the harbour.
The diorama was built basing on the cycle of photographs showing
the sunk Gryf . The photographs were taken by Germans in autumn 1939.
