ORP Orzel nears re-entering service

ORP Orzel, the sole Polish Kilo-class conventional submarine returned to the Naval Base Gdynia following a 5-days long training period. The recently finalized training precedes a series of tests which will evaluate the readiness of the vessel and its crew to commence operations at sea.

During the training session the crew of ORP Orzel conducted a series of operations in a simulated wartime environment. It included such scenarios as protection of sea routes, shipping and navigation control or search for, localization and tracking of enemy’s vessels, establishing communications with allied vessels, self-defense and emergency crew rescue.

ORP Orzel is the sole Polish Kilo-class submarine and in a couple of months it will become the only vessels of this type remaining in service, as the Navy plans to decommission remaining two Kobben-class submarines in 2021 (Poland will withdraw final Kobben submarines, 2021-01-21).

For the last  couple of years ORP Orzel has undergone a series of repairs and monetization, during which the vessel remained out of service. Three years ago a fire broke out on the submarine while it was undergoing maintenance work at the Gdynia Naval Base.