Feast of the first flag lift on the ORP Seagull

On Tuesday, February 14, ORP Mewa will lift the MW flag for the first time. The third of the 258 type Kormoran II mine destroyers will be incorporated into the Polish Navy. The celebrations will be held at the Pomeranian wharf in Gdynia (near Southern Mola) and will be open to the whole society.

We cordially invite all the inhabitants of the Tricity and sailors from all over Poland!

ORP Mewa is the third of a series of modern mine destroyers to reach the Gdynia 13th trawler squadron of the 8th Coast Defence Fleet. The first of the Orp Kormoran series entered service on November 28, 2017. Dugi of the series, ORP Albatros first raised the flag of the Polish Navy on his side on 28 November 2022.

In December 2017, a month after the flag was raised on the prototype ORP Kormoran, a contract was signed for the construction of 2 further mine destroyers, i.e. Albatross and the Seagulls. The symbolic start of the construction of the 603 starboard ship, the so-called steel burning, took place on June 19, 2019, and the keel was laid on October 10, the same year, while the baptism and launching ceremony took place on December 17, 2020.

ORP Mewa was handed over to the Navy in December 2022. The transfer of the unit was preceded by several months of donation and reception tests during which the marine platform and mine hazard control devices and systems were checked. The successful completion of the collection and reception tests confirmed the ship's ability to carry out its main tasks, including: exploration, classification, identification and combating of seamines, recognition of waterway tracks, conduct of units through mine hazards, placing mines and remote control of self-propelled mine platforms. This concerns both operations in the Polish economic zone and missions in tactical groups in the Baltic and North Sea (NATO, EU, or multinational coalition forces).

The ship was built by a consortium led by Shipbuilding SA Shipbuilding Shipbuilding Shipyard. The consortium also consisted of: Research and Development Centre of the Marine Technology Centre SA in Gdynia and PGZ Stocznia Wojenna.

Basic tactical and technical data:
· Forward number: 603
· Class: Destroyer min
· Type: Cormoran II
· Project: 258/III
· Resistance: 830 t
· Length: 58.5 m
· Width: 10,3 m
· Dive: 2,7 m
· Ice class: L-3
· Speed: 15 in
· Range: 2500 Mm

Ship characteristics:

The hull of the ship is made of a magnetic steel to reduce the detection of the ship's physical fields. Its weaponry consists of a ship's OSU-35K weaponry system, which includes, among others, a 35-millimeter AM-35K cannon and an integrated surveillance and tracking head ZGS-35K. Additionally, the ship has three large-caliber machine guns 12.7 mm WKM-Bm and two positions for operators of portable Grom rocket launchers.

The unit is equipped with a SCOT-M battle management system, sonars and four types of submarines: Saab Double Eagle Sarov, Gavia, Kongsberg Hugin, and Fools in two versions – inspection (used to identify underwater objects) and combat (used to destroy dangerous objects). The ship's propulsion system consists of two Voith-Schneider cyclone propulsors powered by two 970 kW MTU diesel engines. Thanks to the use of this type of drive and the equipment of the forward streamer Schottel, the ship has excellent maneuverability.

ORP Albatros and ORP Mewa are slightly different from the prototype ORP Kormoran ship. In the case of mine-based systems, they have additionally received the sonar towed by KATFISH from Kraken, an autonomous, unmanned submarine Gavia and controlled by a cabolin or fiber optic cable, the submarine Double Eagle SAROV from SAAB (which replaced the previously used submarine Morswin produced by Gdańsk University of Technology).

Other specialist equipment has been preserved, such as SHL-101/TM sonar, the autonomous Hugin submarine from Kongsberg and the self-propelled explosives "Stupid". Other major changes include replacing the optoelectronic head from INDRA to FLIR 280, changing the integrated navigation bridge to the OSI's ECpins, and installing a stronger 200 kW jet rudder, which directly improved the unit's maneuverability. The changes applied were based on experience and conclusions of operational and military research conducted on the ORP Kormoran, which used the Navy to introduce numerous modifications to equipment and systems on subsequent serial units.

In June 2022, during the celebration of the Navy Festival, in the Świnouska War Port, Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak signed a contract for the construction of three further mine destroyers, which in the years 2026-27 will power the 12th Trallers Division in Świnouście. Thus, in the coming years, the mine defence forces will be thoroughly upgraded and a total of 6 Kormoran II-type 258-ships will be part of the 8th Coast Defence Fleet.

Source: 8th FOW