The Polish cutters. Part 1 – the II World War cutters

ORP S-1 (British name MA / SB 48, MGB 48) - World War II Polish artillery speed cutter, one of the two pre-war ships, built at the “J. Samuel White” shipyard in Cowes. He started his service in 1940, operated under the Polish flag until 1944, when he was removed from the lists due to wear and tear. The day after the S-1 was taken into service, a fire broke out in the engine compartment of the ship during tests at sea. Lieutenant Sokołowski, the commander of the boat, was killed by smoke in an attempt to put it out. The remaining crew members were rescued by accompanying ships, and the burnt hull was dragged back to the shipyard. After the remount in 1941. January 31 The S-1 began service on the 3rd British Navy Fleet flotilla, deployed in Fowey. Lieutenant Tadeusz Dąbrowski became the new commander. Along with other flotilla boats, the S-1 patrolled the English Channel, protecting its convoys from German “Schnellboot’s” attacks and searching for similar enemy convoys. The service of most of the small units in the coastal war is poorly documented, it is known, that the S-1 crew's combat operations took place in July 1943, and in December of that year, along with the S-2, they transported the saboteurs to occupied France. A very worn out boat in 1944. February 21 was removed from active duty and transferred to Plymouth. On April 15 of that year, he was formally transferred to the reserve. At the end of the war, due to the poor technical condition of the ship, the navy relinquished ownership of the high-speed ship, which was probably dismantled.

The ORP S-5 (British name: MTB 424) was a British-made torpedo boat, also belonging to the group of torpedo-artillery boats, and used in the Polish Navy during the Second World War. 1944 In May, the boat began service with a white-red flag and served until 1945 October month. Its water capacity was about 47 tons. The ship was about 22.3 meters long and 5.5 meters wide, with a maximum speed of up to 40 knots during sea trials. He was armed with one 6-pound QF Mk. 57 mm IIA, two 20 mm “Oerlikon” cannons, two 7.7 mm machine guns and two 457 mm torpedoes. The ship was built in shipyard “J. Samuel White Shipyard in Cowes, Isle of Wight, and was a modernized version of the “Vosper's” 1943 project boat. The vessels in this project were small with very strong armament, which unfortunately had a negative effect on the strength of the entire structure and resulted in deformations of the hull. The ORP S-5 was also noted for this. For this reason, torpedo tubes were dismantled at the turn of 1944/1945. The cutter began its service, when the active phase of the war in the English Channel was coming to an end and was almost over, when the Allies successfully landed in Normandy. Nevertheless, since 1944. end of 1945 in April the ship served in the eastern part of the English Channel, and at the end of World War II took part in the takeover of the surrendering German submarines. 1945 in October the cutter was officially returned to the British.

Two uncomplicated, small but colorful cutters models, that even novice and inexperienced modelers can assemble without the help of more experienced colleagues.