„Gdansk“ – the Polish cabotage passenger ship

One of the tasks of the state-owned company “Žegluga Polska”, founded in November 1926, was an attempt to establish concurention in the field of passenger transportation in the Gdańsk Bay. As a result, the newly created company took over the order from the Republic of Poland for two small passenger ships, which began to be built in September 1926 at the then Gdańsk shipyard. The first of them - "Gdansk" - was launched in April 1927, and its flag was raised on June 19 of the same year. At the end of July, the second of them - "Gdynia" - began to serve. Both ships proved to be too large and too slow for the waters of the Gdańsk Bay. In addition, they were too small and unstable to be adapted for further voyages along the Baltic coasts. But until the mid-1930s, they were used to ferry passengers to foreign ports, such as Bornholm. But mostly both swam only in the Gdańsk Bay. On August 22, 1937, while sailing from Jastarnia, "Gdansk" had a harmless collision with the Norwegian ship "Halversen" standing in the Gdynia raid. On August 28, 1939, due to the impending war, "Gdansk" was mobilized and included in the Trawler Cutters department, where it was to become their base. On September 2, the ship was anchored in the Mechelnik area, where it was hit by a German air raid. One bomb fell near the side of the ship and knocked out a dozen rivets on the side. As a result, “Gdansk” sank. The crew managed to evacuate, but the chief officer of Gdańsk was killed, when the lifeboats were launched during the evacuation. The wreck of the “Gdansk” was raised by the Germans, it is not known, whether they repaired it, but in 1945 the ship was sunk again to block the southern entrance to the port of Gdynia. In 1947 it was raised again, this time by Danish rescuers. The ship was dragged to the beaches of Reda, where it was gradually cut up.

A simple, small, well-designed model of a small ship for modelers of all experience. However, it is recommended, that advanced beginners or modelers with little experience assemble this model under the supervision of a more experienced colleague.