ORP Piorun was an N-class destroyeroperated by the Polish Navy in World War II. The word piorun is Polish for "Thunderbolt". Ordered by the Royal Navy in 1939, the ship was laid down as HMS Nerissa before being acquired by Poland, before completion, in October 1940. In May 1941 ORP Piorun located the German battleshipBismarck, and drew its fire, while other units of the Royal Navy task force caught up to sink the Bismarck. After World War II, Piorun was returned to the Royal Navy and recommissioned as HMS Noble before being scrapped in 1955.
Design
The eight ships of the N-class were ordered on 15 April 1939. They were a repeat of the J- and K-class destroyers, 16 of which were ordered in 1937. The N-class were long between perpendiculars and overall, with a beam of and a draught of. Displacement was standard and full load. Two Admiralty three-drum boilers fed steam at and to Parsons to two sets of Parsons single-reduction geared-steam turbines, rated at. This gave a design speed of at trials displacement and at full load. 491 tons of oil were carried, giving a range of at and at. As designed, the N-class were to be armed with six QF Mark XII guns in three twin mountings, two forward and one aft. These guns could only elevate to an angle of 40 degrees, and so were of limited use in the anti-aircraft role. A short range anti-aircraft armament of a four-barrelled 2-pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft mount and eight.50 in machine guns in two quadruple mounts on the bridge wings was to be fitted, while torpedo armament was to be ten torpedo tubes in two quintuple mounts. Early experience of the vulnerability of destroyers to air attack off Norway and during the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940 resulted in the armament of the N-class being revised during construction. The aft set of torpedo-tubes was removed and replaced by a single QF Mark V anti-aircraft gun, while the quadruple.50 in machine guns on the bridge wings were replaced by two single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, with two more Oerlikons abaft the searchlight, while two twin.50 inch machine guns were mounted on the ships' quarterdeck.
History
The ship was built by John Brown & Company of Clydebank, Glasgow. She was laid down in July 1939, launched on 7 May 1940 and completed on 4 November 1940. Initially commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Nerissa, she was later transferred to the Polish Navy as a replacement for the destroyer, which had been lost off the Norwegian coast on 4 May 1940. Piorun was based in Great Britain and commanded by Commander Eugeniusz Pławski. Between 13 and 15 March 1941, while undergoing repairs in John Brown's shipyard, she took part in the defence of Clydebank against air raids by the Luftwaffe. A memorial to the ship's crew was later erected in Clydebank.
''Bismarck'' action
On 22 May 1941, Piorun, with ships of the British 4th Destroyer Flotilla, commanded by Captain Philip Vian, provided additional escort to troop convoy WS8B en route from Glasgow to the Indian Ocean. On 25 May, Vian's destroyers were detached from the convoy to join the search for the. Piorun took part, along with the British destroyers, in the search for Bismarck. She joined in the shadowing of and torpedo attacks on the German battleship the night before Bismarck was sunk. Arriving first on the scene with the British Tribal-class destroyerMaori, Piorun charged at Bismarck by herself, while Maori manoeuvred for position to fire torpedoes. Alone, Piorun exchanged fire with Bismarck for an hour, with neither side scoring any hits—although after the third salvo, Bismarck missed by only, causing Pławski to pull away. According to one report, Pławski transmitted the message "I am a Pole" before commencing fire on Bismarck; other sources say the signal to commence fire was "Trzy salwy na cześć Polski". This manoeuvre and the subsequent withdrawal caused Piorun to lose contact with Bismarck. Piorun was very low on fuel, so at 05:00 she was ordered home before she had used her torpedoes. Pławski was reluctant to leave the area and ignored Vian's order for an hour before returning to the United Kingdom.
Subsequent activity
Piorun subsequently operated in the Mediterranean, taking part in Operation Halberd, one of the Malta convoys and Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. In 1944 she was transferred to the Home Fleet. Piorun took part in Operation Deadlight, and took part in the sinking of the captured German Type XXI submarines,,,, and. She was returned to the Royal Navy in 1946, as HMS Noble and scrapped in 1955.
