Supertest: European Tier Premium X Submarine Orzeł
The last ship to enter testing with Update 15.8 is the first European (and Polish) submarine, the Orzeł.
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Historical background
ORP Orzeł was the lead ship of the eponymous class of submarines of the Polish Navy. She was built in the Netherlands, being laid down in August 1936, launched in January 1938, and commissioned in February 1939.
It wouldn't take long for Orzeł to be put to good use, as just a few months later, Germany would begin the invasion of Poland in September. Orzeł was deployed as per the Worek Plan, which consisted of Poland using its five available submarines: Orzeł, Sęp (Orzeł's sister ship), Wilk, Żbik, and Ryś, to try and stop Germany from landing troops on the Polish coast as well as destroy any enemy ship that would be employed in bombarding Poland's coastline.
As things took a turn for the worse and the operation proved unsuccessful, Orzeł was forced to abandon her position to join the Baltic Sea. She was attacked by German minesweepers on the way and suffered damage but was able to escape. The other submarines also escaped, with Wilk reaching Great Britain while the other three were interned in Swedish waters until the end of the war.
Orzeł decided to head to Estonia for repairs and reached Tallinn on the 14th of September. Her captain, Lieutenant-Commander Henryk Kloczkowski, was also sent to the hospital to treat an unknown disease he had been suffering from since the start of the war. This could have been the end of the journey, as Germany insisted that the Estonian military seize the ship, confiscate or destroy any documents, and intern the crew. However, the crew of Orzeł... was not exactly willing to cooperate and would come up with a daring escape plan.
As her torpedoes were being unloaded, it turned out that the crane was too short to reach the Orzeł's rear storage. This forced the Estonians to rotate her 180° with her bow facing towards the exit of the basin. As operations to unload the rear storage started, the hoist cable was sabotaged, delaying the work as a replacement cable took longer than planned to arrive. As such, 6 torpedoes were left onboard.
At the same time, the rest of the crew were busy delaying any dismantling of the equipment and gathering information about the port. One in particular that I found quite amusing was Petty Officer Narkiewicz. Under the guise of fishing on board a dinghy, he was actually sounding the basin depth to determine an escape route. Other members of the crew were also in charge of sawing off the mooring lines.
The escape would happen on the night of the 17th to 18th of September. The cable providing power to the ship was cut, causing all the lights in the port to go out and, with 2 Estonian guards as hostages on board, the Orzeł set sail, taking fire from machine guns which damaged her conning tower... only to run aground. The crew was able to dislodge her, though, and after multiple near misses from artillery fire, they were able to dive. The ship stayed at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland, only surfacing on the night of the 19th to set sail for Great Britain. Before that, the crew left their hostages in Sweden with money, food, and clothes for them to return home safely.
HOWEVER...
The Orzeł incident, as it is officially called, would result in Estonian neutrality being put in question. She was also conveniently blamed for the sinking of the Soviet tanker Metallist, and the USSR would use it as a pretext to invade and occupy Estonia in June 1940...
As all of Orzeł's navigation charts had been taken away, the crew had to only rely on a list of lighthouses to guide themselves on their way to Britain. Since their wireless had been damaged during the escape, once they were in the North Sea, the ship came under attack by both German and British forces, being unable to identify herself. She finally reached Scotland's coast, where she stayed at the bottom until her comms were operational and she wouldn't get attacked by some nasty islanders. Once the message was sent that she was friendly, a Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Valorous, arrived to escort her to port.
After refit, Orzeł joined the Royal Navy's 2nd Submarine Flotilla and was deployed in the North Sea. On the 8th of April 1940, she intercepted and sank the troop transport ship Rio de Janeiro, killing 183 crew members and troops. This, alongside testimonies of the survivors, indicated that an invasion of Norway was imminent, but... somehow, the Norwegian did not react.
Two days later, Orzeł fired a torpedo at the German minesweeper V 705 but seemingly missed.
On the 23rd of May 1940, Orzeł departed for her seventh patrol in the North Sea. After several days without news from her, the submarine was ordered to return to base, but... she never came back. On the 11th of June, Orzeł was officially declared lost.
To this day, the cause of her loss remains unknown. The most widely believed theory is that she struck a mine and sank. However, another theory is that she was mistakenly sunk by a British aircraft. Despite numerous efforts, the location of the wreck remains unknown.
In World of Warships, we are getting Orzeł as she was after joining the British Navy in 1940.
Ship's preview
Ship's permanent camouflage
As a reminder, this ship is in testing; anything can change, so don't treat her as if she's already been released.
Modules
|
Hull |
Engine |
Sonar |
Main battery |
Torpedoes |
Orzeł |
Propulsion: 4,740 hp |
 ASDIC 10 Mod. A |
105 mm/40 wz.36 Bofors on a single mount |
550 mm Mk VIII
|
General Characteristics
| Tier | X |
| Health | 16 400 HP |
| Torpedo Damage Reduction | 0 % |
| Displacement | 1 473 tons |
| Dimensions | |
| Overall length | 84.0 m |
| Beam | 6.7 m |
| Overall height (keel to the highest point on the ship) | 5.7 m |
| Freeboard | 0.5 m |
| Main Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 6.000 km |
| 105 mm/40 wz.36 Bofors on a single mount | 1 x 1 105 mm |
| Torpedo Armament | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 10.000 km with standard torpedoes 12.000 km with acoustic torpedoes |
| 550 mm podwójna 550 mm |
2 x 2 550 mm 8 x 1 550 mm |
| Dive Capacity | |
| Dive capacity | 290 units |
| Dive capacity depletion | 1 unit/s |
| Dive capacity recharge rate | 1.4 units/s |
| Surface Maneuvrability | |
| Maximum speed | 32.0 knots |
| Turning radius | 460 m |
| Rudder shift time | 5.9 s |
| Underwater Maneuvrability | |
| Maximum speed | 16.0 knots |
| Dive plane shift time | 14.9 s |
| Maximum dive and ascent speed | 3.7 m/s |
| Detectability | |
| Surface detectability | 5.2 km |
| Air detectability | 1.9 km |
| Detectability after firing main guns in smoke | 2.0 km |
| Periscope depth detectability | 1.9 km |
| CONSUMABLES | |
| Slot 1 | |
| Damage Control Party |  |
| Charges | 3 |
| Work time | 15.0 s |
| Cooldown | 60.0 s |
| Slot 2 | |
| Submarine Surveillance |  |
| Preparation time | 330 s |
| Work time | 60.0 s |
| Cooldown | 120.0 s |
| Submarine spotting range | 6.0 km |
| Slot 3 | |
| Torpedo Defence System |  |
| Charges | 2 |
| Work time | 10.0 s |
| Cooldown | 180.0 s |
| Damage taken from torpedoes and depth charges | -70% |
| Slot 4 | |
| Engine Boost |  |
| Charges | 3 |
| Work time | 120 s |
| Cooldown | 120 s |
| Maximum speed | +8% |
Main Armament
| 1 x 1 105 mm/40 wz.36 Bofors on a single mount | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 6.000 km |
| Reloading Time | 5.0 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 18.0 s |
| Optimal firing angles at the front | 0° |
| Optimal firing angles at the rear | 50° |
| Sigma | 2.0 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 36 m |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | SAP - 105 mm SAP |
| Alpha Damage | 2 250 |
| Projectile Speed | 850 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.344 |
| Projectile Mass | 14.1 kg |
| Penetration capacity | 29 mm |
| Ricochet Angles | 60° - 75° |
Torpedo Armament and Sonar
| 2 x 2 550 mm podwójna 8 x 1 550 mm |
|
| Reloading Time | 50.0 s |
| 180 Degree Turn Time for the twin launchers | 3.6 s |
| Optimal firing angles at the front for the twin launchers | 31° |
| Optimal firing angles at the rear for the twin launchers | 35° |
| Torpedo type switching time | 10.0 s |
| Torpedoes | |
| Type of Projectile | Standard torpedoes - 533 mm wz.AB |
| Maximum Distance | 10.000 km |
| Damage | 17 133 |
| Flooding Chance | 105 % |
| Speed | 69 knots |
| Surface Detectability | 1.6 km |
| Type of Projectile | Acoustic torpedoes - 533 mm wz.AB akustyczna |
| Maximum Distance | 12.000 km |
| Damage | 7 833 |
| Flooding Chance | 31.5 % |
| Speed | 86 knots |
| Surface Detectability | 2.4 km |
| Minimum tracking distance with 1 ping | Submarines - 240 m Destroyers - 480 m Cruisers - 1 440 m Battleships - 2 100 m Aircraft carriers - 1 260 m |
| Minimum tracking distance with 2 pings | Submarines - 120 m Destroyers - 240 m Cruisers - 720 m Battleships - 1 600 m Aircraft carriers - 1 260 m |
Sonar - ASDIC 10 Mod. A |
|
| Reloading Time | 6.0 s |
| Maximum Range | 12.000 km |
| Ping velocity | 500 m/s |
| Ping width | 15 m |
| Ping effect duration on a sector highlighted once | 25.0 s |
| Ping effect duration on a sector highlighted twice | 65.0 s |
The Armor
Light hull:
Pressure hull:
Easter egg
On the port side of the Orzeł's conning tower, one can find a bronze plate that was placed on the ship that reads:
TO THE GLORY OF
THE MOST SERENE REPUBLIC
IN HONOR OF
THE FIRST MARSHAL OF POLAND
JÓZEF PIŁSUDSKI
Through the efforts of the Committee Bearing His Name, among the Army
and the Navy, 2,644,567 złoty were collected
Among the entire society for the Naval Defense Fund
Through the efforts of the Maritime and Colonial League, 5,555,433 złoty
Total: 8,200,000 złoty
With the above sum, the ORP Orzeł was built,
Which on 10 February 1939 arrived from the Netherlands to Gdynia
And increased our Armed Strength at Sea
Here is a picture of the plate as it was on the ship
Personal Opinion
As of right now, Orzeł looks properly absurd.
For starters, her concealment is the best in her entire matchmaking bracket, only being matched by Shigure. She gets rotating amidships torpedo launchers that offer her far more flexibility than other submarines. At the same time, she also has one of the highest diving capacities without counting the German subs with their Reserve Battery Unity consumable. Her torpedo reload speed is also one of the fastest, but at least the torpedoes also have some of the lowest damage at tier X.
Most ludicrous is the Torpedo Defence System consumable that will allow her to effectively shrug off ASW attacks, allowing her to get away with plays that would normally be a guaranteed return to port for other submarines.
The only two real downsides of the Orzeł are the low sonar ping velocity and the fact that she lacks the Hydrophone consumable.
Beyond that, she is seemingly an absolute beast.
Regardless...
Thank you for reading this article!
Don't forget to use my referral code on the left of the article for new or returning players. Have a good one and see you soon!
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