ORP KASZUB

ORP Kaszub (240) - contemporary Polish corvette (formerly classified as a caretaker) of the 620 project, of the Kashubian type (NATO designation: BAL-COM-6). The third ship of the Polish Navy bearing this name. The first ocean warship built in Poland.

Order and construction;
Works on new ZOP vessels for PMW were started in 1971. These were to be units with high marine prowess and displacement of 900 tons. The initial design was marked with the symbol 618M. Further work on the project resulting in the increase of displacement of the ship led in 1972 to change the designation to Project 620. The final design was accepted a year later. However, the construction of the first unit began only in 1984, which was caused by the lack of consent from the USSR to provide equipment. Such consent was obtained in 1981. It was planned to build a series of 7 ships.
The construction of the caretaker was entrusted to the Northern Shipyard Bohaterów Westerplatte in Gdańsk. The ceremonial location of the keel took place on June 9, 1984, and the hull was launched on December 29, 1985. During launching from the side ramp, only the stern slid down into the water, while the bow made a turn towards the honorary tribune filled with officials. However, the tragedy did not happen. After four days, the ship was pulled to the water and then towed to the Naval Shipyard in Gdynia. There, the corvette was introduced into the floating dock and the hulked hull straightened out, and then it was ceremonially launched in October 1986.

Basic data:
Class - corvette
Project - 620
Built - North Gdańsk Shipyard
Wyporność - 1051 t / 1183 t
Length - 82.34 m
Width - 10 m
Immersion - 4.9 m
Speed - 26 knots
Range - 3500 Mm at 14 in
Crew - 80 people

Armament:
1 universal gun 76.2 mm AK-176M
One cannon plot. 35 mm Triton
4 plot plots. 23 mm ZU-23-2M (2 × II)
8 wpk plot. Arrow-2M (2 × IV)
2 wrbg RBU-6000 (2 × XII)
4 wt pop 533 mm (2 × II)