Peking Plan
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The Peking PlanThe "Peking" in the name is the Wade-Giles rendering of the capital of China, Beijing, which before the Second World War in the Second Polish Republic was more prevalent than the now standard pinyin. In modern Polish the name is now written as "Pekin", which has led to the name being distorted as "Pekin Plan"; however the correct name, as used in the original orders, is Peking. (or Operation Peking) was an operation in which three destroyers of the Polish Navy, Burza (Storm), Błyskawica (Lightning), and Grom (Thunder), evacuated to Great Britain in late August and early September 1939. They were ordered to travel to British ports and assist the British Royal Navy in the event of a war with Germany. The plan was successful and allowed the ships to avoid certain destruction in the German invasion.
Rationale for the operation
The plan was created in order to remove the Destroyer Division (Dywizjon Kontrtorpedowców) of the Polish Navy from the Baltic Sea operation theatre. The Kriegsmarine had a significant numerical advantage over the Polish Navy, and in the event of a war Polish High Command realized that the ships which remained in the small and mostly landlocked Baltic were likely to be quickly sunk by the Germans. Also, the Danish straits were well within operation range of the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe, so there was little chance for the plan to succeed if it was to be implemented after the hostilities began.The trip to Edinburgh
As the tensions between Poland and Germany were increasing, the Commander of the Polish Fleet, Admiral Józef Unrug signed the order for the operation on 26 August 1939, a day after the signing of the Polish-British Common Defence Pact; the order was delivered in sealed envelopes to the ships. On 29 August the fleet received the signal "Peking, Peking, Peking" from Polish Commander-in-Chief, Marshall Edward Rydz-Śmigły: "Execute Peking". At 1255 the ships received the signal via signal flags or radio from the signal tower at Oksywie, the respective captains of the ships opened the envelopes, and departed at 1415 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Roman Stankiewicz. Błyskawica was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Włodzimierz Kodrębski, Burza by Sublieutenant Commander Stanisław Nahorski and Grom by Lieutenant Commander Włodzimierz Hulewicz.The ships traveled without any problems through the Baltic, entering Oresund after midnight. In the passage they encountered the German light cruiser Königsberg and a destroyer, but as the war had not started yet there was no combat. Next the Polish ships passed through Kattegat and Skagerrak. During 31 August the ships were spotted and followed by German scout seaplanes, and the group changed course towards Norway in order to shake off the pursuit during the night, when they returned to their original course towards UK. The ships entered the North Sea, and at 0925 learned about the German invasion of Poland. At 1258 they encountered the Royal Navy destroyers Wanderer and Wallace and received a liaison officer. At 1737 they docked in Edinburgh.
Aftermath
The Peking Plan generated controversy in Poland, but it proved to be a wise decision. The ships served alongside the Royal Navy for the remainder of the war, and ORP Burza and ORP Błyskawica survived the war — while all the other surface ships of the Polish Navy which remained in the Baltic were engaged by the Germans forces (starting with the Battle of the Gdańsk Bay on the 1 September) and sunk or captured. The fate of the two largest remaining ships is telling: the fourth Polish destroyer, Wicher and the largest ship of the Polish navy, heavy minelayer Gryf, which were both sunk by the third day of the war, on 3 September. As for the Germans, in the face of Plan Peking on August 30 they recalled from the Baltic Sea the tactical unit which was assigned to engage them — the three light cruisers Nürnberg, Köln and Leipzig, under Vice-Admiral Densch.
See also
References
- Jerzy Pertek, "Wielkie dni małej floty" (Great days of the small fleet), Wyd. Poznańskie, Poznań 1976, ISBN 83-210-895-X
Footnote
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