Page 322 - Il Mediterraneo quale elemento del Potere Marittimo - Atti 16-18 settembre 1996

308 JOZEF W. DYSKAJI.o'T

abutment near Algiers. In the same area, the m.s. Sobieski, which- ha d been conver-
ted into an infantry landing ship (LSI), participated in the landing operation; whe-
reas, our_ transatlantic ship Batory debarked troops at Les Andalouses near Oran.
When both transport ships returned in order to project the successive echelons of
the landing, from 9 September, the destroyer B/iskawica protect~d Bear Beaches
from German air-raids; and, next, she escorted a convoy to Bougie where, on 12
November, she·was damaged· during an air-raid (3 servicemen were killed, 43 were
wounded), so she had to pass co Gibraltar for an overhault. Afterwards, on 6 De-
cember, she returned to convoys in North Africa n waters; and, beginning, o n l O
March 1943, as pare ofForce H, she escorted convoys from Gibraltar to Oran (Mer-
sel- Kebir). As part ofForce Q, she also patrolled the western areas of the Mediter-
ranean Sea (to Bone) in search of enemy U-Boots and fought enemy aviation. In
the period between 16-19 Aprii, she partidpated in a simulated landing at Sidi
Mishrik; and, on 7 May, in the Strait of Sicily, she had her rudder damaged during
an air-raid. Therefore, after temporary repairs in Gibraltar, on 22 May, she set
out for Cowes to undergo a generai overhaul thus ending her campaign in the Me-
diterranea:n Sea. The operation was continued by both transatlantic ships, which,
in the period between December 1942 and)anuary 1943, brought new contingents
of troops to Algiers and Philippeville. The third contingent of troops was carried
to Algiers between 4 and ~ March 1943, bue, this time, it was only the Batory,
which performed the task. Yet two other vessels participated in Operati o n "Torch,.
The first was the Lewant - a ~mall tanker which carried the cargo of air-fuel to
Bone, and che second was the Kroman- a transport ship that carried equipment
and supplies for the fighting croops. Although only four merchanc ships were enga-
ged a t that time, they constituted 20% gross regiscer tonnage of the whole Polish
Merchant Navy (PMH) of those days.
A replacement for the B/yskawica was provided by other destroyers. The Kra-
kowiak, which after her engagement in escorting convoys to Oran and to Algiers
(on 24 March, 8 survivors were picked from a torpedoed ship), returned to the
Mediterranean Sea for good, and her sister ship S/azak arri v ed there too (on 2 5
May both ships were included into Force H). In Aprii, the submarin~ Soko/ also
returned to Malta with her sister submarine Dzik. Assigned to the 10th Submarine
Flotilla ·rhey begarr patrolling France's and ltali's coasral waters, which was part
of preparatory actions before the Allies' invasion in Sicily: For both submarine,
the patrolling tasks ha d fortunate ends; however, they were different for each of
them. On 6 May after midnigqt, the Sokol managed to aviod three torpedoes laun-
ched ac her by a German U-Boot; and, the Dzik damaged with a torpedo the ltalian
tanker Carnaro (8257 GRT) near Cape Spartivento on 24 May. Also, on 12June, she
struck with 2 torpedoes a large transport ship in che area of Messina (however, che
sinking was not confirmed). O n 28 ]une, the two Polish destroyers were joined by the
third one i.e. che Piorun, which was famous for her chase of che German raider-
the superbatdeship Bismarck. After theinclusion into the 24th Destroyer Flotilla,
l