Page 326 - Il Mediterraneo quale elemento del Potere Marittimo - Atti 16-18 settembre 1996

312 JOZEF W. DYSKANT

which were carrying the troops of the 3rd Borderland Infantry Division. The de-
stroyers also patrolled che Bay of Naples (on 14 March, they took part in the anti-
aicraft defence of Naples fighting Lufrwaffe aircraft) and che waters of North Afri-
ca fighting German submarines and aviation. The last convoy of che Slazak was
a small convoy to Ajaccio in Corsica (27 March- l Aprii), after which both de-
stroyers passed to Gibraltar. They were sent t0 Plymouth where they arrived on
17 Aprii ending their service in the Mediterranean.
On 5 Aprii, the two vessels were replaced by the destroyer Garland- the last
Polish naval vessel in that area. Based at Naples, till28 Aprii, she escorted convoys
heading for Bizerta, Oran, and Gibraltar; and, then, she performed patrol service
in the Tyrrhenian Sea searching for German U-Boots. On 2 August, she passed
to Alexandria for a routine repair and an exercise, after which, on 8 September,
she was included into Force A.
Also, a majority of Polish merchantmen left the Mediterranean Sea; and, it
should be noted that, for them, the last major war-event was their participation
in the landing of the Alli es in the south of France in August 1944 (Operation "Dra-
goon"). The Sobieski and the Batot'Y converted into infantry landing ships (LSis) de-
barched French troops in the area of Saint Tropez (secror Delta and Alfa); and,
it should be emphasized that the Batory was the flag ship of Gen. Jean de Lattre
Tassigny, Commanding Officer, French Troops. The third transport ship i.e. che
Tobruk debarked che second echelon troops within the same sectors between 25
and 30 August.
In the meantime, the Polish N a vy destroyer Gadand as pare of Force A patrol-
led the Aegean, and Candian Sea fighting German shipping and aviation. Between
13 and 16 September, the ship protected che island of Kithera, and, che following
day, near the island of Santoryn, she carried out an unsuccessful attack on a U-Boot-
(navigating "under her snorkel"). However, 2 days later on 19 September, she had
a spectacular success in sinking a German submarine U-407, which was previously
damaged by two British destroyers i. e. HMS Troubridge and HMS Terpsichore. le was
the second U-Boot sunk by che Polish Navy vessels during che war ( .. ). Although
as a result of the attack and her collisi an with the diving submarine, the destroyer
had an 8 metre cut in her hull-plating, she picked 47 German survivors whom
she brought co Alexandria where she underwent an 8-day dock repair. On 28 Sep-
tembre, the descroyer returned co F o ree A an d continued her combat tasks in che
waters around Crete (on the night between 30 September and l October, she parti-
cipated in the barrage of Maleme Airport in che Bay of Chania) and the Aegean
Sea (on 8 October, she shelled German postions in Pallena peninsula and the island
of Kinaros). From 13 to 20 October, che ship procected the landing ofBritish troops
in Pireus (Operation "Manna") and took part in an exercise of Force A (13-19
November), after which she was withdrawn from the force and transferred to Gi-
braltar where she arrived on 25 November. Three days later, she was the last Po-
lish warship which left the Mediterranean Sea and set out for Falmouth. The few