ORP Grom (1936)
ORP Grom
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Poland
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| Name: | ORP Grom |
| Namesake: | Thunderbolt |
| Laid down: | 17 July 1935 |
| Launched: | 20 July 1936 |
| Commissioned: | 11 May 1937 |
| Decommissioned: | 4 May 1940 |
| Fate: | Sunk in the Rombaken fjord near Narvik, Norway |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Grom-class destroyer |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 114 m (374 ft) |
| Beam: | 11.3 m (37 ft 1 in) |
| Draft: | 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion: | Two Parsons' steam turbines of 54,000 shp (40,000 kW) altogether, 3 boilers and 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 39 knots (72 km/h; 45 mph) |
| Range: | 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | 192 |
| Armament: |
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ORP Grom was the lead ship of her class of destroyers serving in the Polish Navy during World War II. She was named after the Polish word for Thunderbolt, while her sister ship ORP Błyskawica translates to lightning.
Grom was thought of as a large destroyer, similar to flotilla leaders. She and sister ship ORP Błyskawica were to support the outdated French-built Wicher and Burza in the role of the core of the Polish Navy in a possible conflict. As Poland had only one major seaport, the main task of the Polish naval forces was to secure supplies shipment to and from allied countries. Because of that, the Grom class was designed to fulfill both the role of shore defence and convoy escort and was supposed to be stronger than single enemy destroyers.
Two Parsons steam turbines of 54,000 shaft horsepower (40,000 kW) altogether, three boilers and two shafts allowed Grom to travel at 39 knots (72 km/h; 45 mph), faster than the contemporary designs like the US Farragut and Porter classes, the British Tribal class, or the German Type 1934s. Also, as it was not clear whether the ships would be used to secure convoys to the Polish port of Gdynia or the Romanian port of Constanţa (through the Romanian Bridgehead), the possible range was much larger than in the case of destroyers designed exclusively for the Baltic Sea. The ship had an effective range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).
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