Włodzimierz Steyer
| Wlodzimierz Brunon Steyer | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 15, 1892 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | September 15, 1957 (aged 65) Gdańsk, Poland |
| Buried | Defenders of the Coast Cemetery, Gdynia, Poland |
| Allegiance |
 Russian Empire Poland
|
| Service/branch |
 Imperial Russian Navy Polish Navy
|
| Years of service | 1913 – 1918 (Russia) 1919 – 1950 (Poland) |
| Rank | Kontradmirał |
| Commands held | |
| Battles/wars | |
Kontradmirał Włodzimierz Steyer (July 15, 1892 – September 15, 1957) was a Polish naval officer before and during the Second World War. Although a naval officer, during the Invasion of Poland in 1939 he commanded the Polish land forces defending the Hel Peninsula in what became known as the Battle of Hel, the longest-lasting battle of the campaign. After the war he briefly served as the commanding officer of the entire Polish Navy. Steyer was also an author of novels under the pen-name "Brunon Dzimicz".
Włodzimierz Brunon Steyer was born in Montreal, Canada, to Włodzimierz Steyer Sr. and Tekla (née Witołd-Aleksandrowicz). Early in his childhood Steyer with his parents moved to Saint Petersburg in Russia. There in 1913 he graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps, and then a course on naval gunnery. Conscripted into the Imperial Russian Navy, he was commissioned as an gunnery officer aboard the Russian cruiser Askold. On that ship he took part in a spectacular cruise from the Pacific to the Mediterranean in 1915, and then the naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign. In 1917 he was wounded by shrapnel and withdrawn to Finland, where he served on several smaller ships of the Murmansk Flotilla.
In 1919 Steyer arrived in Poland and volunteered for the Polish Army. As the Polish forces lacked skilled naval officers, Steyer was quickly promoted and became the deputy commanding officer of the Military Port of Modlin. As the Polish Navy lacked ships, and there were no naval operations during the Polish-Bolshevik War, in 1920 Steyer formed a battalion out of naval NCOs and volunteered for the front-line service in the land forces. However, his unit arrived to the front shortly before the cease-fire and did not take part in the hostilities.
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