Worek Plan
| Operation Worek | |||||||
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| Part of Invasion of Poland | |||||||
 Polish submarines sectors as in the Worek Plan. Legend: | - battery charging site || - sector of operation |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Poland
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 Germany
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Adam Mohuczy
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Conrad Albrecht
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| Strength | |||||||
| 5 submarines | 2 pre-dreadnoughts 3 light cruisers 9 destroyers 1 torpedo boat 8 minesweepers 8 E-boats 4 escorts 10 submarines |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3 submarines damaged 4 submarines interned (including damaged) |
24 killed 1 minesweeper sunk |
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The Worek Plan (or Operation Worek, Polish: Plan Worek, literally Plan Sack) was an operation of the Polish Navy in the first days of World War II, in which its five submarines formed a screen in order to prevent German naval forces from carrying out landings on the Polish coast, and to attack enemy ships bombarding Polish coastal fortifications, in particular the base on the Hel Peninsula.
The operation came to naught, as the Germans did not have any plans for naval landings. It caused the submarines to operate in a confined area near the shore in shallow waters, making them vulnerable to strong enemy anti-submarine forces. As a result, despite making a number of attempts, the submarines were unable to directly sink any enemy ships during the operation, although a mine placed by the Żbik did sink a German minesweeper. No Polish submarines were lost to enemy action, but they suffered progressive wear and tear, and technical problems, forcing the submarine commanders to break off their actions, effectively ending the operation by the middle of September 1939.
The plan was created for the five Polish submarines Orzeł (Eagle), Wilk (Wolf), Sęp (Vulture), Żbik (Wild Cat) and Ryś (Lynx) to use, in the event superior enemy surface forces took control of the Baltic Sea (the Polish surface navy consisted only of four destroyers, some minelayers, minesweepers, and gunboats).
The submarines were to operate near the Polish coast, in the area of the Danzig Bay and the Hel Peninsula. They were to conserve their limited munitions for "significant military targets" (destroyer or larger) shelling the Polish coast or attempting to land forces on it and interdict naval traffic between the German mainland and East Prussia.Wilk, Ryś, and Żbik were to mine the Gulf of Danzig. The plan explicitly stated that the submarines were to act according to international law, and single, unarmed ships had to be warned before being attacked.
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Wikipedia