ORP Kujawiak 1942
Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).
Key facts
| Name | ORP Kujawiak | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1942 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Second World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | destroyer | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom, Poland | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Royal Navy, Polish Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War II | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | Mediterranean Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Malta | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 4 km from land |
| Position | 35.8833, 14.5833 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
ORP Kujawiak was a British Type II Hunt-class destroyer escort, originally ordered as HMS Oakley.
Kujawiak was built by Vickers-Armstrongs at the company's High Walker yard on the River Tyne. Her keel was laid down on 22 November 1939 and she was launched on 30 October 1940 as HMS Oakley but on completion in June 1941 she was renamed and commissioned into the Polish Navy.
Kujawiak was sunk on 16 June 1942 after running into a German MT 14 minefield near Malta while participating in Operation Harpoon. 13 Polish sailors died and 20 were wounded.
Diving & visiting
On 22 September 2014, a Polish diving expedition located the wreck of Kujawiak at a depth of ~97 metres. She rests on her port side, about 6 km (3.7 mi) off Malta’s south-east coast, is relatively well-preserved with the bow, bridge and forward gun mount largely intact. The stern section is heavily damaged, with deformed plating consistent with impact against the seabed, both rudder and propellers remain in place. Scattered around the wreck are depth charges and shell casings.
The site was revisited in 2015 and 2017, the latter expedition successfully recovering the ship’s bell, which was transferred to the Malta Maritime Museum for conservation and display.
Location
- Recorded position: 35.8833, 14.5833 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Mediterranean Sea
- Nearest coast: Malta
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article ORP Kujawiak (L72) (revision 1375246751), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Discovery of wreck”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
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Other wrecks of the World War II
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- Zara 1941
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- Aviere 1942
- Diana 1942
- Giovanni delle Bande Nere 1942
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All 599 wrecks of the World War II →
Browse more: Europe wrecks · wrecks off Malta · Mediterranean Sea · Second World War