A proposal has been put forward to create sculptures and a memorial garden dedicated to the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł. The submarine made a daring escape from internment in Estonia and arrived at Rosyth dockyard in October 1939 after an exhausting 40-day voyage. The site chosen for the tribute is a piece of unused land between Castle Road and Ferry Toll Road.
Rosyth served as the submarine’s operational base for missions alongside the Royal Navy until May 1940, when the vessel tragically disappeared during a patrol. To this day, Polish search teams continue to make efforts each summer to locate the wreck and uncover the submarine’s final resting place.
Fife Council has now submitted a planning application for the memorial project, featuring sculptures portraying the historic encounter between ORP Orzeł and HMS Valorous at the beginning of the Second World War.
The plans also include a commemorative garden, informative displays recounting the submarine’s remarkable journey, and a tribute to the 63 crew members who lost their lives. The project proposal outlines additional features such as a small six-space car park, new access from Ferry Toll Road, paved pathways, and landscaping with trees, shrubs, and grassed areas.
The idea for the memorial was first championed by Dunfermline artist and writer Colin Maxwell, who launched a fundraising campaign in 2020. Reflecting on the progress of the project, Maxwell shared his astonishment at how the initiative has grown: “At the beginning, we imagined it might simply be a plaque on a wall at the dockyard — but it has developed far beyond that.”
Support for the memorial has also come from the Polish Consulate in Edinburgh, alongside Babcock and Damen Naval, the Dutch company that originally constructed ORP Orzeł in the 1930s. These firms are expected to be involved in producing the steel sculptures for the installation.
Maxwell first became intrigued by the story of ORP Orzeł while researching for a comic book about the first wartime air raid over the Forth Bridge, which occurred in October 1939, just two days after the submarine’s dramatic arrival at Rosyth.
Delving deeper into the submarine’s history, he uncovered a gripping tale of escape and survival: from overpowering guards in Estonia and slipping away under fire, to briefly running aground at the harbour exit before managing to break free and make the hazardous journey across the North Sea.
“It’s an extraordinary story,” Maxwell said. “But what makes it so tragic is that, less than a year after those events, following several successful patrols from Rosyth, the submarine vanished without a trace — and has never been found.”
He added, „I think the memorial will be great. There’s still such a strong connection between Scotland and Poland, and there are still so many Polish surnames here as many Poles, not just sailors but soldiers and airmen too, settled here while Polish paratroopers were based here too.”
Source: dunfermlinepress.com
Photo: X @SantiFindEagle
Tomasz Modrzejewski
From the editor: Between 2008 and 2024, several Polish expeditions, both private and public-funded, have attempted to find its wreck, but all efforts so far have failed. The 10th expedition to find the wreck and solve the mystery of the loss of O.R.P. Orzeł took place in 2023. Read about the team Santi Find the Eagle (one of the members is a Pole from the UK – Piotr Michalik), its plans and dreams in our article SANTI Find the Eagle – 10th expedition to resolve the mystery of the lost WW2 submarine.
