P 551 / Jastrab (Polish)
| Built By: | Fore River (USA) |
| Build Group: | US-S |
| Fate: | Scuttled after being hit by friendly fire 2 May 1942. |
S-25 possibly off New London, CT., during 1923 - 24.
Commanders
| 1941: | Lieutenant Commander | Boleslaw Szymon Romanowski (ORP) | |
| 1943: | Lieutenant | Raymond Henry Bull | DSC |
USS S-25 was decommissioned from the USN in 1941 and simultaneously transferred to United Kingdom where she was renamed HMS P551.
She was then loaned to the government of Poland in exile, accepted by Lieutenant Commander B. Romanowski of the Polish Navy, and commissioned as ORP Jastrzab ("Hawk"). Jastrab entered the history of the Polish Navy as its only submarine ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the West to the East, as she came from the US to Europe.
While traveling an Allied convoy PQ-15 to Murmansk, Jastrab strayed some 100 miles off her proper course, and attackedthe Norwegian destroyer St Albans and the British minesweeper HMS Seagull. She was attacked with depth charges and made to surface, there she was strafed with the loss of five crew (including British liaison officer) and six injured, including the commander. The ship was badly damaged and had to be scuttled
Related Pages
Events
| 26-10-1918 | Laid down |
| 29-05-1922 | Launched |
| 09-07-1923 | Commissioned |
| 04-11-1941 | Decommissioned from USN and simultaneously transferred to United Kingdom where she was renamed HMS P551 |
| 02-05-1945 | While travelling in an Allied convoy near Norway, Jastrzab strayed some 100 miles off her proper course and was sunk by friendly fire by the destroyer HMS St. Albans (ex-USS Thomas) and the minesweeper HMS Seagull. |
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