ORP General Haller

ORP General Haller was a Filin-class guard ship^[1] originally built for the Imperial Russian Navy. She was later acquired by the Polish Navy and served until sunk during the Invasion of Poland on 6 September 1939 as a result of the bombing of German aircraft.

ORP General Haller (model)
History
Russian Empire
Name	Vodorez
Builder	Ab Crichton Turku, Finland
Launched	1916
Fate	Sold to Poland, 1921
Poland
Name	ORP General Haller
Namesake	Józef Haller
Acquired	1921
Fate	Sunk, 6 September 1939
General characteristics
Class and type	Filin-class guard ship
Displacement	342 tons
Length	55 m (180 ft 5 in)
Beam	7 m (23 ft 0 in)
Draft	2.9 m (9 ft 6 in)
Speed	14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph)
Complement	60
Armament	2 × 75 mm (3.0 in) guns 2 × 7.92 mm Maxim wz.08 machine guns 30 × mines

History

General Haller was built at Ab Crichton in Turku, Finland, for the Imperial Russian Navy. She was bought by the Polish Navy in 1921 and subsequently served as a school ship and minelayer. In Poland, she was classified as kanonierka (gunboat).

On 1 September 1939, under the command of Captain Stanisław Mieszkowski, General Haller was patrolling the port of Gdynia, where she was damaged in air attacks. On 2 September, the gunboat was sent to the naval port at Hel. There she was turned into a floating battery, until on 3 September, after major bomb damage, all the guns were stripped and added to the defences on land. She was left floating until she was sunk on 6 September.