SS Sołdek

SS Sołdek is a retired Polish coal and ore cargo steamship. She was the first ship built in Gdańsk (Poland) after World War II, and the first seagoing ship completed in Poland. She was the first of 29 ships classed as Project B30, built between 1949 and 1954 in the Gdańsk Shipyard. The name was given in honour of Stanisław Sołdek, one of the shipyard's shock workers.^[2]

Sołdek as a museum ship in Gdansk
History
Poland
Name	Sołdek
Namesake	Stanisław Sołdek
Owner	Polish Government
Operator	Polska Żegluga Morska
Port of registry	Szczecin
Builder	Zjednoczenie Stocznie Polskich, Gdańsk[1]
Laid down	3 April 1948
Launched	6 November 1948
In service	21 October 1949
Out of service	30 December 1980
Identification	IMO number: 5333373 call sign: SPCJ[1]
Status	Established as a museum ship in Gdansk, 17 July 1985
General characteristics
Class & type	B30 cargo ship
Tonnage	2,005 GRT;[1] 994 NRT;[1] 2,610 t DWT
Length	285.4 ft (87 m) overall 257.1 ft (78.4 m) registered[1]
Beam	38.5 ft (11.7 m)[1]
Draught	17 ft 8 in (5.38 m)[1]
Depth	17.7 ft (5.4 m)[1]
Installed power	2 × Howden-Johnson boilers 1 × 1,300 shp (969 kW) 4-cylinder compound engine[1]
Propulsion	1 × screw[1]
Speed	9.9 knots (18.3 km/h; 11.4 mph)
Crew	28

Launching of Sołdek

Furnaces of Sołdek's boilers

Sołdek is often confused with Oliwa, a former unfinished Hansa type A cargo ship, which was commissioned after Sołdek,^[3] however which's hull was already built in 1944. It was abandoned by the Germans on a slipway in Szczecin, and seized by Poland. Following this the hull was completed and the ship launched as Oliwa. Later she was renamed and entered service in 1951 as Marchlewski, serving the Polish Ocean Lines.^[4] Many sources incorrectly state that Oliwa was Sołdek's makeshift name during her launch, and that she was later relaunched again as Sołdek.

The ship is currently preserved as a museum ship in Gdańsk, as a part of National Maritime Museum collection.^[5]

The ship was used in the film Persona Non Grata as a Japanese steamer transporting Jews from Vladivostok to Tsuraga.

Other B30 ships

Polish

• Sołdek (shipyard number B30/1)
• Jedność Robotnicza (B30/2)
• Brygada Makowskiego (B30/3)
• 1 Maj (B30/4) (sold to the USSR as Pervomaysk)
• Pstrowski (B30/5)
• Wieczorek (B30/6)

Built for the USSR

1. (B30/7) - Zaporozhe
2. (B30/8) - Krivoy Rog
3. (B30/9) - Kramatorsk
4. (B30/10) - Makeevka
5. (B30/11) - Gorlovka
6. (B30/12) - Novo-Shahtinsk
7. (B30/13) - Solikamsk
8. (B30/14) - Kurgan
9. (B30/15) - Zlatoust
10. (B30/16) - Minusinsk
11. (B30/17) - Pavlodar
12. (B30/18) - Jenakiyevo
13. (B30/19) - Nikitovka
14. (B30/20) - Novocherkassk
15. (B30/21) - Volnovacha
16. (B30/22) - Vitegra
17. (B30/23) - Tovda
18. (B30/24) - Kalar
19. (B30/25) - Azovstal
20. (B30/26) - Tkvarcheli
21. (B30/27) - Zangenzur
22. (B30/28) - Malaia Zemlia
23. (B30/29) - Pereyeslav Khmielnitsky

A number of B-30 ships saw service for the Soviet Navy, as auxiliary vessels (e. g. transports), including the "Tovda" and the "Vitegra". Corresponding data (including side plan) can be found i. a. in Weyer's Flottentaschenbuch 1971/72.