Mamert Stankiewicz
Encyclopedia
Mamert Stankiewicz was a Polish
naval officer of the merchant marine, the commander of Lwów
, SS Polonia and finally the ocean liner MS Piłsudski. During the opening months of World War II
he sank with the latter ship and died of hypothermia
. Stankiewicz's life was immortalized by Karol Olgierd Borchardt
, whose series of books on Stankiewicz became a best-seller among Polish maritime books.
, then part of the Russian Empire
. He graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg and joined the Russian Imperial Navy. During World War I
he was initially a navigation officer on board the Russian armoured cruiser Riurik
, the flagship of the Baltic Fleet
. A successful officer, he was made Chief of Staff of the Baltic Fleet during the first battles in the Gulf of Riga
, after which he also briefly served as a commanding officer of one of the obsolete battleship
s.
Dispatched by the Imperial court to the United States
, in 1918 he became a naval attache in the Russian consulate in Pittsburgh
. However, the following year he returned to Russia and joined the riverine flotilla in Siberia during the Russian Civil War
. Arrested by the Cheka
, he was imprisoned in Irkutsk
and then in a prison camp in Krasnoyarsk
. Following the Peace of Riga
ending the Polish-Bolshevik War Stankiewicz was a subject of a prisoner of war
exchange and was allowed to settle in Poland. Verified in the rank of lieutenant-commander (komandor podporucznik), Stankiewicz joined the newly formed Polish Navy
and became a commander of the Navigation Department of the Naval School of Tczew
, the first maritime school in Polish history. Soon afterwards he also started his career as a lecturer of navigation and astronomy
at the Maritime Officers' School in Toruń
.
In 1923 he returned to the high seas as one of the officers on board Lwów
, a barque serving as a school ship
during her voyage to Brazil. The following year he became the commanding officer of that ship and held that post until 1926, when he left the Polish Navy
and joined the merchant marine as a commander of numerous cargo ships and a ship pilot at the Maritime Authority in Gdynia
. One of the most experienced captain
s in the Polish Merchant Marine, in 1931 he became the commanding officer of the prestigious, yet obsolete ocean liner
s SS Pułaski and SS Polonia. About that time he also became a member of the team supervising the design and construction of a modern ocean liner, the MS Piłsudski.
When she was completed in 1935, Stankiewicz became her first commanding officer. The ship, being the most modern ship in the Polish merchant marine and among the most luxurious European ocean liners, made numerous voyages from Poland and Constanţa
in Romania to Palestine
, Brazil
, Canada
, United Kingdom
and the United States
. M/S Piłsudski commenced her last voyage as an ocean liner on a Gdynia – Copenhagen
– Halifax
– New York
route on August 11, 1939. However, she was caught on the high seas by the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War
and World War II
. She was then commandeered by the Polish Navy
, renamed ORP Piłsudski and moved to a shipyard in northern England, where she was turned into an troopship
.
However, on November 26, 1939, during her maiden voyage in the new role, the Australia-bound ORP Piłsudski was struck by two explosions and sank not far from Newcastle
and Kingston-upon-Hull. Mamert Stankiewicz was the last to leave the ship as he wanted to ensure that all of Piłsudskis crew were safe in lifeboat
s. However, the captain himself lacked a lifeboat and spent an hour or so in ice-cold waters. He was finally rescued by a British ship, but died of hypothermia
soon afterwards. He was buried with full military honours in Hartlepool
near Middlesbrough
. He was posthumously awarded with the Virtuti Militari
, the highest Polish military decoration, and the British Distinguished Service Cross
. In 1962 the MS Kapitan M. Stankiewicz was named after him.
's first book on Stankiewicz.
However, this nickname has never been revealed to public, it is most probable that Stankiewicz has never got to know it.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
naval officer of the merchant marine, the commander of Lwów
Lwów (ship)
Lwów was the first officially registered Polish sailing-ship. Launched in 1869 in Birkenhead, England, as frigate Chinsura, from 1883 she was named Lucco; then until 1920, Nest. Since 1920 she was under the Polish banner...
, SS Polonia and finally the ocean liner MS Piłsudski. During the opening months of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he sank with the latter ship and died of hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
. Stankiewicz's life was immortalized by Karol Olgierd Borchardt
Karol Olgierd Borchardt
Karol Olgierd Borchardt was a Polish writer and captain of the Polish Merchant Navy.Although he was born in Moscow, he spent the vast majority of his life and died in Gdynia. He raised two generations of Polish officers. While demanding, he was also a warm-hearted and understanding teacher.His...
, whose series of books on Stankiewicz became a best-seller among Polish maritime books.
Biography
Stankiewicz was born in Mitau in CourlandCourland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. He graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg and joined the Russian Imperial Navy. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he was initially a navigation officer on board the Russian armoured cruiser Riurik
Rurik (1906)
The Rurik was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy in 1906.-Design and construction:She is unusual in that she was built by Vickers in Barrow in Furness, England. Laid down August 1905, launched 4 November 1906, completed July 1909. The Russian Navy was not usually a customer...
, the flagship of the Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
. A successful officer, he was made Chief of Staff of the Baltic Fleet during the first battles in the Gulf of Riga
Gulf of Riga
The Gulf of Riga, or Bay of Riga, is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. According to C.Michael Hogan, a saline stratification layer is found at a depth of approximately seventy metres....
, after which he also briefly served as a commanding officer of one of the obsolete battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s.
Dispatched by the Imperial court to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in 1918 he became a naval attache in the Russian consulate in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. However, the following year he returned to Russia and joined the riverine flotilla in Siberia during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. Arrested by the Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
, he was imprisoned in Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
and then in a prison camp in Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia, with the population of 973,891. Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russia's largest producers of...
. Following the Peace of Riga
Peace of Riga
The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga; was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, between Poland, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish-Soviet War....
ending the Polish-Bolshevik War Stankiewicz was a subject of a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
exchange and was allowed to settle in Poland. Verified in the rank of lieutenant-commander (komandor podporucznik), Stankiewicz joined the newly formed Polish Navy
Polish Navy
The Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - MW RP Polish Navy, is the branch of Republic of Poland Armed Forces responsible for naval operations...
and became a commander of the Navigation Department of the Naval School of Tczew
Tczew
Tczew is a town on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 60,279 inhabitants . It is an important railway junction with a classification yard dating to the Prussian Eastern Railway...
, the first maritime school in Polish history. Soon afterwards he also started his career as a lecturer of navigation and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
at the Maritime Officers' School in Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
.
In 1923 he returned to the high seas as one of the officers on board Lwów
Lwów (ship)
Lwów was the first officially registered Polish sailing-ship. Launched in 1869 in Birkenhead, England, as frigate Chinsura, from 1883 she was named Lucco; then until 1920, Nest. Since 1920 she was under the Polish banner...
, a barque serving as a school ship
School ship
A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is especially used for ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classrooms....
during her voyage to Brazil. The following year he became the commanding officer of that ship and held that post until 1926, when he left the Polish Navy
Polish Navy
The Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - MW RP Polish Navy, is the branch of Republic of Poland Armed Forces responsible for naval operations...
and joined the merchant marine as a commander of numerous cargo ships and a ship pilot at the Maritime Authority in Gdynia
Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...
. One of the most experienced captain
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
s in the Polish Merchant Marine, in 1931 he became the commanding officer of the prestigious, yet obsolete ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
s SS Pułaski and SS Polonia. About that time he also became a member of the team supervising the design and construction of a modern ocean liner, the MS Piłsudski.
When she was completed in 1935, Stankiewicz became her first commanding officer. The ship, being the most modern ship in the Polish merchant marine and among the most luxurious European ocean liners, made numerous voyages from Poland and Constanţa
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
in Romania to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. M/S Piłsudski commenced her last voyage as an ocean liner on a Gdynia – Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
– Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
– New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
route on August 11, 1939. However, she was caught on the high seas by the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She was then commandeered by the Polish Navy
Polish Navy
The Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - MW RP Polish Navy, is the branch of Republic of Poland Armed Forces responsible for naval operations...
, renamed ORP Piłsudski and moved to a shipyard in northern England, where she was turned into an troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
.
However, on November 26, 1939, during her maiden voyage in the new role, the Australia-bound ORP Piłsudski was struck by two explosions and sank not far from Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and Kingston-upon-Hull. Mamert Stankiewicz was the last to leave the ship as he wanted to ensure that all of Piłsudskis crew were safe in lifeboat
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
s. However, the captain himself lacked a lifeboat and spent an hour or so in ice-cold waters. He was finally rescued by a British ship, but died of hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
soon afterwards. He was buried with full military honours in Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
near Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
. He was posthumously awarded with the Virtuti Militari
Virtuti Militari
The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
, the highest Polish military decoration, and the British Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
. In 1962 the MS Kapitan M. Stankiewicz was named after him.
His nickname
Already during his lifetime Stankiewicz became known to his crew as Znaczy Kapitan, which could be roughly translated as 'You mean" Captain, a nickname coined after Stankiewicz's habit of starting almost every sentence with the word znaczy. The nickname also became the title of Karol Olgierd BorchardtKarol Olgierd Borchardt
Karol Olgierd Borchardt was a Polish writer and captain of the Polish Merchant Navy.Although he was born in Moscow, he spent the vast majority of his life and died in Gdynia. He raised two generations of Polish officers. While demanding, he was also a warm-hearted and understanding teacher.His...
's first book on Stankiewicz.
However, this nickname has never been revealed to public, it is most probable that Stankiewicz has never got to know it.