ORP "Kaszub" - torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

 (former V-108 of Kaiserliche Marine

Kaiserliche Marine

The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...

), one of the first ships of 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...

 recreated after Poland

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...

 regained its independence in 1918. In service from 1921 to 1925.

She was built in 1914 by Stettiner Maschinenbau A.G. Vulcan in Stettin

Szczecin

Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....

, Germany (now in Poland). She was begun for a Dutch Navy order, as Z-4 (along with three sister ships Z-1,Z-2,Z-3), but after the outbreak of 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...

 she was confiscated by Germany and commissioned as torpedo boat V-108, taking an active part in 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...

, fighting in the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

against the Russian Navy.

When the German Imperial Navy was divided among victorious powers in 1919 after World War I, Poland was granted six torpedo boats, among them V-108. The ship, then located in Britain, was overhauled there and arrived in Poland in October, 1921, officially entering into service.

The ship was sunk by a boiler explosion on July 20, 1925. The causes are unknown to this day. 3 crewmen died.

Specifications

• Displacement: 340 tons, 421 tons full load
• Maximum speed: 28 knots
• Armament:
  • German service: 2 × 88 mm guns, 2 × 450 mm torpedo tubes
  • Polish service: 2 × 47 mm guns (changed in 1924 to 2 × 75 mm guns), 2 × 450 mm torpedo tubes