Built: Cantieri Riuniti del Adriatico Shipyard, Triest-Monfalcone, Italy 1934 - 1936
Launched: 1935/1936
Displacement: 14,294 tons
Length: 526 feet
Breadth: 70 feet
Draught: 24 feet
Propulsion: Sulzer 9 cylinder x 2??
Screws: 2
Speed: 18 knots
Passengers: 796 (first class 46, second class - tourist 370, third class 400)
Crew: 350

M/S Pilsudski
This was the first of the two ships to be commissioned, her keel was laid down in March 1934, completed in August 1935 and commenced her first voyage, a transatlantic crossing from Gdynia to New York on September 15th 1935. The second east-west crossing encountered storms in the Atlantic which revealed certain shortcomings with the vessel, of a structural nature and of the quality of seaworthiness in poor weather. It was necessary for repairs to be undertaken at New York prior to the next sailing. A round trip Gdynia - New York - Gdynia sailing would take about twenty five days, approximately ten round trips per year were completed. Summer cruises were also made to the Norwegian fjords and Christmas/New Year cruises to the Caribbean.

When World War Two broke out the two ships were commandeered by the British Government for military use, using their Polish crews. For the Pilsudski this use was brief for in the early morning hours of November 26th 1939 the ship struck two mines off the coast of Yorkshire. The ship had spent several days at Newcastle, now painted in wartime black and grey, with a destination of Australia for the onward movement of troops. It is reported possibly the ship had a cargo of iron & steel on her outward voyage. After the explosions the ship began listing to port, and although giving the impression that it would sink quickly it lingered for several hours before finally sinking. Of the approximately 180 crew on board all but two survived, despite the choppy seas the close proximity of other ships and naval vessels allowed for timely rescue of the crew. The two crew lost included the captain who died from hypothermia after being rescued from a life raft.

The resting place of the Pilsudski is some eighteen miles off the Yorkshire coast (out from Withernsea) in thirty three metres of water at 53.45.75N & 00.45.67E. The bow and midships remains intact, though collapsing of the decks is occurring. The stern is broken off.

M/S Batory
Like the Pilsudski, the Batory commenced working the trans-Atlantic Gdynia - New York run, the first voyage commencing in May 1936, with both vessels providing an excellent and popular service. An east-west voyage early in June 1937 saw the ship sustain fire damage in the engine room, upon arrival in New York repairs delayed the return sailing for a month. In subsequent sailings the ship was troubled by a series of minor fires.

The wartime travels of the Batory saw the ship survive the conflict, quite remarkable considering the theatres of war that the ship was engaged in. As World War Two commenced the ship was en-route to New York, reaching there on September 5th 1939. During the last week of 1939 it sailed from Halifax to the Clyde. On January 10th the Batory sailed from the Clyde to Suez spending six weeks in the Mediterranean, including two visit to Marseilles before returning to Liverpool on February 22nd 1940.

Early missions during April & May 1940 included the movement of Allied troops, including Poles to Harstad, Norway (convoys NP1 & NP3). Two other Polish passenger ships, several destroyers and at least one submarine took part in this mission. One of the passengers ships, the Chrobry was later sunk by German bombs whilst acting as a troop carrier on her third crossing to Norway, fortunately with very few lives being lost. After her return from Norway the Batory spent two weeks (June 13th - June 27th) visiting the French ports of St Nazaire, Bayonne & St Jean De Luz to rescue troops from the advancing German forces. Perhaps less dangerous but more historic was the July 4th 1940 sailing from Greenock to Halifax, under a very heavy escort of British capital ships. The Batory was carrying a consignment of historic and irreplaceable Polish artifacts that had originally been housed at Wawel Castle in Krakov. Alongside this treasure was also a large consignment of gold bars being shipped from the Bank of England to the Bank of Canada for safekeeping.

The movement of these national Polish treasures from Krakow to England is in itself a story worthy of James Bond. Time and resources were in very short supply for the keepers of the treasures, the Polish army was initially unable to help, the transport links had been severely compromised by German air raids. With the railways heavily damaged the river/canal system was used to first move the treasures away from Krakow. They journied down the Vistula before transfering to horse and cart to reach Lublin. Despite the recent bombing here the Polish Army was able to provide motor transport allowing them eventually to cross the Dniesti River and into neutral Roumania.

Roumania was no safe haven, the British Embassy provided temporary assistance, a request to the Pope brought no joy and with Hitler asking for the treasures to be impounded, it was time to move on. With the Polish government now in exile in France the treasures were moved by rail to the Black Sea port of Constanza, then by the Roumania freighter Ardeal, which was stopped several times by British warships, before being escorted to the British naval base at Malta. The Roumainan ship was believed to contain barley bound for Germany. A few favours were called in and the ship was allowed to sail on to Genoa and Marseilles, arriving there early in January 1940.

For four months the treasures were held at Aubusson, but with the fall of France the treasures were moved to Bordeaux and then across the English Channel on June 17th 1940 by the Polish freighter Chorzow (on this date the Batory was at St Nazaire). Passengers included many Polish airman eager to fight another day against the Germans. A ship travelling with the Chorzow was hit by a bomb, creating panic in the flotilla of ships, the Chorzow heading off to Falmouth alone. From here the treasures moved to the Polish Embassy in London, clearly not a safe place for anything at this time. They later moved north by rail to Greenock after the Canadian authorities agreed to provide safekeeping for the treasures until hostilities ceased. (Once hostilities ceased the return of the treasures became embroiled in diplomatic and political shenanigans, two decades passing before their return to Poland). On this sailing the Batory reached Halifax on July 12th 1940. It returned to the Clyde on August 1st 1940 as part of convoy TC6.

On August 8th 1940 another mercy sailing commenced, this time from Liverpool to Australia. The purpose was to transport British troops to Singapore and the movement of 480 English children to Australia to avoid the Blitz. The Batory sailed as part of convoy WS2 (Winston's Specials), seventeen ships protected by a variety of naval vessels throughout the journey. The convoy split in the Atlantic to form a fast & slow section, with the Batory included in the fast section and making eighteen knots when conditions were right. Cape Town had initially been the destination for the children, but they left here on August 31st 1940 for Bombay, Columbo, Singapore, Fremantle, Melbourne & Sydney, arriving here on October 16th 1940 - the ship travelling over 20,000 miles in just over ten weeks. Despite the events elsewhere in a war torn world the upbeat nature of the children during the voyage gave the Batory the name 'the singing ship'. Many ships in the WS2 convoy quickly returned to the United Kingdom, but the Batory would remain for a while in the Far East, including a time dry-docked at Singapore.

After discharging the last of her precious cargo at Sydney the Batory sailed on November 3rd 1940 for Wellington to collect New Zealand soldiers for movement to Suez in convoy US7. Ironically some of the volunteers who had escorted the children from Liverpool transferred here to the Rangitane, another Sulzer powered ship. The Rangitane should have returned them to London but by the third week of November would be sunk by German raiders three hundred miles out from New Zealand. From Suez the Batory made the long trip round the Cape of Good Hope to reach the Clyde on February 8th 1941. It was then a trip across the Atlantic to Halifax to return with Canadian troops as convoy TC10 (April 10th - April 19th) to the Clyde, escorts included the battleship HMS Rodney. In the latter half of 1941 the Batory made frequent trips between the Clyde and Liverpool and made at least one return Atlantic crossing to Halifax (October 29th - November 12th), the eastbound sailing as convoy TC14A.

A shortlived convoy was number WS 8C which included the Batory. It was part of an invasion fleet created to seize the Azores islands. The convoy sailed from the Clyde on August 9th 1941 to Scapa Flow, here to await final approval for the mission to begin. The ships remained here until August 15th 1941, at which time the mission was cancelled, the ships then returning to the Clyde to disembark the troops and materials.

The New Year saw the Batory make a round trip from the Clyde to Gibralter before sailing on January 16th 1942 as part of a Russia bound troop movement from the Clyde to Iceland. Its return south was in convoy SD 20 leaving Iceland on January 21st 1942 and reaching the Clyde two days later. The next movement was operation 'Carnival' consisting of two ships, the Batory & the Sobieski, sailing from the Clyde on January 29th 1942 and reaching Gibralter on February 4th 1942. By February 26th the ship was at Lagos, returning to the Clyde by March 14th 1942 as part of convoy MKF10A (from Algiers).

From April 8th to June 10th 1942 the ship made two return Atlantic trips (convoys CT14, NA8, CT16, AT16 & NA10), the second trip including a visit to New York. Then it was with convoy WS20 starting June 21st 1942 from Liverpool to Freetown and then independently on to Lagos, arriving July 12th 1942. Two days later the Batory departed for New York, arriving August 1st 1942.

The Batory sailed with convoy AT 18 from New York on August 6th 1942 and arriving on the Clyde on August 17th 1942 accompanied by eleven ships. Following this the Batory sailed in convoy DS 31 from the Clyde on August 16th 1942 for Iceland, arriving August 18th 1942 with two other ships, presumably as part of a troop movement to Russia. The Batory's return south to the Clyde commenced on August 22nd 1942 in convoy SD 31, reaching the Clyde two days later.

The next five months (November 1942 - March 1943) found the Batory in service in the Mediterranean theatre:

Convoy KMF 1 departed the Clyde on October 26th 1942 with forty ships including the Batory bound for Oran, arriving there on November 8th 1942.

Convoy KMF 4 departed the Clyde on November 27th 1942 bound for Bone with thirty ships including the Batory, whose destination was Algiers, arriving here early in December 1942. The return convoy was MKF 4 departing Algiers on December 10th 1942 with seventeen ships including the Batory, reaching the Clyde on December 18th 1942.

Convoy KMF 7 sailed from the Clyde on January 8th 1943 bound for Algiers with twelve ships including the Batory, arriving on January 17th 1943. Convoy MKF 7 was the return sailing, departing Algiers on January 18th 1943 with eighteen ships including the Batory, dispersing (off the Clyde?) on January 25th 1943.

On February 27th 1943 the Batory sailed from the United Kingdom as part of joint convoy KMF 10A & WS 27, also sailing with this group was the Christiaan Huygens. The convoy split off Gibralter on March 4th 1943 with convoy KMF 10A heading to Algiers including the Batory.

For Operation Husky the Batory and nineteen other ships sailed as convoy KMF 18 from the Clyde on June 28th 1943 and arrived Sicily on July 10th 1943. Departure from here was as convoy MKF 18 with the Batory and twenty two ships, however the Batory detached at Malta and sailed for Alexandria, departing here on July 29th 1943 for a trip through the Suez Canal, arriving at Bombay on August 13th 1943.

On November 5th 1943 the Batory departed Bombay for Basra, Bandar Abbas, Karachi and back to Bombay by December 14th 1943. The Batory left Bombay on December 28th 1943, reaching Port Said on January 17th 1944. Between January 20th 1944 and the middle of October 1944 the ship remained in the Mediterranean supporting troop movements into Italy and Southern France. Ports visited included Taranto, Alexandria, Oran, Naples and Algiers. On October 10th 1944 convoy MKF 35 sailed from Port Said bound for Algiers, Plymouth & Liverpool, arriving there on October 21st 1944. The convoy of seveteen ships included the Batory, Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt & Felix Roussel. The Batory carried 1,756 passengers, presumably troops bound for Cherbourg and the Clyde.

On December 16th 1944 the Batory and fifteen ships departed from the Clyde as convoy KMF 37 arriving Gibraltar on December 21st 1944, the Batory carried 1,265 troops, later going forward along with seven other ships to Bombay and Kilindini, arriving at the latter on January 21st 1945. The Batory returned to Aden as part of convoy CM59C, arriving Aden January 30th 1945. It was then on to Gibralter to load 900 troops to join convoy MKF 39 which sailed on February 14th 1945 with nineteen ships, bound for Liverpool, arriving February 20th 1945.

The formal end of the war in Europe in April 1945 did not see the immediate release of the Batory from its troop carrying duties. It visited Iceland on June 9th, Funchal on June 24th and Naples on July 1st 1945 before returning to the Clyde. The remaining six months of 1945 were spent in the Mediterranean, returning to the Clyde on December 28th 1945.

After release from its military duties the Batory returned to its former haunts, it received a refit during 1947 at Antwerp, somewhat delayed by a shipboard fire whilst being refitted. On the North Atlantic run the Batory was a regular visitor to Gdynia, Copenhagen, Southampton & New York. During the early days of the Cold War the ship was embroiled in a series of incidents, which led to the port authority in New York refusing to handle the ship. This led to a change of routes, from 1951 the Batory began working a new service from Poland to India & Pakistan via the Suez canal. This service was eventually stopped by the Suez crisis and the closure of the canal in 1956.

After a refit in 1957 at Bremerhaven when the accomodations were changed (76 first class & 740 tourist class), the ship returned to the North Atlantic route with Montreal the port of choice now rather than New York, her first working on this route commenced during the first week of September 1957. During the summer months Montreal & Quebec were the destination ports, during the winter it was left for Halifax to handle the Batory. By the 1960's the time was running out for these trans-Atlantic workings with air travel taking away the bread & butter of the passenger shipping lines. Early in December 1968 the Batory made her last regular trans-Atlantic crossing, whilst during the middle of February 1969 the Batory receiving a farewell ceremony at Tilbury on February 20th, which included some of the people who had been evacuated to Australia as children on the Batory during the Blitz.

The m/s Batory docked at Gdynia, date unknown, from a postcard.

Afer retirement the Batory, like a number of other ships became a floating hotel-restaurant-museum in Gdynia for two years. But like most of these ventures the great idea proved unprofitable, the ship was sold for US$570,000 to a Hong Kong scrap yard, making her last oneway voyage during 1971.

Page added February 22nd 2006
Last updated March 6th 2010

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