35 years under the sails of Iskra.
ORP "Iskra" in the Gulf of Gdansk during one of the last exits to the sea before a round-the-world cruise, April 1995. Robert Rohovich
The second training sailboat ORP "Iskra" has a chance to match its predecessor in terms of durability. The first traveled the seas and oceans for 60 years, 50 of them under the white-red flag. The modern training ship is - so far - “only” 35 years old, but it is currently undergoing a general reconstruction, after which it will definitely not be launched soon.
On November 26, 1977, in basin No. X of the Naval Port in Gdynia, the white and red flag was hoisted for the last time on the schooner ORP Iskra, built in 1917. It was difficult to erase the half-century tradition of having a sailboat under a military flag. Indeed, most of the cadets who were preparing to become naval officers in the walls of the officer school in Oksivye passed through its deck. Under the white and red flag, the sailboat passed a total of 201 thousand. Mm, and only in foreign ports, he committed almost 140 times. There were even more visits to Polish ports with cadets who got acquainted with life on a ship. Despite the rapid technological progress, the rapidly changing conditions of daily service and combat operations at sea, the tradition of future Navy officers taking their first steps aboard a sailing ship was difficult to erase.
Something from Nothing
In 1974-1976, the Training Ship Group of the Naval Academy (UShKV) received the latest, modernly equipped training units of Project 888 - "Vodnik and Vulture", allowing for the comprehensive training of facades, cadets, cadets and officers for the needs of the naval units of the armed forces. And yet, the maritime initiation on the sailing Iskra, deeply rooted in the minds of sailors, stimulated supporters of maintaining this practice in subsequent years.
At first it seemed that the wish of the school sailboat, timidly voiced by a large group of officers, would not come true soon. The Navy Command (DMW) had no plans to build a successor. This was due to several reasons. Firstly, the need to withdraw the existing sailboat was not planned. It was assumed that the hull could still be in good condition for some time, and unexpected cracks in it during one of the voyages in September 1975 led first to the "landing" of the vessel in the port, and then to the decision to abandon repairs during 2 years and finally leave the flag. The long-term plans underlying the first ordering of projects, and then the start of construction of units of this class and type, did not provide for such a provision in the fleet development program being implemented at that time until 1985.
Secondly, in 1974-1976, the WSMW school ship group received 3 new boats and 2 training ships built in the country, which could take on the tasks arising from providing shipboard practices for cadets and cadets studying at Oksiv University.
Thirdly, building a sailboat from scratch at that time (and even now) was not easy and cheap. In Poland, the shipbuilding industry had practically no experience in this area. The passion of the then President of Television and Radio, Maciej Szczepański, an avid sailor, came to the rescue. At that time, the TV program "Flying Dutchman" was broadcast, which promoted the activities of the Brotherhood of the Iron Shekel, an organization dedicated to the maritime education of young people in Poland.
