The tenth expedition in search of the ORP ‘Eagle’ lasted from 20 August to 27 August 2023.
This year, the expedition crew focused on a new search region located in the area of the German minefields, east of the A3 area.
The chosen route had a number of potential wreck positions to verify.
The hypothesis that the Eagle was lost in the first days of the patrol was tested and Capt Grudzinski, despite the minefields, took a risk and, like other vessels (e.g. HMS Taku), he and his crew approached the Danish coast to gather information on the movement of German vessels.
The six-person crew, consisting of Benedykt Hac, Karol Jacob, Maciej Honc, Michał Niemczycki, Piotr Michalik and Tomasz Stachura, started their search from the Netherlands.
During the expedition they traversed 2,200 km of the North Sea and surveyed 149 potential wreck positions.
The search at sea started with a departure from the port of Ijmuiden, and was conducted from the vessel ‘Tonijn’, rented from VAN LAAR Maritime.
The vessel had been properly prepared beforehand – a ladder for the divers had been installed on it, as well as hydrographic equipment – the Multibeam – which was the primary tool for the search.
The multibeam echosounder, provided by Norbit Subsea, shows a 150-metre-wide bottom and significantly assists in identifying wrecks.
Among the crew, there were: experienced hydrographers, working in shifts, every 4h, those responsible for navigating the ship and divers.
There was no shortage of excitement during this year’s expedition and the crew’s expectations grew day by day.
Already during the first day of exploration, the search team came across four submarine wrecks, which was a promising start to the expedition.
It is worth mentioning that during the previous nine years of searching they had only come across 3. Detailed analysis showed that the vessels found were 50, 60, 63 and 72 m long, none of them, unfortunately, close to the length of ORP ‘Orzeł’ – 84 m.
The next few days saw the verification of further items, among them a submarine, probably from the First World War – 47 m long – and a much larger battleship – 160 m long, an 80 m cargo ship and a 72 m very damaged wreck that was difficult to identify from the surface.
It was therefore finally inspected by divers. Maciej Honc and Tomasz Stachura, after inspecting the wreck during the dive, confirmed that the ship in question was just a badly damaged German chaser.
The following day, two more submarines (25m and 68m) were found.
This year’s expedition was not a success.
Unfortunately, despite intensive efforts, the ORP ‘Orzeł’ was not found. Glory to the crew of ORP “Orzeł”, glory to the Polish heroes.
“Orzeł” still remains undiscovered, but the determination of the Eagle team does not falter. Another step towards the goal accomplished. The SANTI Find the Eagle team continues to search until it succeeds.