| ORP Iskra (since 1982) |
Photo by: Maurycy Śmierzchalski
Specifications:
In 1977, when the ORP Iskra's 50-year-long service was coming to an end, the Navy considered the construction of a new sailing ship. A design of the Pogoria-type hull was chosen, though many alterations were made. In November 1981, the keel was laid: the new Iskra had been designed as a three-masted barquentine with square rig on the foremast, gaff rig on the mainmast, and Bermuda rig on the mizzen mast. The launching ceremony took place on 6 March 1982, and in August 1982 the ship was incorporated into the Navy on No 102 Order of the Admiral of the Navy. The first commander of the new vessel was Capt. Lech Soroka. The Iskra II trained mainly cadets of the Naval Academy, but young people associated in organisations like the Maritime League, Iron Shackle Fraternity or International Schools Afloat sailed on her, too. The Iskra has won the title of the "Best Ship in the Polish Navy" five times. In 1989 she won the most valuable prize of The Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races, a silver model of the Cutty Sark Trophy, and in 1991 two special prizes: for the most presentable ship and for the most efficient crew exchange during the Cruise-in-Company. The ship crossed the Atlantic for the first time in 1990, and from her American voyage she brought the Medal of Peace awarded by the UN Secretary-General. The second transatlantic cruise was connected with her participation in the Grand Regatta Columbus '92. In April 1995, commanded by Czesław Dyrcz, the ORP Iskra left Gdynia for a round-the-world cruise - the first ship in eighty years of the Polish Navy to take up such a challenge. One of the goals of the voyage was for the ship to participate in the event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia, i.e. "Sail Indonesia '95", but also for cadets to carry out practical training and three semesters of studying. On the Pacific Ocean, before Cape Horn, the ship met with extreme weather conditions: force 12 wind of seventy five knots, and height of swell of 15 metres. The ship reached Cape Horn abeam at 10:33, 27 November 1995. She returned to Gdynia on 10 February 1998, on the city's 70th anniversary, after sailing through ice-covered waters of the Bay of Mecklenburg and the Gulf of Gdańsk. The circumnavigation took 300 days, during which the ship covered 37,000 nautical miles, calling at 19 ports in 12 countries all over the world.
Dar Pomorza | Dar Młodzieży | Pogoria | Iskra I | Iskra II | Zawisza Czarny I | Zawisza Czarny II | Lwów | Elemka |
