Peking Plan

The Peking Plan (or Operation Peking) was an operation in which three destroyers of the Polish Navy — ORP Burza, ORP Błyskawica, and ORP Grom — evacuated to Great Britain in late August and early September 1939. They were ordered to travel to British ports and assist the British Navy in the event of a war with Germany. The plan was successful and allowed the ships to avoid certain destruction in the German invasion.

Rationale for the operation

The plan was created in order to remove the Destroyer Division (Dywizjon Kontrtorpedowców) of the Polish Navy from the Baltic Sea operation theatre. The Kriegsmarine had a significant numerical advantage over the Polish Navy, and in the event of a war Polish High Command realised that the ships which remained in the small and mostly landlocked Baltic were likely to be quickly sunk by the Germans. Also, because of the narrow passage close from the Baltic to the North Sea, well within operation range of German navy and air force, there was little chance for the plan to succeed if it was to be implemented after the hostilities began.

The trip to Edinburgh

As the tensions between Poland and Germany were increasing, the Commander of the Polish Fleet, Admiral Józef Unrug signed the order for the operation on 26 August 1939, a day after the signing of the Polish-British Common Defence Pact; the order was delivered in sealed envelopes to the ships. The plan itself had been developed earlier and the respective captains of the ships opened the envelopes after receiving the radio signal "Peking, Peking, Peking". On 29 August the fleet received the signal from Polish Commander-in-Chief, Marshall Edward Rydz-Śmigły: "Execute Peking". At 1255 the ships received the signal via signal flags from the signal tower at Oksywie, and departed at 1415 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Roman Stankiewicz. ORP Błyskawica was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Włodzimierz Kodrębski, ORP Burza by Sublieutenant Commander Stanisław Nahorski and ORP Grom by Lieutenant Commander Włodzimierz Hulewicz.

The ships traveled without any problems through the Baltic, entering Oresund after midnight. In the passage they encountered a German K class cruiser Königsberg and a destroyer, but as the war had not started yet there was no combat. Next, the Polish ships passed through Kattegat and Skagerrak. During 31 August the ships were spotted and followed by German scout hydroplanes, and the group changed course towards Norway in order to shake off the pursuit during the night, when they returned to their original course towards UK. The ships entered the North Sea, and at 0925 learned about the German invasion of Poland. At 1258 Polish Navy encountered the Royal Navy destroyers HMS Wanderer and HMS Wallace and received a liaison officer. At 1737 they docked in Edinburgh.

Aftermath

The Peking Plan generated controversy in Poland, but it proved to be a wise decision. The ships served alongside the Royal Navy for the remainder of the war, and ORP Burza and ORP Błyskawica survived the war - while all the other surface ships of the Polish Navy which remained in the Baltic were sunk, including the fourth destroyer, ORP Wicher, and the largest ship of the Polish navy, heavy minelayer ORP Gryf, which were both sunk on 3 September. As for the Germans, in the face of Plan Peking on August 30 they recalled from the Baltic Sea the tactical unit which was assigned to engage them - three light cruisers under Vice-Admiral Densch (Nürnberg, Köln and Leipzig).

• ORP Burza
  ORP Burza
• 
  ORP Błyskawica
• ORP Grom
  ORP Grom

See also

• Orzeł incident
• Plan Worek
• Polish Navy order of battle in 1939