Almost 7 years after last leaving the flag and withdrawing from service on board the Falcon, life is beating again. The erstwhile submarine after years of preparatory work was officially opened to visitors who will go to the Naval Museum in Gdynia. An awesome and unique attraction in Poland was set up in front of the museum.
Monday 24 March in the hall Naval Museum a ceremony related to opening the ORP “Sokół” as an component of the fresh exhibition. It was attended by: Deputy Minister of National Defence Stanisław Wzątek, admirals, directors of friendly museums and another respectable guests. This group besides included kmdr Łukasz Szmigiel, commander of the submarine squadron, the last commander of the “Sokolo” from 2016 to 2018.
– From the beginning I was a large advocate of the Naval Museum initiative, which will in a unique way let to approximate the subject and specificity of the service on the submarine," said kmdr Szmigiel, who during the ceremony donated to the MMW collection the flag, the ORP „Sokół” task and the chronicle of the ship.
Film: Margaret of Cold / Navy of the Republic of Poland
Tomasz Miegoń, manager of the MMW and the chief initiator of the transformation of the “Sokolo” into a museum building, emphasized that it should not only be an different component of the exhibition, but besides a kind of memorial for all Polish submarines and their crews. For this reason, a richly illustrated exhibition dedicated to the Polish underwater fleet can be seen close the “Sokola” which “attached” in the castle in front of the museum.
ORP “The Falcon” became officially open to visitors of the museum on Tuesday 25 March. The ship can be visited in up to 10 groups, boarding all half hour. The visit can be booked in advance on the MMW website, where ticket sales have besides started (normal: 20 PLN, reduced: 15 PLN, children up to 7 years old visit for free).
A visit to the “Sokole” is an unforgettable experience for individual who associate the interiors of submarines exclusively with photographs and films. These are narrow passages and spaces, a surviving region limited to a minimum, and all covered with a mass of pipes, switches, indicators and all kinds of mechanisms. In order to be nearly 50 metres long, the falcon can receive visitors, peculiar extended hatches were cut in the fore and aft section, ventilation and air conditioning were installed. However, beyond this kind of essential modifications, the ship looks almost the same as during its many years of service. Visitors will see 8 torpedo launchers, berths, kitchen, toilets, a miniature commander's cabin, a command zone, etc. It's rather a treat to be able to look through a periscope.
"The Falcon" is simply a 207 (Kobben) submarine whose construction ended in the German shipyard in 1966. From 1967 to 2001, he sailed under the Norwegian flag as KNM “Stord”, while the Polish Navy utilized it since 2002 for another 16 years. During this time, the Falcon travelled almost 26,000 nautical miles and made 174 dives.
