ORP Ślązak (L26)

Ślązak returning home after the Dieppe Raid
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Bedale
BuilderHawthorn Leslie, Newcastle
Laid down25 May 1940
Launched23 July 1941
FateTransferred to Poland 1942, returned 1946, transferred to India 1953
Poland
NameORP Ślązak
Commissioned17 April 1942
Decommissioned28 September 1946
IdentificationPennant number: L26
FateReturned to Royal Navy 1946
India
NameINS Godavari
NamesakeGodavari River
AcquiredApril 1959
Commissioned27 April 1953
Out of service1976, after running ashore in the Maldives
IdentificationPennant number: D92
FateScrapped in 1979
General characteristics
Class & typeHunt-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 1050 tons standard
  • 1490 tons full load
Length85.3 m (280 ft)
Beam9.6 m (31 ft)
Draught2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)/3.9 m (13 ft)
Speed27 kn (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range
  • 2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
  • 3,700 nmi (6,900 km; 4,300 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement160
Armament
Notespowered by 2 shaft steam turbines 19,000 hp (14,200 kW)

ORP Ślązak (Polish for Silesian) was a World War II Hunt-class destroyer. Initially laid down in 1940 for the Royal Navy as HMS Bedale, in 1942 she was commissioned by the Polish Navy in the West.

After World War II, she was leased to the Indian Navy in 1953, where she served as a training ship until 1976. She was scrapped in 1979.