Niszczyciel ORP PIORUN

ORP Piorun Papercraft Niszczyciel ORP PIORUN Papercraft

ORP Piorun was an N-class destroyer used by the Polish Navy during the Second World War. The name is Polish for "Thunderbolt". Ordered by the Royal Navy in 1939, the ship was laid down as HMS Nerissa before being acquired by Poland in October 1940 before completion. Following the Second World War, the vessel was returned to the Royal Navy and recommissioned as HMS Noble until being discarded in 1955.

History The ship was built by John Brown & Company of Clydebank, Glasgow. She was laid down in July 1939, launched on 7 May 1940 and completed on 4 November 1940. Initially commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Nerissa, she was later transferred to the Polish Navy as a replacement for the destroyer ORP Grom, which had been lost off the Norwegian coast on 4 May 1940.

Piorun was based in Great Britain and commanded by Commander Eugeniusz Pławski. Between 13 and 15 March 1941, while undergoing repairs in John Brown's shipyard, she took part in the defence of Clydebank against air raids by the Luftwaffe. A memorial to the crew of the ship was later erected in Clydebank.