700-13 D’ENTRECASTEAUX

ORP Bałtyk (original name: D'Entrecasteaux) was a French, Belgian and later Polish armored cruiser and training ship. The keel for this unit was laid in 1894, and the launch took place in June 1896. The vessel was accepted into service with the Marine Nationale in 1899. The total length of the ship at the time of launching was 130 meters and a width of 17.9 meters. Full displacement reached approx. 8,000 tons, and the maximum speed was approx. 19 knots. At the time of the launch, the deck armament consisted of: 2 240 mm guns, 12 138 mm guns and 12 47 mm guns. D'Entrecasteaux was launched as a French cruiser dedicated primarily to service in the Far East colonies, and the unit was built at a shipyard Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranee in the city of La Seyne in France. In the course of its service in the Far East, the unit, among other things, participated in the suppression of the boxer uprising in China in 1899-1901. During World War I D'Entrecasteaux was transferred relatively quickly to the Mediterranean Sea, where in 1915 he actively fought with Turkey in defense of the Suez Canal. However, in 1922, this increasingly outdated ship was decommissioned from the Marine Nationale and handed over to Belgium, where it served as a hulk. Interestingly, the Belgian Navy decided not to change the name of the unit. In 1927, D'Entrecasteaux was purchased by the Polish Navy as a school hulk. In Poland, the unit was called ORP Władysław IV, but eventually received the name ORP Bałtyk. It was the largest ship under the Polish flag, although her combat abilities at that time were very poor. After the defeat in the September campaign ORP Bałtyk was taken over by the Germans and sold for scrap in 1942.