A Polish destroyer

kuchciol · 07-09-09, 04:34 AM

Those merchant shps that were scattered all over the world when the war began also took part in it. Some of them had to break out of French ports n Africa when the Vichy goverment got to power.
Of particular interest is the "Kroman". A small and slow tramp steamer (with the top speed of 9 knots) it was too slow for even the slowest convoys and had to make it on its own. It managed to break out of the French Dakkar.
Apparently the captain figured out the only way to survive is to arm the ship. How exactly the crew obtained the armament is unknown - enough said the ship eventually had more guns and machine guns than people to work them. She would blast at German planes with a firepower of a small cruiser and was quite trigger happy. I guess being small and slow made her a bit paranoid. "Kroman" in his voyages managed to shoot down a German plane and damaged a few others, a Catalina included. If it flies - shoot it

07-09-09, 04:34 AM	#9
kuchciol Watch Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 20 Downloads: 20 Uploads: 0	Those merchant shps that were scattered all over the world when the war began also took part in it. Some of them had to break out of French ports n Africa when the Vichy goverment got to power. Of particular interest is the "Kroman". A small and slow tramp steamer (with the top speed of 9 knots) it was too slow for even the slowest convoys and had to make it on its own. It managed to break out of the French Dakkar. Apparently the captain figured out the only way to survive is to arm the ship. How exactly the crew obtained the armament is unknown - enough said the ship eventually had more guns and machine guns than people to work them. She would blast at German planes with a firepower of a small cruiser and was quite trigger happy. I guess being small and slow made her a bit paranoid. "Kroman" in his voyages managed to shoot down a German plane and damaged a few others, a Catalina included. If it flies - shoot it