MS Piłsudski (later renamed ORP Piłsudski) was a medium-size ocean liner of the Polish Merchant Marine, named for Marshal Józef Piłsudski, a national hero of Poland. While transporting troops, the ship was sunk off the coast of England during World War II.
History
She was built in Italy by the CRDA yard at Monfalcone, yard number 1126, for Polskie Transatlantyckie Towarzystwo Okrętowe ("Polish Transatlantic Shipping Company Limited" or PTTO), which in 1934 became Gdynia – Ameryka Linie Zeglugowe (Gdynia – America Line), with part of the payment being shipments of coal from Poland. The ship was named for Polish national hero, Józef Piłsudski.[1] Launched in December 1934, her tonnage was 14,294 tons gross, with a length of 162 m and beam of 71 ft. She was propelled by two diesel engines driving a pair of propellers giving a speed of 18 kn. She was the older sister ship to Poland's most famous ocean liner, MS Batory. The Pilsudski's first skipper was Master Mariner Mamert Stankiewicz.
She entered the regular service as a liner on the trans-Atlantic route in September 1935, setting sail for a maiden voyage from Gdynia to New York. As a liner, she was very badly damaged by her first ocean storm.