View source for SS Narwik

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| Ship image = SS Narwik 1969 NAC 3 53 0 3 98 6 1 46478.jpg
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| Ship registry = {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Poland_(with_coat_of_arms,_1980-1990).svg}} Gdynia
| Ship out of service = 1972
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| Ship fate = Scrapped, 1970s
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| Ship commissioned = 11 March 1943
| Ship country = [[Poland]]
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| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Poland|government}}
| Ship name = Narwik
| Ship namesake = [[Battle of Narvik]]
| Ship owner = [[Gdynia-America Line]], then [[Polish Ocean Lines]]
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| Ship builder = [[Charles Connell and Company]] 
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| Ship launched =5 January 1942
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| Ship tonnage = *7031 [[Gross register tonnage|GRT]]
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|}'''SS ''Narwik''''', formerly '''''Empire Roamer''''', was a Polish general cargo ship built in 1941 to the order of the British government, as one of the [[Empire ship|Empire B type ships]]. In 1942, together with four others (''[[SS Tobruk|Tobruk]]'', ''Bałtyk,'' ''Białystok'', ''Borysław'' - since 1950 ''Bytom''),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Piwowoński, Jan.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22187034|title=Flota spod Biało-Czerwonej|date=1989|publisher=Nasza Księgarnia|isbn=83-10-08902-3|edition=Wyd. 1|location=Warszawa|oclc=22187034}}</ref> it was transferred to the [[Polish government-in-exile|Polish Government in Exile]] for the [[Polish Merchant Navy]]. In Polish service, the name of the ship was changed to "Narwik" to commemorate the Polish contribution to the [[Battles of Narvik|Battle of Narvik]]. The transferred ships formally became the property of GAL ([[Gdynia America Line|Gdynia-America Shipping Lines]]), but they were chartered to the War Transport Administration. ''Narwik'' sailed under the Polish flag to 1972.

''Empire Roamer'' was built by [[Charles Connell and Company]] in [[Glasgow]] and launched on 5 January 1942.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=315-317}} On 11 March 1942 she was sold by [[Ministry of War Transport]] to Polish government, and was commissioned from the shipyard on that day.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=315-317}} Her first captain was Tadeusz Niefiedowicz.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=315-317}} On 17 March 1942 the ship went on her maiden voyage in a conwoy from [[Gourock]] to [[New York City]].{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=315-317}} On 30 April she departed back for [[Cape Town]], and then to [[Bombay]], and back to [[Durban]].{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=325}} On the way to Durban the crew spent several days fighting coal fire in bunkers, finally extinguished in the port.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=325}}

On October 10, 1942, during a cruise to the [[United States]] from Durban, ''Narwik'' encountered lifeboats from the [[SS Orcades (1936)|SS ''Orcades'']] that was torpedoed by the [[German submarine U-172]].{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=326-330}} Despite possible threat by the German submarine, a rescue operation was launched, which resulted in 1022 survivors being taken on board in several hours, from over 20 boats, including women and children.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=326-330}} On the way with survivors to Cape Town, at night, the ''Narwik'' located also missing lifeboats with a captain of ''Orcades'' and volunteers, who had been trying to save sinking ship.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=326-330}} It was the most effective and largest rescue action carried out by one ship during the [[Second World War]]{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}. At that time, the ship was commanded by its First Officer Czesław Zawada, because the captain had to disembark before the cruise due to illness.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=326-330}} Czesław Zawada and his crew were honored with Polish and British decorations for the rescue operation, including [[Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea]] for the captain.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=326-330}}

During the war, the ship took part in further convoys and military operations, including [[landing in Sicily]] in July 1943.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=332}} On 29 July 1946, the ship returned to Poland from where it continued to make transatlantic voyages.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=326-330}} From 1951 the ''Narwik'' became part of [[Polish Ocean Lines]] fleet.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=347}} Since 1967 she sailed in a charter in Polish-Korean company Korpol. On 16 February 1972 she was sold for scrap to Spain. On 8 March 1972 she entered breakers yard in Bilbao.{{sfnp|Miciński|Huras|Twardowski|1999|pp=360}}

{{Commons category|Narwik (ship, 1942)}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==

*{{Cite book
  |first1=Jerzy  |last1=Miciński |first2=Bohdan  |last2=Huras |first3=Marek  |last3=Twardowski  |year=1999 |title=Księga statków polskich 1918–1945. Tom 3 |trans-title=A book of Polish ships 1918-1945. Vol. 3|publisher=Polnord Wydawnictwo Oskar  |location=Gdańsk |language=Polish |isbn=83-86181-45-1}}
{{Empire ships}}
{{Gdynia America Line}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narwik}}
[[Category:Empire ships]]
[[Category:Ships of the Gdynia-America Line]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:Ministry of War Transport ships]]
[[Category:Steamships of Poland]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of Poland]]