Polish Navy Order of Battle in 1939 - Riverine Flotillas

Riverine Flotillas

Main article: Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy See also: Order of Battle of the Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy

During the Polish-Bolshevik War the Pinsk Marshes in modern Belarus proved to be almost impassable to troops of both sides. Lack of roads and railways posed a serious danger to infantry and cavalry that could easily be cut off both by the enemy and the weather. Because of that, a number of river monitors were either constructed or acquired from private owners and armed. They were used on the Pripiat River, as well as its extensive river basin. After the war, some of the ships were returned to their owners, while the rest remained in active service and were pressed into the so-called Pinsk Flotilla.

In peacetime, the Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy, as it was officially called, operated on the Pina River, as well as on Pripyat and Strumień. It served as a mobile reserve of the Border Defence Corps and was to support the front in case of a war with the Soviet Union. Prior to the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War, a number of ships and detachments of the Riverine Flotilla were moved to the Vistula River as a Separated Detachment of the Vistula River (Oddział Wydzielony Rzeki Wisły), better known as the Vistula Flotilla. During the fight against the Soviets and the Germans, most of the ships were sunk by their crews to avoid capture.