Polish Navy Museum – World of Warships

By Marek Grzybowski

The World of Warships Player Zone has opened at the Polish Navy Museum. Every visitor to the Polish Navy Museum can participate in the World of Warships game. The virtual world of World of Warships has a global community of over a million naval warfare and video game history enthusiasts.

Polish players are the third largest national group participating in World of Warships’ virtual battles. The Polish destroyer Błyskawica was the first World War II ship from Europe to be included in the World of Warships program. US and Japanese naval fleets were among the first naval fleets in World of Warships.

The inclusion of the destroyer Błyskawica is the result of a decade-long collaboration between the Polish Navy Museum and the game’s developers, Wargaming.net. The Polish war period was depicted in consultation with the Polish Navy Museum staff. Events were organized in front of the museum to announce upcoming editions of the game. A mobile truck equipped with stations displaying the game presenting naval warfare was stationed in Gdynia.

The gaming station container was placed several hundred meters from the museum ship, the destroyer Bałyskawica.

The Polish destroyer Błyskawica was built in 1936. It is the oldest surviving destroyer in the world and saw active service in World War II. The Polish destroyer Błyskawica escorted approximately 85 convoys. The Polish warship participated in numerous combat operations in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The Polish destroyer Błyskawica covered the retreat of British troops from Dunkirk to the British Isles from German ships. The destroyer Błyskawica ensured the safety of troop transport during the Normandy landings of American, Canadian, and British troops. After the war, in 1947, the ship returned to Poland. The Polish destroyer Błyskawica has been a museum ship in Gdynia since 1976.