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| ORP Kraków, landing ship/minelayer of the Polish Navy. |
This is the second photo gallery
(the first one is U36, submarine of the German Navy) from my visit to Kiel, on the first weekend of the 136th Kiel Week. The Kiel Week (German: Kieler
Woche) or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital
of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the largest sailing event in the
world, and also one of the largest Volksfeste in Germany, attracting
millions of people every year from all over Germany and neighboring
countries. The first weekend of the Kiel Week, the famous Naval Base of
Kiel, opens its gates for just four hours per day, for thousands of
tourists who are eager to visit the German Navy warships and dozens of
foreign warships which visit the city of Kiel, to honor the Kiel Week.
Note that, the majority of the visiting warships had returned from the
NATO BALTOPS (Baltic Operations) Exercise, an annual joint,
multinational maritime-focused exercise. It is designed
to improve training value for participants enhance flexibility and
interoperability, and demonstrate resolve among allied and partner
forces in defending the Baltic Sea region. The Polish Navy, a Kiel Week's regular visitor ,was represented by the ORP Kraków, the third ship in the Lublin class. The Lublin class (Projekt 767) are minelayer-landing ships
designed and built in Poland for the Polish Navy, in service since
1989. Only five out of the twelve planned ships were built, by the
Northern Shipyard in Gdańsk, due to the fall of Communism. They can carry up to nine (9) T-72 tanks or 17 transport vehicles and 135 equipped troops. Moreover, the ships were designed to carry up to 80 naval mines. The ships are named after the chief cities of the Piast dynasty. ORP Kraków has a full displacement close to 1,800t and a length of almost 96 meters. The ship is armed with four ZU-23-2MR Wróbel-II twin 23mm gun turrets, installed forward and aft the superstructure in pairs, as well as with Grom MANPADS. Enjoy photos from my visit aboard this truly unique and very well maintained warship, a ship that I always wanted to visit!
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| The superstructure of Kraków with the mast atop. Notice the three of the four ZU-23-2MR gun turrets |
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| View of the bridge |
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| Closer photo of the bridge |
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| The bow landing ramp off the ship |
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| The bow landing ramp off the ship |
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| Krakow, Lublin class landing ship |
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| The forward pair of ZU-23-2MR turrets |
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| The open cargo deck |
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| Basic details about the ship, in English and Polish |
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| View from the bridge |
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| The open deck where tanks or mines are carried |
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| The ship can carry up to nine MBTs. two surveillance (SharpEye?) and navigation radars equip the ship. |
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| A ZU-23-2MR gun turret forward of the superstructure |
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| The ZU-23-2MR gun turrets and the bridge of Kraków |
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| View from the bridge of the open deck |
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| View from the bridge of the open deck |
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| Retractable covers of the bridge's windows |
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| Retractable covers of the bridge's windows |
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| The front section of a Wrobel II turret |
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| The rear section of a Wrobel II turret |
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| The bridge has armored covers for the windows, like an armored vehicle! |
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| The rear section of the ship |
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| Rear Wrobel II gun turret |
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| View of the stern ramp |
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| Aft Wrobel II gun turret |
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| A RHIB is carried at the rear section |
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| The stern of the ship |
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| The rear section of the superstructure and the RHIB the ship carries |
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| The huge mast atop the bridge |
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| The stern ramp of the ship is suitable for minelaying |
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| ORP Kraków is the third ship in the Lublin class |
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| Another view of the superstructure |
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| View of the whole ship from the distinctive bow deck |
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| Krakow, anchored in the Naval Base of Kiel |
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