MS „Batory”: history of the Polish transatlantic liner

For several generations of Poles on both sides of the Atlantic, the „Batory” was more than just a ship. Built in Monfalcone, Italy, and partially financed by Polish coal, it carried emigrants, the Polish diaspora, and tourists between Gdynia and New York from 1936. During the war, it transported soldiers, children, and treasures, and after the war, for over twenty years, it was a window to the West for many Poles.

This guide tells the story of how it was created and financed, how it was built, what powered it and how much fuel it needed, what the journey to New York was like during the Second Polish Republic, why it was called the „Lucky Ship”, how the Cold War closed the port of New York to it, how it sailed to India, Pakistan, and Canada, and how it ended its service. At the end, we have gathered the most interesting facts.

How „Batory” Came to Be

The story of „Batory” begins not at the shipyard, but in the offices of the shipowner, who had a problem in the early 1930s. The connection to North America, where millions of Poles lived, was served by three old steamships.

Three Old Steamships and the Polish Line to America

In 1930, the Polish government decided to purchase an existing shipping line to America, along with the ships, offices, and the right to a dock in New York. The seller was the Danish East Asiatic Company (Det Østasiatiske Kompagni), which transported passengers from Gdańsk and Libau to New York and Halifax through its Baltic-American Line. The contract was signed on March 11, 1930. For 18 million zlotys, payable in installments, Poland took over the line and three steamships. Thus, the Polish Transatlantic Shipping Company (PTTO) was established, in which the Polish side held the majority of shares, while the Danes remained shareholders.

All three were built by the Barclay, Curle shipyard in Glasgow between 1910 and 1915 for the tsarist Russian American Line. Under the Polish flag, the „Kursk” retained the Danish name „Polonia,” while the „Estonia” and „Lithuania” became „Pułaski” and „Kościuszko,” emphasizing Polish-American ties. They were steamships with a capacity of approximately 6300 to 7500 gross registered tons, sailing at a speed of about 14 knots.

From the beginning, the results of PTTO were poor, and the crisis of 1931-1932 worsened them further. Additionally, America was closing its doors to immigrants. The Immigration Act of 1924 had already introduced national quotas in the United States, deliberately limiting arrivals from Eastern and Southern Europe. Ships built before World War I for the mass transport of emigrants no longer fit these conditions. The management of the line decided to change the profile of the connection from emigrant to tourist, which required new, faster, and more comfortable ships. In 1934, the company also changed its name to Gdynia–America Shipping Lines S.A., abbreviated as GAL. In New York, GAL initially leased the Bush Pier dock in Brooklyn, and from 1935, a larger dock in Hoboken, across the Hudson River.

The Decision for New Ships

On October 27, 1932, the Supervisory Board of PTTO decided to build two new ships. Inquiries were sent to nine European shipyards. The purchase of ready-made, new units proved impossible, so it was about building from scratch. Offers were analyzed and technical details were developed by three experts from Liverpool. Two shipyards made it to the final stage: the Danish Nakskov Skibsvaerft and the Italian Cantieri Riuniti dell’Adriatico (CRDA) from Trieste, which built ships in Monfalcone on the Adriatic.

The Italians won. Their offer was cheaper, the ships were to be more modern and cheaper to operate, and the credit conditions were the most favorable. However, the decisive factor was the payment method: most of the price was to be covered by Polish coal. On June 21, 1933, the Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers authorized the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to purchase two passenger ships for the North American line.

Ships for Coal

The contract was signed on November 29, 1933, in Warsaw, in the office of the head of the Maritime Department of the ministry, Leonard Możdżeński. The original contract has been preserved in the State Archive in Gdańsk, branch in Gdynia, and in 2024, historian Jarosław Drozd published it in the journal „Studia Maritima.” Thanks to this, we know the details that are usually simplified in popular accounts.

The price of one ship was 30,910,000 lira, calculated in gold zlotys of a specified gold content, meaning 61,820,000 lira for both. The first 10 percent was paid upon signing the contract, with subsequent installments due upon laying the keel, constructing the frames, plating the hull, launching, and handing over the ship. Most of the price was spread over twelve semi-annual installments, thus over six years. The ships were assigned construction numbers 1126 and 1127 at the shipyard. The first was named „Piłsudski,” the second „Batory.”

The coal mechanism is described in paragraph 19 of the contract. The Italian State Railways committed to purchase coal worth 60 million lira from Polish mines, loaded in Gdynia (on f.o.b. terms), within four years. However, the money for this coal did not go to Poland. The Italian railways paid it directly to the shipyard towards the installments for the ships, while the Polish shipowner paid the mines the equivalent of these sums. This way, there was no need to transfer foreign currency from country to country. The coal agreement between the Italian railways and the Polish mines, represented by the National Coal Convention, was concluded on December 13, 1933. The Italians also committed to purchasing iron in Poland.

The account turned out to be less straightforward than expected. The total amount due with interest was about 69.3 million lira, but in 1937, due to exchange rate differences, it grew to about 88.2 million, and the parties decided to refer the matter to arbitration in London. Ultimately, this was abandoned. An agreement on November 27, 1937, established the debt to the shipyard at 1.9 million dollars, of which 1.25 million was to be paid in coal, and the remaining 650 thousand in cash by December 14, 1939. In popular texts, we often read that Poland paid for the ships with „five-year coal deliveries.” The contract itself speaks of four years of deliveries and six years of installment payments.

Dispute Over the Name

The first ship was to bear the name of Józef Piłsudski from the start. The second was more complicated, and the dispute lasted almost until the christening. The American Polonia wanted the ship to be named „Paderewski.” The shipowner preferred „Kościuszko,” after the steamship being decommissioned. For the ruling camp, the name Paderewski, long in opposition to the sanation, was unacceptable. GAL director Aleksander Leszczyński warned officials that in America, „the name of our ship raises serious objections among a significant segment of the American press, as well as among organizations there.” Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Franciszek Doleżal argued in the press that King Stefan Batory „was a bold defender of borders, a victorious leader, and a statesman.” The politicians had their way. The patron of the ship became Stefan Batory, Prince of Transylvania and King of Poland from 1576 to 1586, husband of Anna Jagiellonka, and victor in the war with Moscow.

Keel Laying, Launching, and the Godmother

The keel of „Batory” was laid in Monfalcone on May 1, 1934. The launching took place on July 3, 1935. Among those present were Deputy Minister Franciszek Doleżal and GAL director Aleksander Leszczyński. The hull was blessed by Archbishop of Gorizia Carlo Margotti. The godmother was Jadwiga Barthel de Weydenthal, a sculptor, soldier of the 1st Brigade of the Legions, awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari, chosen for this role by Aleksandra Piłsudska, the widow of the Marshal. After the speech, she cut the rope holding the champagne bottle. When the glass broke against the hull, the ropes were released, and „Batory” slid into the shipyard basin. Tugs positioned it next to its older twin, „Piłsudski.”

The finishing of the ship took longer than expected. The first voyages of „Piłsudski” showed that its sea properties in the stormy North Atlantic were not the best, so corrections were made to the under-construction „Batory.” According to the monograph by Jerzy Drzemczewski and Tadeusz Ślebiody, the shipowner took over the vessel on April 8, 1936, about two months after the contract deadline.

„Southern Route” and Maiden Voyage to New York

Bringing the new ship from the Adriatic to Gdynia was costly, so GAL turned it into an attraction. On April 21, 1936, „Batory” set off on a three-week cruise called „Southern Route.” Passengers traveled to Italy by two special trains from Katowice. The ship docked in Dubrovnik, Barcelona, Casablanca, Funchal in Madeira, Lisbon, and London, and then sailed through the Kiel Canal to Gdynia, arriving on May 11. There were over 600 people on board, including painters Wojciech Kossak and Jan Cybis, actress Irena Eichlerówna, theater director Arnold Szyfman, writers Andrzej Strug and Arkady Fiedler, the widow of Stefan Żeromski with her daughter Monika, and the wives of dignitaries, including the president of Warsaw, Stefan Starzyński. In cabin number 223 was Melchior Wańkowicz, correspondent for Polish Radio and the newspaper „Czas.” With his characteristic irony, he later wrote that the cruise was taken by „620 bourgeois loaded with thicker cash, who gorged themselves, drank, lounged, and lazed around for all time.”

On May 17, 1936, a ceremonial blessing and raising of the flag took place at the Marine Station in Gdynia, broadcast by Polish Radio. The orchestra played the Polish anthem, as well as the anthems of Italy, Denmark, Canada, the United States, and Hungary. „We will not bring you shame,” Captain Eustazy Borkowski reportedly shouted as the flag went up.

The next day, on May 18, 1936, at 15:30, „Batory” departed from Gdynia on its first voyage to New York with about 600 passengers. According to Jerzy Pertek, the official delegation included General Gustaw Orlicz-Dreszer, Deputy Minister Franciszek Doleżal, the newly appointed ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Washington, Jerzy Potocki, General Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski, and Bishop Karol Niemira. Approximately 2000 tons of goods were in the holds: hams, cheeses, wood, cement, bent furniture, sheet metal, and cigarette paper. The first stop was in Copenhagen. On May 27, „Batory” docked at the Hoboken waterfront. After the welcome, the „marriage of the Baltic with the Atlantic” took place: Bishop Niemira poured water brought from the Baltic into the ocean from a silver chalice, and Deputy Minister Doleżal threw an amber ring into the water. Then, a crowd of American Poles who came to see the ship was allowed on board. On June 2, „Batory” set off for Halifax with new passengers, and from there back to Gdynia, completing its first journey in about three and a half weeks.

The Fate of the Twin

„Piłsudski” was a few months older. It was launched on December 19, 1934, with MP Wanda Pełczyńska as its godmother. It set off on its first voyage to New York from Gdynia on September 15, 1935, under the command of Captain Mamert Stankiewicz. In winter, it carried American tourists on cruises in the Caribbean. After the outbreak of the war, returning from New York, it did not sail back to Gdynia but remained in Great Britain and, along with its crew, came under British command. On November 26, 1939, at 5:36, at the beginning of its first wartime voyage from Newcastle to Australia, it sank 29 nautical miles southeast of Flamborough Head. The most likely cause was hitting a mine, although the reasons for its sinking have not been definitively clarified to this day. Captain Stankiewicz perished from exhaustion and hypothermia, as did IV engineer Tadeusz Piotrowski. Severely wounded senior officer Karol Olgierd Borchardt, a later writer, survived. From that moment on, „Batory” sailed without its twin.

Ship from the Inside

Compared to the "Queen Mary" or "Normandie," our ship was of medium size, and no one expected it to compete with them. It was meant to be modern, economical, and elegant, while also carrying cargo alongside passengers. It was a passenger and cargo ship: in addition to 760 passengers, it could carry about 1200 tons of goods. At the time of its commissioning, it and the "Piłsudski" were among the most modern vessels of this type in the Baltic and in this part of Europe.

Key Numbers

The data is provided as of 1936. After wartime modifications, some of these figures changed.

Parameter	Value
Shipyard	Cantieri Riuniti dell’Adriatico, Monfalcone, construction number 1127
Overall Length	160.4 m
Width	21.6 m
Draft	7.5 m
Gross Tonnage	14,287 GRT (the contract stipulated about 14,400)
Net Tonnage	8,102 NRT
Deadweight	5,560 t
Displacement at Full Load	about 15,000 t (according to the contract)
Propulsion	2 Sulzer diesel engines, 9-cylinder, total 12,680 HP, 2 propellers
Speed	contractual 20 knots, operational 18 knots
Decks	7 usable decks
Watertight Bulkheads	9
Crew	313 people
Passengers	760 (355 in tourist class, 405 in class III)
Call Sign	SPEE

The seven decks included, counting from the top, the sun deck, lifeboat deck, and promenade deck in the superstructure, as well as decks A, B, C, and D in the hull. The hull was divided by nine watertight bulkheads, and the contract required construction under the supervision of Lloyd’s Register in the highest class of that society, with ice reinforcements.

The silhouette of the "Batory" was considered modern and harmonious. It had a moderately protruding bow, two masts, and fairly thick, slanted smokestacks painted light yellow. The bow featured a coat of arms: wolf's fangs and stylized hussar wings.

Engines and Fuel

The "Batory" was a motor vessel, hence the abbreviation MS, meaning motor ship. Instead of boilers and steam engines, as on the old "Kościuszko" and "Pułaski," it had two large diesel engines from the Swiss company Sulzer. The contract describes them as two-stroke, single-acting engines, without a fuel injection compressor, each with 9 cylinders of 720 millimeters in diameter and a piston stroke of 1250 millimeters. The total power was 12,680 horsepower, and each engine drove its own propeller. The engines were powered by liquid fuel, which according to Drozd made the new ships more efficient and cheaper to operate than older steamers.

The fuel consumption figures we obtained come from the contract and are guarantees from the shipyard, not measurements from voyages. The shipyard guaranteed that under trial conditions, the daily consumption would not exceed 39.7 tons at a speed of 18 knots and 59.8 tons at 20 knots. For each ton over the norm, the shipowner was to pay a penalty of 50,000 lira, and for greater excess, even more. A similar penalty was threatened for lack of speed: 30,000 lira for each missing tenth of a knot below 20 knots, and double that below 19.5 knots. Oil consumption was separately specified: no more than 525 kilograms per day, measured on the third Atlantic crossing.

It is worth noting the difference between these two figures. Accelerating from 18 to 20 knots, or about one-ninth, was to cost half again as much fuel. Therefore, in daily service, the "Batory" sailed at a speed of about 18 knots, rather than at maximum speed. If we take the contractual norm for 18 knots and assume that the ship sailed at that speed for the entire crossing lasting about eight and a half days, the fuel consumption would be around 340 tons (8.5 days times 39.7 tons). However, this is our simple calculation, not data from the engine log. We were unable to find actual consumption for individual voyages or the capacity of the fuel tanks in any available sources.

After the war, from April 1947, sources report a power of 12,500 HP and lower speeds: contractual 18 and operational 17 knots.

Floating Embassy of Polish Art

The "Piłsudski" and "Batory" were to be, as it was said at the time, "floating salons" and "embassies of Polish culture." The decor of both ships was overseen by the Artistic Subcommittee: its chairman was designer and senator Wojciech Jastrzębowski, the secretary was architect Lech Niemojewski, and the members included painter Tadeusz Pruszkowski and architect Stanisław Brukalski. Many invited artists came from the circle of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts and the St. Luke's Brotherhood. Marine writer Jerzy Drzemczewski counted about 80 visual artists and interior architects who worked on both ships. Some spent as much as eight months on board.

They designed not only lounges, smoking rooms, halls, and chapels, but also the smallest details: tableware, menus, and even the uniforms of the stewards. From the works of Jolanta Gola and an article by Ryszarda Socha in "Polityka," we know what was displayed where on the "Batory":

• in the dancing salon, paintings by Zofia Stryjeńska, the most famous of the artists working on the ship,
• in the American bar, works by Jan Cybis,
• in the tourist class bar room, four panels "Zodiac Signs" by Edward Manteuffel-Szoege and Antoni Wajwóda,
• the veranda on the promenade deck was designed by Barbara and Stanisław Brukalski,
• the altar in salon A, featuring the Virgin Mary of Częstochowa in silver, was made by Wojciech Jastrzębowski and Antoni Kenar,
• in the reading room hung a reduced copy of Jan Matejko's painting "Batory under Pskov," made by Jan Zamoyski,
• in the hall of the promenade deck, passengers took photos under the portrait of King Stefan Batory painted by Czesław Wdowiszewski.

The furniture was designed by Lech Niemojewski, and the black metal columns were sculpted by Antoni Kenar. Everything that reached the table came from Polish factories: tablecloths from Żyrardów, porcelain from Ćmielów, glass from the glassworks in Zawiercie, and cutlery and silverware designed by Julia Keilowa were made by the Warsaw company of Józef Fraget. The interiors were meant to be modern but rooted in Polish tradition, showcasing the art of the reborn state to the world.

The fate of these works varied. When the "Piłsudski" came under British command during the war, its artworks and hotel furnishings were removed and dispersed, with some ending up in Polish communities in the United Kingdom. Research by the National Maritime Museum on the war losses of the "Piłsudski" revealed that many of its works considered lost survived because they were removed from the ship before its sinking. In 2026, the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk displayed original paintings, furniture, and equipment from both ships in the exhibition "M.s. 'Piłsudski', m.s. 'Batory'. Ships that Told Poland to the World."

Modernity on Board

The seven decks were connected by illuminated staircases and electric elevators. All cabins, even in the cheapest class, had washbasins with hot water. Passengers had access to dining rooms, dancing halls, a large ballroom, reading rooms, three bars, and a swimming pool. The well-equipped gym was particularly memorable: it had bicycles, rowing machines, weights, and electric exercise devices simulating horseback riding and… camel riding. The ship maintained radio communication with the land: just a few hours after leaving Gdynia on its maiden voyage, a correspondent from the Polish Press Agency spoke with the ship while the "Batory" was passing Bornholm at a speed of 18 knots. In some texts about the "Batory," there are also mentions of a cinema, but in the sources we accessed, we did not find any certain confirmation for the pre-war period.

Voyage to New York

For a passenger in the 1930s, the most important number was one: how many days at sea. The old PTTO steamers took about 12 days to sail from Gdynia to New York. The "Piłsudski" and "Batory" shortened this journey to about eight and a half days and were the fastest ships regularly sailing between Gdynia and New York. A shorter voyage also meant faster mail and more reliable schedules for food exporters.

Route and Travel Time

Before the war, the "Batory" sailed on the Gdynia – Copenhagen – New York – Halifax line. On the way from Gdynia, it stopped in Copenhagen, docked in New York at the GAL pier in Hoboken, and usually called at Halifax in Canada on the return trip. Depending on the weather, the crossing took eight or nine days. On its maiden voyage, according to Jerzy Pertek, the ship completed the ocean stage in 7 days and 17 hours, and with a stop in Copenhagen, the entire journey took 9 days. Both ships made about 20 regular voyages a year, with the "Batory" making more than the "Piłsudski," which carried tourists in the Caribbean during the winter. Before the outbreak of the war, the "Batory" completed 39 voyages on its line and 9 cruise voyages. In the summer, between trips to America, it took tourists to European ports, including Amsterdam, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Liepāja, Oslo, Stockholm, and Tallinn.

The new ships brought measurable success to the Polish shipowner. GAL's share in the international association of transatlantic shipowners increased from 1.5 percent in 1935 to 3 percent in 1938.

Not every journey was calm. On June 3, 1937, about 800 nautical miles from the American coast, a fire broke out in the engine room due to electrical installation. The damage was serious, but the ship reached New York under its own power. Repairs lasted until July 3.

Classes and Cabins

The pre-war "Batory" departed from the traditional division into three classes. According to Marek Twardowski, a novelty was that the ship had cabins in only two classes: tourist and third class. This facilitated voyage planning and allowed for better conditions for passengers. The tourist class had 355 places in single and double cabins, while the third class had 405 beds in double and four-person cabins. The Polish History Museum's study additionally lists 26 luxury cabins with bathrooms, referred to as first class.

Sources provide different numbers here. Some attribute to both twins a division into 46 places in first class, 370 in tourist class, and 400 in third class, which according to other studies pertains to the "Piłsudski." Jarosław Drozd, on the other hand, gives for the "Batory" 773 passenger places and 263 crew members.

A Day on Board

Life on the "Batory" revolved around meal times. Grzegorz Rogowski, the author of a book about both transatlantic liners, describes a ship boy in a white cook's apron who at designated times ran through the corridors, struck a stick against a gong, and called out: "Dinner, ladies and gentlemen. First round. Passengers with class A tickets are requested to the dining room." When the first round finished, the second came. Then dinner, dancing, breakfast, and in between, the swimming pool, reading room, bridge, and flirtations. Tables were set with tablecloths from Żyrardów and porcelain from Ćmielów, and the menus were designed by artists.

In the evenings, an orchestra played. In the early years, it was led by Wiktor Tychowski, a Silesian insurgent awarded the Cross of Valour, conductor, and composer, and incidentally a pioneer of Hawaiian guitar in Poland. However, the soul of the ship was Captain Eustazy Borkowski, the same one whom Karol Olgierd Borchardt later immortalized as the "Sea Shaman." He earned 1,800 zlotys a month, while the average white-collar worker in Poland earned about 280 zlotys. "National Geographic" published a large photograph of him in 1936 with the caption "Captain of the Seven Seas."

How Much a Ticket Cost

In 1936, a ticket from Poland to the United States in tourist class cost $94.50 one way and $169 round trip. According to PAP, the return ticket corresponded to 845 zlotys at the then exchange rate. For comparison, this was about three monthly salaries of an average white-collar worker, assuming the average of 280 zlotys provided in the same sources. Traveling on the "Batory" was therefore not cheap, but for an emigrant already working in America and earning in dollars, a visit to the homeland became feasible.

Who Sailed on the "Batory"

The change in the profile of the line did not mean that emigrants disappeared from the ship. Alongside them sailed Poles from America visiting families in the homeland, tourists, diplomats, artists, and athletes. For many Poles in the United States and Canada, the ship was simply a piece of Poland that regularly appeared in Hoboken and Halifax. Jerzy Pertek wrote that the "Batory" "like a spindle constantly spun a strong thread of connection between Poles in the homeland and in distant exile and was a true ambassador of Polishness in the ports of the New World."

The last pre-war voyage closed this chapter in a dramatic way. On August 24, 1939, the "Batory" left Gdynia on voyage number 39, carrying 456 passengers and 313 crew members on board. The news of the German attack on Poland reached the ship during a meal. "The stewards served with tearful eyes," recalled Adelaide Rickenbacker, the wife of the head of Eastern Air Lines. Sources differ on the day the ship arrived in New York: PAP states September 4, while Jerzy Pertek and Jarosław Drozd say September 5, 1939. The "Batory" returned to Gdynia only after the war, but that is a separate story.

„Batory” in War

The outbreak of war found the “Batory” in the Atlantic. The ship never returned to Gdynia, which had been cut off since the first days of September and soon fell under German occupation. After docking in St. John’s, Newfoundland, it sailed through Halifax to New York, arriving on September 5, 1939. For the crew, who left their families in Poland, these were days of immense tension. For the next six years, the former “royal ship” of Polonia transported soldiers, the wounded, refugees, children, gold, and national treasures, with a record of 59 wartime voyages and approximately 120,000 people transported.

September 1939: Strike in New York and Change of Captain

The first weeks of the war were spent by the “Batory” in port, during which a crisis occurred on board. Captain Eustazy Borkowski, who had commanded the ship since its takeover by the owner, made several public statements in New York. Partly due to inaccurate reports from the American press and language misunderstandings, these statements alarmed the anxious crew. On September 19, a strike broke out on the ship, ending on September 22 with some sailors disembarking and the dismissal of Borkowski. The duties of the commander were taken over by the first officer, Captain of the Merchant Marine Franciszek Szudziński, and the “Batory” sailed to Canadian Halifax later that same day.

Borkowski, a colorful figure of pre-war transatlantic shipping, never returned to the Polish fleet. He remained in Hoboken, sailed on American ships, and did not return to the country after the war. He died in 1960 on Staten Island, New York, and was buried in East Hanover, New Jersey. In popular stories, his name is sometimes associated with the wartime voyages of the “Batory,” but during the war, the ship was commanded by other captains.

Under Gray Paint: Troop Transporter

In Halifax, the “Batory” remained until early December. On December 5, 1939, it was requisitioned by the British Admiralty, and the next day command was taken over by Captain of the Merchant Marine Edward Pacewicz. The elegant liner was repainted gray, armed, and adapted for troop transport. At the turn of November and December 1939, the British Ministry of Shipping chartered both the “Batory” and the younger “Chrobry” from Gdynia–America Lines. Both ships joined a convoy carrying the 1st Canadian Infantry Division to Europe, under the protection of the battleship HMS “Revenge.” The “Batory” left Halifax on December 23 and docked in Glasgow on December 31. Thus, the Polish crew spent Christmas 1939 in the Atlantic, with Canadian soldiers on board.

In January and February 1940, the ship sailed in the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and on February 22, it entered Liverpool for a refit that would increase its capacity for transporting people. The ship, which before the war carried 760 passengers, after this refit had space for 1,650 soldiers, and from February 1941, for 2,200. On evacuation voyages, it carried even more people. Two planned operations did not take place: in March, the transport of an expeditionary force to Finland was canceled due to the end of the Winter War, and at the beginning of April, the occupation of the Narvik area in still-neutral Norway was preempted by German aggression.

Norway 1940: Harstad and Narvik

When the Germans attacked Norway, the “Batory” became one of the ships delivering allies to the north. On April 15, 1940, it transported troops to Harstad, the unloading port for the operation at Narvik, and two days later was back in Scotland. On May 13, it set out again from Glasgow to Harstad, carrying soldiers and Norwegian ministers. On the return trip to Gourock, it took on the wounded. In some sources, the “Batory” is also referred to as a hospital ship, but the studies we accessed primarily describe it as a troop transport that also carried the wounded.

The campaign ended for the allies in retreat. On June 5, the “Batory” appeared in Harstad once again and took on 2,268 soldiers of the retreating expeditionary corps. In a convoy escorted by the workshop ship “Vindictive,” it reached the mouth of the River Clyde on June 10. A few weeks earlier, on May 14, in the same waters, German incendiary bombs hit the “Chrobry,” which was transporting soldiers from Harstad to Bodø. The ship burned, twelve members of the Polish crew perished, as well as British soldiers, with varying numbers reported in sources. It was commanded by Captain Zygmunt Deyczakowski, who would soon take command of the “Batory.”

June 1940: Last Ships from France

Hardly back from Norway, it was already sailing to France. On June 14, it delivered the 3rd Battalion of the Independent Podhale Rifle Brigade and a number of French soldiers, the same Podhalers who had fought earlier at Narvik. However, the front in France was already collapsing, and the mission quickly turned into an evacuation. On June 16, 1940, the evacuation of people from French ports began. On the first voyage, from Saint-Nazaire to Plymouth, the “Batory” transported over 2,300 people.

Not everything went smoothly. On June 19, a mutiny broke out among part of the hotel crew on the ship, namely the stewards and passenger service staff. Order was restored with the help of a platoon of sailors from ORP “Gdynia.”

In the early morning of June 21, the “Batory” anchored at the mouth of the River Adour with the intention of entering Bayonne. However, the French authorities were unable to provide it with instructions, and on the advice of a British liaison officer, the ship was directed to nearby Saint-Jean-de-Luz near the Spanish border, one of the last points from which Polish soldiers were evacuated. At 8:30, it dropped anchor in the open roadstead, where the “Sobieski” had already been loading troops since the night. Basque fishing boats were bringing people from the shore, and the loading, under a dead calm and in darkness, lasted all night. Within a day, the “Batory” took on between 2,100 and 3,000 people, according to various sources. Among them were Polish soldiers from the army being formed in France, who wanted to continue fighting from Great Britain after the defeat, as well as civilians, Poles, British, and French. At dawn on June 22, the ship set sail alone, without escort. People disembarked on June 24 and 25 in Plymouth. At the same time, command of the ship was taken over by Zygmunt Deyczakowski, with whom the “Batory” would sail for almost the entire war.

Gold of the Bank of England and Treasures of Wawel

In the summer of 1940, Great Britain was preparing for a German invasion. Winston Churchill's government decided to transport gold reserves and securities to Canada so that the empire could fight even after the fall of the Isles. The operation was codenamed “Fish,” as the cargo was referred to in documents as fish. Studies call it the largest known transfer of wealth in history.

The “Batory” was part of one of the most important convoys of this operation. It left Greenock in Scotland in early July 1940, according to various sources on July 4 or 5, together with the “Sobieski” and “Monarch of Bermuda,” escorted by the battleship HMS “Revenge” and the ship HMS “Bonaventure.” The Canadian Museum of Immigration Pier 21 estimates the value of the gold and securities transported by the entire convoy at about 450 million pounds at the time. Polish sources mention 2,950 crates of Bank of England valuables on board the “Batory.” However, we did not find a reliable source that provided the value of the cargo of the “Batory” itself, so we do not provide it.

On the way, the ship experienced a mechanical failure and had to fall out of formation. Only HMS “Bonaventure” remained with it, and both vessels became stuck in fog in an area of icebergs, making them easy targets for German submarines. After repairs, they reached Halifax. According to Pier 21, the passenger ships of the convoy docked on July 12, 1940, and the commander of the “Revenge,” Admiral Archer, described this moment as a great relief.

In the holds of the “Batory” was something that could not be counted in pounds: the treasures of the Royal Castle in Wawel. Since September 1939, curators Józef Polkowski and Stanisław Zaleski had been transporting them through Romania, Malta, and France. They hid them in Aubusson, and after the defeat of France, transported them through Falmouth to London. On the “Batory” were the tapestries of Sigismund Augustus and the Szczerbiec, the coronation sword of the kings of Poland. The Polish agency PAP and the dictionary of graduates of the Maritime School in Tczew mention 34 crates of tapestries and two chests of precious items. Jerzy Pertek states there were 36 crates. By train, under guard, the treasures reached Ottawa, where they were stored in Canada for years. The Szczerbiec returned to Wawel in 1959, and the tapestries in early 1961.

This convoy was remarkable for another reason. According to Pier 21, the ships carried together the gold of the Bank of England, Polish national treasures, one of the first groups of British children evacuated from the war, wounded soldiers, and Canadian veterans returning from Europe. On the return trip, the “Batory” took on 1,200 Canadian soldiers, who disembarked in Liverpool on August 2.

“Singing Ship”: Children to Australia

Three days later, the most famous wartime journey of the “Batory” began. On August 5, 1940, the ship left Liverpool in convoy WS 2 with children evacuated under the British Children’s Overseas Reception Board program, abbreviated as CORB. The British government sent children this way to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, away from bombings and the threat of invasion. According to the CORB voyage records, there were 477 children and 51 caregivers on board. Polish sources usually mention about 480 children aged 4 to 15.

Captain Deyczakowski referred to the young passengers as “the crown jewels of the British Empire.” For them, he was the “king of the ship,” and they greeted him in unison in Polish with “dzień dobry.” Meta Maclean, one of the caregivers, described the voyage in her book “The Singing Ship,” published in Sydney in 1941. She recalled how the captain ensured that the children constantly wore life jackets and practiced the boat alarm. Even the smallest passenger had to, just like the sailors, quickly report to their lifeboat. At the same time, the crew tried to create an atmosphere of calm and familial warmth for the children. Concerts, singing, and dancing earned the ship the nickname “Singing Ship.”

The most touching episode occurred in Cape Town. It turned out that the children were to transfer there to the British transport ship “Stratheden.” The little passengers did not want to part with the “Batory.” They refused meals and sabotaged packing. Meta Maclean wrote that “little boys and girls began to show rebellion – if rebellion is at all possible in the minds of small Britons.” The Admiralty changed orders, and the children continued on the Polish ship, through India and Singapore, where 300 soldiers disembarked. On October 16, 1940, the “Batory” entered the port of Sydney. The journey lasted over ten weeks, with Polish sources stating 73 days.

Jerzy Pertek quoted in his book “The Royal Ship Batory” the captain's words about the reception in Australia: “Interviews, receptions, recognition from all sides, garden party at the governor's. Everyone in Sydney knew about the Batory, and most importantly, no one doubted that it was a Polish ship.” PAP summarized that this voyage brought fame to the white-red flag, the ship, and the crew.

On November 2, the “Batory” entered Wellington in New Zealand, where it embarked 1,300 soldiers and disembarked them on December 15 in Suez. It then sailed around Africa and reached Gourock in Scotland on February 8, 1941, after six months of continuous sailing.

1941: Halifax, Iceland, Gibraltar

After repairs in Glasgow, during which anti-aircraft armament was strengthened, the “Batory” again sailed across the Atlantic. On April 1, 1941, in Halifax, the ship was visited by Commander-in-Chief General Władysław Sikorski. In April, it sailed in a small convoy to Iceland and then began training for landing operations. On June 18, President Władysław Raczkiewicz boarded, who decorated sailors recognized for their rescue action on the burning “Chrobry,” including Captain Deyczakowski. In December, the “Batory” sailed alone with supplies to Gibraltar, and on the return trip, it carried evacuated residents of “The Rock” and a group of Poles released from the Spanish camp in Miranda de Ebro.

Operation “Torch”: Landing in North Africa

In 1942, the ship sailed to West Africa, to Freetown, Takoradi, and Lagos, as well as to New York, Halifax, and Reykjavik, transporting among others Canadian and American soldiers. In August, it docked in Glasgow, where it was adapted for the role of a landing transport.

On September 11, 1942, American soldiers were embarked on the “Batory” in Liverpool. On October 26, the ship left in convoy KMF-1 towards Oran in Algeria. On November 8, on the first day of Operation “Torch,” the great Allied landing in North Africa, it landed troops in Mersa Bu Zajar Bay.

Sicily, India, and the 2nd Polish Corps

After two more voyages to Algiers in early 1943, the “Batory” prepared for the invasion of Sicily. On June 28, it left Gourock in convoy KMF-18 with 1,843 soldiers on board and on July 10 landed them near Cape Passero, at the southeastern tip of the island. On the way from Malta to Alexandria, it collided with the Dutch ship “Christiaan Huygens.” After docking in Alexandria, it went for a three-month refit in Bombay.

From the end of November 1943, it sailed in the Indian Ocean. Among its passengers were Poles who had escaped from the Soviet Union with General Anders' army. According to the dictionary of graduates of the Maritime School in Tczew, based on the “Book of Polish Ships,” the captain considered one of the most important events in the life of the ship to be the embarkation in Basra of a group of 1,400 Polish women and children, and then the transport of 456 Polish orphans with caregivers to Bombay, where an orphanage was being established for them.

In mid-January 1944, the “Batory” returned to the Mediterranean. On January 19, it was visited by General Władysław Anders. The ship made eleven voyages with soldiers of the 2nd Polish Corps from Egyptian ports to Taranto in Italy, and on July 28, 1944, it set out from Alexandria on its last, twelfth voyage with Polish soldiers.

Southern France and Last Wartime Voyages

In the summer of 1944, the ship participated in Operation “Dragoon,” the Allied landing in Provence. On August 9, the loading of French soldiers began, and the “Batory” became the flagship of the commander of French forces, General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. On August 16, it landed troops near Saint-Tropez. It then made three trips transporting troops to Marseille. On October 22, in Plymouth, it embarked diplomats from Allied countries accredited to the French government and the next day disembarked them in Brittany, at the mouth of the River Morlaix.

In December 1944, it sailed in convoy to India with British officials, who disembarked in Bombay on January 11, 1945. From Bombay, it went to Mombasa, and on February 20, 1945, it returned to Gourock.

July 1945: Abandoned Flag

On July 5, 1945, Great Britain and the United States withdrew recognition of the government of the Republic of Poland in London and recognized the Provisional Government of National Unity in Warsaw. On July 9, most of the crew disembarked from the ship. On July 13, a lease agreement for the “Batory” was signed with the British Ministry of War Transport, and on July 15, Captain Deyczakowski lowered the Polish flag. PAP recalls that this was a gesture of loyalty to the government in London. For the next six months, the ship sailed under the British flag under the management of the owner Lamport and Holt, transporting British soldiers from the Middle East to southern France. On January 4, 1946, Deyczakowski handed over command to Captain Franciszek Szudziński. On April 2, 1946, the ship returned to Gdynia–America Lines, and the Polish flag was raised again.

"Lucky Ship"

The "Batory" emerged from the war without serious damage. For six years, it sailed in convoys across the Atlantic, transported troops to Norway, participated in landings in North Africa, Sicily, and Provence, and was repeatedly attacked from the air and sea. As a result, it earned the English nickname "Lucky Ship" in sailors' tales, which translates to "szczęśliwy statek" in Polish. Polish studies and guides still use this nickname today.

Origin of the Nickname

The best testimony comes from the account of the commander himself. Captain Zygmunt Deyczakowski recalled, as quoted by PAP: "Several times during convoy conferences, I encountered the saying from other captains: Oh, how good it is that you are with us, Batory is a lucky ship." Therefore, the presence of the "Batory" in the convoy was considered a good omen among the captains.

Studies on the history of Polish transatlantic liners link the nickname to a specific event. On December 9, 1942, in the roads of Algiers, Italian planes attempted to torpedo the "Batory," but the torpedo hit a neighboring ship carrying ammunition. This and other similar incidents helped solidify its reputation as a lucky ship. Other sources explain the nickname more generally. The In Your Pocket guide to Gdynia states that the ship, repeatedly attacked from the sea and air, survived the war without serious damage. A discussion of Grzegorz Rogowski's book "Under the Polish Flag Across the Atlantic" on the dzieje.pl portal reminds us that the provisionally armed "Batory" carried soldiers almost continuously throughout the war.

The context is also important. The twin ship "Piłsudski" sank in November 1939 during its first wartime voyage off the coast of Great Britain, most likely after hitting a mine. Its legendary captain, Mamert Stankiewicz, perished then. The younger "Chrobry" burned in May 1940 during the Norwegian campaign. Against the backdrop of the fate of its "brothers," the luck of the "Batory" was clearly visible.

Captains of the Wartime "Batory"

Throughout the war, the ship was commanded by several captains. Their order is worth organizing, as it is often mixed up in popular texts.

Period	Commander	Notes
until September 22, 1939	Capt. Eustazy Borkowski	first captain of the ship, dismissed after a strike in New York
September 22 – December 6, 1939	Capt. Franciszek Szudziński	acting commander, previously first officer
December 6, 1939 – end of June 1940	Capt. Edward Pacewicz	first convoys, Norway, evacuation from France
end of June 1940 – June 1944	Capt. Zygmunt Deyczakowski	gold and treasures of Wawel, children to Australia, "Torch," Sicily, 2nd Corps
June 19 – November 9, 1944	Capt. Edward Pacewicz	last voyage with Poles to Taranto, landing in Provence
November 9, 1944 – January 4, 1946	Capt. Zygmunt Deyczakowski	voyages to India, lowering the flag in July 1945
from January 4, 1946	Capt. Franciszek Szudziński	return of the ship to GAL in April 1946

Captain Zygmunt Deyczakowski, born in 1905 in Ottyni in Pokucie, is most closely associated with the wartime "Batory." In 1929, he graduated with honors from the Navigation Department of the Maritime School in Tczew. In September 1939, he commanded the steamer "Poznań," which was in the Swedish port of Luleå when the war broke out. Defying the German blockade, he brought the ship out of the Baltic Sea, and "Poznań" was the last Allied ship to leave the Baltic in the autumn of 1939. He then took command of "Chrobry," and after its sinking, he took over "Batory." Karol Olgierd Borchardt, author of "Znaczy kapitan," described him during the fire on "Chrobry" as "as always elegant and composed."

After the war, Deyczakowski did not return to People's Poland. He settled with his family in Vancouver, then in California, where he worked as an engineer, and from 1964 on St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. He visited Poland only once, in 1955. A relative of the captain told PAP that "he was not welcome in the country." He died on May 2, 1979, in St. Croix and was buried with naval honors. Since 2008, a street in Gdynia-Oksywie has been named after him.

Edward Pacewicz, born in 1888 in Vilnius, served in the Russian fleet and the Polish Navy before joining the merchant navy. In August 1939, he commanded "Chrobry" on its maiden voyage to South America, and in December, he took over "Batory." After the war, he returned to Poland and died in Gdynia in 1962.

Crew

The wartime crew of the "Batory" consisted of sailors, mechanics, stewards, and cooks who had previously served passengers on the New York line and now worked on a ship full of soldiers, in darkness, under the threat of torpedoes and bombs. After the loss of "Chrobry," some of its crew joined Deyczakowski on "Batory." It was not a crew without tensions, as evidenced by the strike in 1939 and the mutiny in June 1940. In July 1945, after the Allies withdrew recognition of the government in London, most sailors left the ship. However, the British lacked personnel to man the unit, so they hired the existing crew.

Decorations

In the sources we accessed, we found no information about decorations awarded to the ship itself. However, its crew received honors. Zygmunt Deyczakowski was awarded the Cross of Valour for a rescue operation on "Chrobry," the Gold Cross of Merit with Swords, the Marine Medal of the Polish Merchant Navy, and from the British, the Order of the British Empire, the Distinguished Service Cross, and a mention in dispatches. Edward Pacewicz was also a Knight of the Order of Rebirth of Poland and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Attacks and Lucky Escapes

The luck of the "Batory" is best seen in comparison with its routes. In Norway, it sailed in waters where the German air force sank "Chrobry." With a cargo of gold, it stood in the fog in the area of icebergs, with only one escort ship. Off Algiers, a torpedo intended for it hit a neighboring ship carrying ammunition, and in July 1943, after a collision with "Christiaan Huygens," it had to go to dry dock. Each time, it emerged from the crisis.

When, after a thorough post-war renovation in Antwerp, the "Batory" returned to civilian navigation, disarmed and with its hull once again painted black and white, the only visible remnant of the war was the magnetic line running along the hull. It was meant to protect the ship from mines that still floated in the seas. The nickname "Lucky Ship" remained with it forever.

Post-War: New York, Eisler, and the Cold War

The war ended for the "Batory" differently than the crew had imagined. When Great Britain withdrew recognition of the government of the Republic of Poland in exile, on July 9, 1945, most sailors disembarked, and on July 13, the ship was chartered to the British Ministry of War Transport. It was not until April 2, 1946, that it returned to its owner, Gdynia-America Shipping Lines, and the Polish flag was raised again. However, it was now the flag of People's Poland.

Return Under the Polish Flag

The renovation was carried out at a shipyard in Antwerp. According to IPN historian Szymon Czwarno, the ship arrived there with an incomplete crew of only a few dozen, as many sailors chose to remain in emigration. During the work, a large group of people delegated from the country joined them, and along with them, a cell of the Polish Workers' Party appeared on board. The work almost ended in disaster: on July 26, 1946, a fire broke out in the radio cabin. After reconstruction, the "Batory" could carry 832 passengers, including 412 in first class and 420 in tourist class. Externally, as the authors of the "B like Batory" project write, only one trace of the war remained: the installation running along the hull to protect against magnetic mines.

In April 1947, the ship set sail from Belgium on its first post-war voyage to New York. Because the stay at the shipyard was prolonged, it did not call at Gdynia or Copenhagen beforehand, and the first passengers boarded in Southampton. It only reached Gdynia on the return trip. From then on, the route led from Gdynia through Copenhagen and Southampton to New York, where the liner docked at Pier 88 in Manhattan. The ocean crossing took eight to nine days. It was commanded by Captain Jan Ćwikliński, who took over the ship in April 1946.

However, the number of passengers from Poland was decreasing. Janusz Wróbel from IPN points out that the authorities tightened passport policies significantly, and few wanted to visit the communist country in Polish diaspora centers. Scandinavians and Britons filled the gap, for whom the Polish ship still had a good reputation. At the same time, as Czwarno writes, members of the party cell used stops in New York to spread propaganda among the Polish community, and in America, distrust towards everything coming from behind the Iron Curtain was growing.

Stowaway: The Eisler Case

In May 1949, when the "Batory" was already at sea on its way to Europe, the captain was informed that there was a stowaway on board. He turned out to be Gerhart Eisler, a German communist and Comintern activist who had sought refuge in the United States from the Nazis. In 1947, he was convicted there for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee and for concealing party affiliation on his immigration application. He was released on bail, and after losing his appeal, he decided to escape. On the ship, he requested political asylum, which the authorities in Warsaw were happy to grant him. Wróbel estimates that Polish intelligence services likely assisted him in his escape.

The Americans turned to the British. On May 14, 1949, when the "Batory" was anchored in the roads of Cowes off the Isle of Wight, near Southampton, two police officers from Southampton and two from Scotland Yard boarded the ship with an arrest warrant. The British Home Secretary later reported in the House of Commons that two Polish consular officials protested, claiming that Eisler was under the protection of the Polish government. The police proposed a postponement if the captain agreed to keep the ship anchored until the afternoon of May 16 for the matter to be further considered, but the proposal was not accepted. Eisler resisted, and the police removed him from the ship. According to Wróbel, he was handcuffed and taken ashore by motorboat.

A storm erupted in Poland. On May 16 and 17, newspapers screamed headlines like "Gangster Attack on Polish Passenger Ship" and "Unprecedented Act of Violence." The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Stefan Wierbłowski, handed a note of protest to the British ambassador, and the chairman of the Polish delegation to the UN General Assembly, Juliusz Suchy, demanded that Secretary-General Trygve Lie include the matter on the agenda of the General Assembly. Most UN members were against it. The propaganda success came from another direction: a London court ruled that there were no grounds for holding Eisler, and he flew on a LOT plane to Warsaw and then to the emerging GDR, where he was welcomed as a hero.

For the captain, the case had a double bottom. An informant from the security service on the ship accused Ćwikliński of actually having turned in the fugitive and playing a comedy for the police, and a special government commission reprimanded him.

"Trojan Horse" in New York Harbor

When a few weeks later the "Batory" docked again in New York, it was treated as a ship from an enemy state. FBI agents and immigration officials searched every nook and cranny, interrogated the crew and passengers, and sailors were not allowed to disembark. 111 passengers ended up on Ellis Island. The American press referred to the Polish liner as a communist "Trojan horse." Employees of GAL in the USA also faced consequences: the branch director was detained on Ellis Island, and his deputy was deported. From October 1949, a cultural and educational officer, in practice a political supervisor with his own network of informants, sailed on board. Ćwikliński recalled years later that at sea he made decisions himself, but otherwise, he was the ship's commander to the extent that "a chauffeur of a limousine is, whose bosses sit in the back and issue orders."

The atmosphere was further heated by an incident on August 8, 1950. Several miles from New York, a small seaplane landed next to the ship sailing to Europe. The pilot first introduced himself as a Mexican, Guilermo San Sebastian, and on board claimed to be William Newton, from Florida, wanting to reach the "communist paradise." In the same voyage, another stowaway, Howard Campbell from New York, claimed he was fleeing from the FBI. Newton was dropped off in Southampton and handed over to the British police, but in America, few believed Warsaw's assurances that it had nothing to do with it.

The final blow came from the city authorities. On March 9, 1951, Commissioner Edward F. Cavanagh announced that after April 3, the "Batory" would not be able to use the city docks, as it posed a "risk to safety." Poland protested on March 19 and April 18, accusing discrimination against the Polish flag. According to Tarka, in March 1951, the "Batory" set sail on its last voyage to New York, and in April, the line was suspended after 46 voyages. In retaliation, ships of the American American Scantic Line were no longer allowed into Gdynia. Some studies provide different dates, such as January 1951, but documents from the State Department indicate March and April.

Wróbel summarizes that the incidents with the defectors cost Poland millions of dollars, worsened relations with the USA, and temporarily severely weakened contacts between the American Polish community and the old country.

The Captain Who Did Not Return

In the early 1950s, sailors were perhaps the largest group of defectors from the PRL. According to data cited by historian Krzysztof Tarka, in 1953 alone, 60 people "deserted" from Polish ships. The most notorious escape was that from the "Batory." In the spring of 1953, the ship was docked for a six-week inspection at the shipyard in Hebburn-on-Tyne near Newcastle. One crew member warned Ćwikliński that he would be arrested for espionage upon his return. On June 18, around 10:30, the captain permanently disembarked, and earlier, the ship's doctor, Władysław Tacleiter, also disappeared. The "Batory" cast off on June 20 without them, and on June 24, the BBC and Voice of America reported that both had requested asylum. Ćwikliński himself stated in interviews and memoirs that the date was June 19.

At a press conference in London on June 26, 1953, the captain spoke of constant surveillance by three "political officers" and a purge in which about 500 people were to be expelled from the merchant navy. The domestic press was silent, and the security service dealt with his family in Gdynia. Command of the "Batory" was taken over by Captain Tadeusz Meissner, who worked from the beginning in an atmosphere of suspicion. In 1954, Ćwikliński emigrated to the United States, and in 1955, he published his memoirs "The Captain Leaves His Ship."

India, Pakistan, and Canada

After losing New York, the Polish Ocean Lines, which took over the ship on January 1, 1951, had to quickly find it a new purpose. The choice fell on a direction that just a few years earlier would have seemed exotic.

Through Suez to Karachi and Bombay

From April to July 18, 1951, the "Batory" was adapted for tropical sailing at the Palmers shipyard in Hebburn-on-Tyne, and its hull was repainted light gray. On August 23, 1951, it inaugurated the Pakistan-India line on the route Gdynia – Southampton – Gibraltar – sometimes Valletta – Port Said – Suez – Aden – Karachi – Bombay.

According to Czwarno, the decision on the direction was influenced by politics. India stayed away from the Cold War conflict, so the Polish ship faced no complications there, and Warsaw hoped for the development of economic cooperation. The problem was that Poles hardly traveled to South Asia, so from the beginning, the focus was on passengers from Great Britain. The line was not profitable. The salvation was to be the reintroduced cruise trips for foreign tourists. In August 1952, the "Batory" also took a group of Polish Olympians to Helsinki.

During these years, the ship experienced one of the most tragic moments in its history. Around November 3, 1954, on its hundredth scheduled voyage, a huge wave struck the bow deck near Crete. Sailor Klemens Misielski was fatally injured, and Jana Rutkowskiego, Stefan Stanisza, and Mieczysław Bieliński were washed overboard. After seven hours of searching, they were declared missing. Captain Meissner was cleared of charges by the Maritime Chamber but lost command. At the end of October 1956, the "Batory" managed to exit the Suez Canal just before it was blocked during the Suez Crisis. On January 26, 1957, it completed its last, 25th voyage on the Indian line.

To Canada instead of America

From February to May 1957, the ship underwent modernization at the Norddeutscher Lloyd shipyard in Bremerhaven. It regained its black hull and white superstructure, and the wooden lifeboats were replaced with new ones made of plastic. From then on, it could carry 816 passengers: 76 in first class and 740 in tourist class. On August 26, 1957, it set off on the Canadian line Gdynia – Copenhagen – Southampton – Montreal. As Czwarno writes, due to the ambiguous position of the U.S. authorities, the destination port this time was not New York, but Montreal.

Preserved schedules show that the route changed with the seasons. In winter, the ship ended its voyage in Halifax or Quebec, while in summer it sailed all the way to Montreal, located inland along the St. Lawrence River. Since 1961, it also called at Le Havre, in 1962 the schedule included a variant from Leningrad through Helsinki and Gdynia to Montreal, and in 1968 London appeared on the list of ports. None of the sources used here provides a single, certain number of days for the voyage to Montreal.

According to the monograph of the Polish fleet on the Canadian line, the "Batory" made 112 voyages. A summary in the Navi e Armatori service mentions 109 trips to Canada and two to Boston. Czwarno writes that only eight years after returning to the Atlantic, thanks to the efforts of the American Polonia, the ship received permission to call at U.S. ports and used it occasionally. During this period, it was commanded by, among others, Jan Godecki, Tadeusz Drączkowski, again Tadeusz Meissner, and lastly on the line Jerzy Pszenny, who was on the bridge for seven years.

Polonia, artists, and ordinary passengers

For Poles from Canada and the United States, Montreal became the gateway to the homeland for over eleven years, and for residents of the Polish People's Republic who managed to obtain a passport, one of the routes to the West. In the IPN archive, for example, there is a list of passengers from the voyage from Montreal to Gdynia on September 8, 1961, printed under the Gdynia American Line banner, although the ship had belonged to the Polish Ocean Lines for a decade. Czwarno notes that in the austere times of communism, the "Batory" remained a living memory of the Second Polish Republic and provided a sense of luxury that was not accessible on a daily basis. For thousands of people who sailed on it forever, it also meant farewell and the beginning of a new life.

The authors of the project "B jak Batory", Barbara Caillot and Aleksandra Karkowska, spoke with over 50 former passengers and crew members now living in the USA, Canada, and Poland. They told Radio Kraków that people from all walks of life met on board: emigrants seeking a better life, families pooling resources for one ticket, and those leaving for political reasons.

Stars also sailed on the ship. In photographs by Florian Staszewski, the official photographer of the "Batory" from 1947 to 1967, one can see actresses Elżbieta Czyżewska and Kalina Jędrusik, singer Anna German, and artists from the "Mazowsze" ensemble. One photo from 1963 shows Captain Tadeusz Meissner with Czyżewska and the artists from "Mazowsze". However, the era of transatlantic liners was coming to an end. In 1972-1973, PLL LOT launched regular connections from Warsaw to Montreal and New York, traditional ports for Polish liners.

The Last Voyage and the End

By the late 1960s, the "Batory" was still in good technical condition but was getting older. The decision about its successor was made at the end of the decade. In 1968, PLO purchased the several-year-old turbine ship "Maasdam" from Holland America Line for about 4 million dollars (the monograph by Koszela states 2.97 million).

Farewell to the Atlantic

The last transatlantic voyage of the "Batory" began on December 6, 1968, when the ship left Montreal for Southampton, Copenhagen, and Gdynia. It then made a few more cruise trips. Sources differ on the day it ultimately docked in Gdynia: Czwarno states May 21, 1969, while a summary in the poles.org service mentions the last voyage from London to Gdynia on May 29. What is certain is that from July 1, 1969, the "Batory" served as a hotel hulk in Gdynia, with about 600 places. Its owner became the Presidium of the City National Council in Gdańsk, and it was managed by the tourist enterprise "Gdańsk-Tourist". The ship housed a hotel and restaurant.

The floating hotel turned out to be too expensive to maintain. On December 10, 1970, the ship returned to PLO, and on March 11, 1971, despite protests from many sea enthusiasts, it was sold for scrap to Yau Wing Metal Junk Company from Hong Kong.

The Last Journey to Hong Kong

On its last voyage, the "Batory" left Gdynia at the end of March 1971 (sources state March 30 or 31). It was commanded by Captain Krzysztof Meissner, the son of Tadeusz Meissner and previously the senior officer of the "Batory". The ship reached Hong Kong on May 11, was grounded at the shipbreaking yard on May 26, and on June 2, 1971, the Polish flag was lowered for the last time. The cutting of the hull was completed in 1972.

The balance of 35 years of service is impressive. According to summaries cited in studies and by Czwarno, the "Batory" made 222 scheduled voyages, carrying over 270,000 passengers, and 75 cruise voyages with about 30,000 tourists. In 59 wartime voyages, it additionally transported about 120,000 people, mainly soldiers.

Successor: "Stefan Batory"

The former "Maasdam" raised the Polish flag on April 8, 1969, after a six-month reconstruction in Gdańsk as TSS "Stefan Batory". Three days later, it set off on its maiden voyage from Gdynia through Copenhagen and Tilbury to Quebec and Montreal, with 653 passengers embarked in Gdynia. Jerzy Pszenny, the last captain of the old "Batory", moved to its bridge. On January 4, 1971, the "Stefan Batory" docked in New York as the first liner from a communist country in 20 years, and American dockworkers refused to unload it. A comedy "Kochaj albo rzuć" by Sylwester Chęciński (1976) and "Spotkanie na Atlantyku" by Jerzy Kawalerowicz (1980) were filmed on board. The last, 140th voyage ended on October 21, 1987. When it was withdrawn from service in 1988, it was the last passenger ship maintaining regular connections between Europe and North America. From 1990 to 1992, it served in Gothenburg as a residential hulk for asylum seekers, and in 2000 it was scrapped in Turkey.

Memory of the "Batory"

Although the ship has not existed for over half a century, its name still acts as a slogan. For some, it is the "happy ship" from wartime convoys, for others, the deck from which they last saw Gdynia. Czwarno states directly that in the history of the Polish merchant navy, the "Batory" occupies a unique place: it was a showcase of Polish culture and one of the symbols of steadfast service alongside the Allies.

Books and Memories

A classic monograph is "The Royal Ship Batory" by Jerzy Pertek (Marine Publishing House, 1975). The wartime fate was described by Eryk Kulm in the book "The Happy Ship" (1977). The post-war drama of the captain is primarily known from his own memoirs "The Captain Leaves His Ship" (New York 1955), published in Polish as "Kapitan opuszcza swój statek" (Pelplin 2010). The second officer Ryszard Pospieszyński also left his notes (“Za widnokręgiem”, 1997). Later studies include "Polish Transatlantic Liners" by Jerzy Drzemczewski and Tadeusz Ślebiody (2005) and "Under the Polish Flag Across the Atlantic" by Grzegorz Rogowski (2015). The closest to the passengers are two books by Barbara Caillot and Aleksandra Karkowska, "B jak Batory" and the 2019 publication "Marsz, marsz Batory".

Museums and Models

The most tangible memento is the model in the Emigration Museum in Gdynia, which has been operating since May 2015 in the building of the former Maritime Station, from where transatlantic liners departed. The steel model, scaled 1:10, is about 16 meters long and weighs about four tons. It was built by the Gdynia company Vistal Eko according to original technical documentation from the 1930s, purchased by the museum from a collector for nearly 1.8 million zlotys. It was delivered to the building in seven parts, and one side was left open to show the cabins, crew quarters, and engine room. In 2016, the institution also acquired 220 photographs by Florian Staszewski, some from the family of Captain Tadeusz Meissner.

The National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk has a generator set from the "Batory". In 2026, the museum showcased in its main building the exhibition "M.s. 'Piłsudski', m.s. 'Batory'. Ships that Told Poland to the World," open until October 31, featuring original works of art, furniture, and equipment elements from both ships. Mementos are also across the ocean: the Polish Museum of America in Chicago has a model of the "Batory" in 1:100 scale in the Transport Hall, which it announced renovation for in 2020, along with the schedule of voyages from the first season of 1936, tickets, and passenger lists.

Anniversaries

In 2025, it will be 90 years since the launching of the "Batory" in Monfalcone on July 3, 1935, and in 2026, 90 years since the start of its service. In May 2026, a text by Janusz Wróbel about the incident with Eisler was re-published on the website of the Institute of National Remembrance.

Curiosities about the "Batory"

• Gerhart Eisler boarded in New York with a visitor ticket for 25 cents. When he revealed himself at sea, he asked to be sold a first-class ticket.
• For his conduct during the first stop in New York after the Eisler affair, Captain Ćwikliński received the Gold Cross of Merit, and 40 crew members received state awards. Four years later, the same captain requested asylum.
• When counterintelligence searched the captain's cabin in Gdynia, they found several pistols. Ćwikliński explained that they were left by his predecessor. The ensign who confiscated them was later reprimanded by the head of Gdańsk security, and the weapons were taken over by Colonel Stanisław Flato from military intelligence.
• After the captain's escape, all his belongings remained in the cabin. The vice-consul noted the absence of only one: a plaque that hung above the bed.
• When the "Batory" with a new captain arrived in Scotland in the summer of 1953, according to the émigré "Dziennik Polski," it anchored "for safety" a mile from the shore, and the crew was not allowed ashore.
• In 1955, Ćwikliński became the captain of the "Wolna Polska," a Liberty-type ship leased by the Pulaski Transport Line, established in Philadelphia by Polish entrepreneurs. The crew consisted of sailors who had escaped from Polish ships or remained in the West after the war. On December 21, 1955, they were received in London by General Władysław Anders.
• During the Cold War, the "Batory" was suspected in America of transporting nuclear weapons.
• One of the wooden lifeboats removed from the ship during the 1957 renovation later sailed across the Atlantic: Polish sailors reached Martinique with it from Gdynia. This was described by Jerzy Tarasiewicz in the book "Szalupą przez Atlantyk".
• Florian Staszewski photographed beauty contests, costume balls, the work of chefs and bartenders, and evacuation drills for 20 years. Most of these photos remained unseen for about half a century.
• On November 12, 1960, the "Batory" rescued the crew of the Canadian wooden vessel "Septilis Trader," and on January 22, 1967, it rescued survivors from the Dutch bulk carrier "Jacob Verolme," which had experienced an explosion.
• On April 17, 1967, in the area of the Øresund lighthouse near Copenhagen, the "Batory" collided with the Finnish ship "Arcturus," but emerged from it with no significant damage.
• The renovation carried out from January 16 to April 11, 1965, was the first major overhaul of the "Batory" completed entirely in Poland.