Ocean liner Pilsudski - Mirage Hobby 500601

The passenger ship M/S (Motor Ship) Piłsudski was built at the Italian shipyard Monfalcone in Trieste and commissioned under the Polish flag in 1935. His twin ship built at the same shipyard was the more widely known MS Batory. Drive: two diesel engines with a capacity of 12,680 hp each drove two propellers. Speed ​​17 knots. The crew of 350 people, 796 passenger seats. The home port of Gdynia. Poland paid for both ships (Piłsudski and Batory) with coal supplies due to the lack of financial resources (the world economy was just emerging from the crisis). M / S Piłsudski was not free from defects. Stability problems were experienced during storms in the North Atlantic. The experiences from Piłsudski were used when building Batory. Transatlantyk sailed on the route Gdynia - New York - Halifax - Gdynia. At the outbreak of World War II, Piłsudski was on his way home from New York. In this situation, the ship reached England and stayed here with other passenger ships. He passed under British command. On November 26, 1939, MS Piłsudski sank on his way from Newcastle to Australia. Probably stepped on a mine. The ship was commanded by the legendary "captain" Mamert Stankiewicz, who died of a heart condition after the ship sank. His character was immortalized in the novel "Znaczy Kapitan", the 1st officer of the M/S Piłsudskis by Karol Olgierd Borchardt.