Bydgoszcz model cargo ship plans are one of the best in the archive. The plans are nicely scanned, detailed and clean. If you are interested in model ship building hobby, and if you like the merchant shipping era around 60’s, Bydgoszcz will be one of your favourite ships.
The turn of the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century is the beginning of the golden age of Polish shipbuilding. Old, derived in large part from the years before the war even commercial vessels, were systematically exchanged for units built in national shipyards. Polish designers had the perfect brand and were known in the world of successful projects of commercial vessels.
One of them was a draft general cargo B-55, which long series ordered in then the SSN name Adolf Warski, the largest Polish shipowner Trade – Polish Ocean Lines (PLO).
In total, in the period 1958-1962 were built fifteen ships, three B-55, and twelve improved B-55 A. Four of them “on the stump” was sold to Brazil, while eleven remained under white-red flag.
Popularly type B-55 was called type “ica” because the names of all the ships were Polish cities in terms of such terminals in the name – Krynica, Polanica, Oleœnica, Legnica, Brodnica, Kruszwica, Wiœlica and Szczawnica. Since this rule was abandoned only in the case of the eighth and ninth series unit, which was named … “Jan ¯i¿ka” and “Bydgoszcz”.
Type B 55 (ship to transport goods in bulk) with an extremely elegant, smooth and pleasant to the eye silhouette. The unit can carry various types of cargo: ore, bulk loads, grains and exotic plants, wood, cotton, machinery and equipment and edible oils.
Slender hull lines with heavily undercut, clipper-shaped bow and neatly mounted, compact shape of the superstructure in the rear part of the ship gave a general cargo silhouette lightness and grace. At the same time “ice”, despite its relatively small size (124.2 feet long, 16.5 meters wide, 6.5 meters draft and 17.5 meters in height) were ships praised by the seafarers and shipowners.
Once type B 55 with its displacement 3365 gross registered tonnes (GRT) had a load capacity of 5382 tons DWT (so she could take the load), and the fuel supply was 615 tonnes. Drive the ship was one six-cylinder engine with a capacity of MAN 5000 horsepower, allowing the development of a maximum speed of 15.5 knots. The ship’s crew consisted of 35 officers and sailors. Ships of “ica” had one screw, two decks and five cargo refrigeration. On “Swidnica” the last of them enlarged and built three tanks edible oils. In relation to the first units of the series, on “Swidnica” and subsequent construction units reduced the number of passenger accomodation from 12 to 4
General cargo type “ica” are designed for use lines to the ports of South America and the Middle East. Economic considerations (profitability of transport) made it virtually never on it (with a few exceptions) do not hit.
The fate of the “Swidnica,” which with its twin units were directed to support West African lines. Other ships in this series also sailed to the eastern ports of North America. Curiosities of the two events are related.
In 1961, “Krynica” brought from Canada, Polish treasures to the Wawel Castle. Half a year later, in Philadelphia, during the unloading of naphthalene, fire broke out on the “Polanica,” which had to be sink (later was raised and restored).
In connection with the intended “Swidnica” to support West African lines, ship in October 1960, he was leased to another then-largest shipowner – Polish Maritime Navigation, the unit sailed to ports in West Africa. Under the flag of the PLO unit returned only in 1970.
During years of service ships docked in dozens of ports – the closer: Hamburg, Kiel, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Bordeaux, Bristol, La Coruna, as well as those further and more exotic: Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Dakar (Senegal), Conakry (Guinea), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Monrovia (Liberia), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi (Ghana), Cotonou (Benin), Lome (Togo), or to Port Harcourt in Nigeria.
In the latter, in 1965, “Swidnica” suffered a major accident, broke, because the main drive shaft. There was a chance for it to Nigeria to make a repair specialist. The shipowner decided to bring the ship to the country with the tug assistance, which made the Polish Ship Salvage tug “Swaro¿yc”, which after passing more than eight thousand miles of sea, brings crippled m / s “Swidnica” to Szczecin.
Exactly ten years later, in 1975, bad luck again made its presence felt. During a stopover in the Nigerian port of Wari, on a ship filled with bales of cotton dangerous fire broke fortunately possessed by the crew.
Not happy also proved to be the beginning of the eighties of the twentieth century, when the first m / s “Swidnica” ran aground in the Store Baelt (Danish straits) and it has been bring only by tugs sent out of the country (1980), and later when a powerful storm in the Bay of Biscay poorly secured container, severely damaged the ship’s port side amidships.
Long years of life were not without effect on the condition of the general cargo type “ica”, so the polish shipowners replaced them with new build units. All vessels were sold to foreign shipowners in the 70s and 80s.
Bydgoszcz
Type of ship: cargo
Year Built / yard: 1960 / Sz B-55 (Szczecin)
The life of the PLO: 1970 – 1983
Capacity: 5350 TDW
Number of passengers: 4
Overall length: 124 m
Width: 16.6 m
Draught: 6.5 m
Drive type: internal combustion engine
Power SG: 3606 kW
Speed: 15.5 Kn