Polish Sailor of the Pinsk Flotilla

3D Model

The Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy, the so-called Pinsk Flotilla (after the Pina River, a tributary of the Pripyat River) was established in 1919. The flotilla’s sailors fought in the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-1921 and in the Polish Campaign of 1939. By order of General Kleeberg, the flotilla sailors scuttled their ships on September 18-21, 1939 and joined the ranks of the infantry of the Independent Operational Group Polesie as an infantry battalion. At the end of September 1939, some of the sailors were taken prisoner by the Soviets and dozens were murdered by the Soviets in Mokrany; others were murdered in Katyń. The flotilla used river monitors. Armed with various types of cannons and machine guns, these small ships, designed for service on inland waters as part of the river flotilla, supported ground troops by firing at shore targets, protecting troop crossings, and fighting against enemy river ships.