Służba Polaków w lotnictwie Floty Czarnomorskiej Imperium Rosyjskiego w latach I wojny światowej

Abstract

During the First World War, an elite group of 112 pilots from the Russian Empire’s Black Sea fleet, who remained in service in the second half of 1917, included five officers of Polish nationality: second lieutenant commander Jan Stachowski, navy captain Wiktoryn Kaczyński, navy captain Wacław Iwaszkiewicz, naval lieutenant Eugeniusz Pławski, and second lieutenant Władysław Misiński. As shown in this article, they made a significant contribution to the development of a new type of naval force by performing command functions, training the aviation cadres of the fleet, and participating in combat operations in the Black Sea theater of military operations from 1914 to 1917. The policy of breaking up the pre-revolutionary structures, the regular armed forces of the Empire, and the anarchy spreading among the sailors prompted naval pilots of Polish nationality to end their service in the Russian Navy. After Poland regained its independence, they enlisted in the Polish Army, taking an active part in the fight for the borders of the reborn Republic of Poland. Thanks to their excellent training and combat experience from the Great War, they made a significant contribution to the newly formed Polish military aviation, which played an important role in the war with Bolshevik Russia. After the end of the fight for the borders of the Second Republic, they continued work to expand the Polish air force – including naval aviation – and helped organize a training system for air personnel. Keywords: naval aviation, aviation of the Black Sea fleet, Russian Black Sea fleet, World War I, navy of the Russian Empire, officer corps of the Russian navy.