COBI ORP Dzik Polish Submarine Set 4864

COBI's ORP Dzik is a 1:300 model built from 148 blocks, 19.5 cm long, released in cooperation with the Polish Navy Museum in Gdynia. A display base with a collector's plaque is included, along with a brick plaque carrying the boat's Jolly Roger. All markings are printed.

The flag is a record, not a decoration

British submarines returning from a successful patrol flew a black flag, and the practice began as a joke: in 1914 an admiral had called submarine warfare underhand and no better than piracy, so a submarine commander flew a Jolly Roger on his way back into harbour.

It turned into a logbook. Symbols were sewn on as the boat earned them, and each one meant something specific. A white bar was a merchant ship sunk; a red bar a warship. A crossed cannon meant a gun action on the surface, a dagger a special operation landing agents or commandos, a lifebelt a rescue.

Anyone on the quayside could read a boat's entire war off the flag as she came alongside. Dzik and Sokoł — the Terrible Twins — both flew one, and this set includes it.

What she did

Dzik was a Royal Navy U-class boat transferred to Polish crew in 1942, a year after her sister. She sank five ships of around 8,650 tons and three landing craft, and damaged another, operating mainly in the Mediterranean.

After the war she went back to the Royal Navy, then served the Danish navy as U1 and later Springeren, returned to Britain in 1957 and was scrapped in 1958.

In the COBI range

Set 4863 is ORP Sokoł, the other Terrible Twin. Both are U-class boats, as are HMS Upholder (4862) and the Norwegian HNoMS Uredd (4861) — the same class under four flags.

Specifications

Pieces: 148 · Scale: 1:300 · Age: 7+ · Jolly Roger plaque included · In cooperation with the Polish Navy Museum in Gdynia
Model dimensions: 19.5 × 6.5 × 4 cm (7.7 × 2.6 × 1.6 in)