Orzel and Sep were capable ocean-going boats with twelve tubes, though the Wilk class offered greater versatility. Mines allow a submarine to leave a persistent threat behind while moving elsewhere to attack, which is the central force-design argument here. Orzel escaped Estonian internment without charts and navigated to Britain by coastal observation and improvisation. The Soviet use of that escape as a pretext against Estonia also connects one submarine episode to the destruction of Baltic independence.
Notable Point · 24:15-36:20
Orzel class and the cost of abandoning mine warfare
The larger Dutch-built Orzel class carried a formidable torpedo battery, but the loss of dedicated minelaying reduced its flexibility for a small navy.