Orzeł reaches Tallinn damaged and faces internment

Orzeł began the war waiting near Danzig for Schleswig-Holstein to emerge, then withdrew into the Baltic to gain room to manoeuvre. German minesweepers M3 and M4 damaged the submarine during that withdrawal. It reached Tallinn on 14 September 1939 with an increasingly ill commanding officer who needed hospital treatment. German pressure prompted Estonian authorities to intern the crew and confiscate navigation aids before the 24-hour neutral-port period had expired, making the intervention premature under the interpretation of the Hague Convention used here. As the Estonians unloaded the torpedoes, the Polish crew sabotaged the hoist cable to halt their removal. Fifteen torpedoes had been taken off, leaving probably five aboard, although a possible sixth remains disputed.