Draft:Shipwreck Expeditions Association

Shipwreck Expedition Association (SEA) - An organization founded on July 18, 2012 in Łódź by Piotr Wytykowski and Roman Zajder, bringing together technical diving enthusiasts, researchers and history enthusiasts, and wreck seekers. The association's activities are aimed at discovering and reconstructing facts related to shipwrecks, cultivating their memory and commemorating people who died as a result of their sinking. Since December 18, 2019, the headquarters of SEA is located in Cielimów near Gniezno. SEA members call themselves "underwater detectives".

Presidents of the Association

• Roman Zajder(2012–2019) – co-founder of the association
• Mariusz Borowiak (since 2019) – Polish writer, journalist, and mariner.

Important expeditions organized by the SEA

Polish scientific exploration expedition to Sierra Leone in search of the “Vanishing Dutchman”

A model of the armed ship Diemermeer pasted into a photo of the place where it sank

Piotr Wytykowski holds a porcelain cup found during the exploration of the Diemermeer wreck

In the years 2012–2014, the Shipwreck Expedition Association organized two expeditions aimed at examining the discovered remains of a sailing ship that sank off the coast of the Banana Islands in Sierra Leone (West Africa) in the 18th century. Based on information collected during expeditions and many years of research involving historians and scientists from Poland, the Netherlands, England and the United States, the sailing ship was identified. It was determined that it was the "Diemermeer" - a ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company, which was sailing from Batavia (today's Jakarta) to the Netherlands with a cargo of porcelain. The ship was commanded by Christoffel Boort (known as Christiaan Boordt) from Kołobrzeg.

Expeditions in search of the ORP Kujawiak

The wreck of the destroyer escort ORP Kujawiak, lying at a depth of 100 meters.

A plaque commemorating the 13 sailors who died aboard the Kujawiak, funded by SEA members

On September 22, 2014, divers from SEA found the wreck of the ORP "Kujawiak". It was a Polish destroyer escort, which during World War II (on the night of June 15-16, 1942) while participating in Operation Harpoon (escorting an Allied supply convoy) hit a German mine and sank off the coast of Malta. A year later, on June, divers from the Shipwreck Expedition Association made the first exploration of the ship.

The bell recovered from the wreck of the ORP Kujawiak, before and after conservation

In 2016, members of the association found the ship's bell, and a year later, in May of 2017, they brought it to the surface. It was the first bell in history recovered from a Polish ship that sank during World War II. The bell underwent conservation work in the laboratories of the Heritage Malta agency, and then was transferred to the Maritime Museum of Malta in Birgu.

Details of the discovery and exploration of the ORP "Kujawiak" wreck and its history are described in Mariusz Borowiak's book - Podwodni Tropiciele. The mystery of the wreck of the destroyer escort ORP Kujawiak.

Thanks to the efforts of SWW members, on November 18, 2017, the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, honored Mate Kazimierz Stefankiewicz - one of the last living members of the crew of ORP "Kujawiak" and a witness of its sinking - with the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Order of Restored Poland).

P. Wytykowski and R. Zajder moments after recovering the bell from the wreck of ORP Kujawiak

Expedition “The Lost Bombers of Brindisi”

Young seaman Kazimierz Stefankiewicz in Polish Navy uniform and as a veteran decorated with the Cross of the Order of Restored Poland

The Shipwreck Expedition Association co-organized the expedition "The Lost Bombers of Brindisi", which took place in November 2018. The goal was to locate the remains of two Polish bombers - one Halifax and one Liberator - from the 1586th Special Purpose Squadron and the 301st Special Squadron, as well as an American B-24J bomber from the 885th Bomber Squadron. At the end of World War II, while trying to land at the Campo Casale airport in Brindisi, these planes mysteriously fell into the Adriatic Sea and sank. All three planes were involved in helping the insurgents of the Warsaw Uprising. Despite the best efforts of the SEA, the goal of the expedition was not achieved.

National Search Program for the wreck of the submarine ORP Orzeł.

In August, October, and November of 2022, SEA members took part in the search for the wreck of the Polish submarine ORP "Orzeł", which disappeared without a trace in late May or early June 1940 during a combat patrol in the North Sea. The expeditions took place as part of the National “Orła” Wreck Search Program, which was launched on the 80th anniversary of the ship's last voyage.

Decorations received by SEA members

On April 22, 2022, President Mariusz Borowiak and Vice-President Piotr Wytykowski were awarded the "Bene Merito" Honorary Badge by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland for their activities strengthening Poland's position in the international arena. The "Guardian of Places of National Remembrance” medal was awarded to the Shipwreck Expedition Association by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

On May 20, 2022, the Shipwreck Expedition Association was awarded the "Guardian of National Memorial Sites" Medal by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

International Wreck Diving Festival

The Shipwreck Expedition Association is the organizer of the International Wreck Diving Festival. Its originators were Piotr Wytykowski and Roman Zajder. The event has had eight editions so far - six of them took place in Łódź in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Later, the event gained international status and was moved to Warsaw in 2017 and 2019. The aim of the festival is to bring together wreck divers and historians from Poland and around the world to share their knowledge and experiences from expeditions.