The bell of the Polish Naval destroyer ORP Kujawaik has been recovered from its wreck located in Maltese territorial waters to be conserved by Heritage Malta and displayed at the Maritime Museum.
ORP Kujawaik was a British Type II Hunt-class destroyer, launched on October 30, 1940 and named HMS Oakley. It was subsequently leased by the British Royal Navy to the Polish Navy in exile on June 17, 1941. ORP stands for Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Vessel of the Republic of Poland).
While participating in Operation Harpoon near Malta on June 16, 1942, ORP Kujawaik struck a mine and sunk instantly, with the loss of 13 Polish sailors.
In 2014, a joint Maltese-Polish team authorised by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage commenced searches for the site, since its exact position was not indicated by the British Ministry of Defence.
On September 22, 2014, the team, made up of Polish explorers and Timmy Gambin from the University of Malta, discovered the resting place of ORP Kujawaik, just off Maltese shores.
The team originally deployed a remotely operated underwater vehicle which provided footage that was compared to blueprints of the Hunt Type II escort destroyer.
The discovery was reported to both the Maltese and Polish authorities, and was designated a historic shipwreck protected by local laws and international conventions.
A commemorative plaque was placed on the wreck and a memorial was unveiled in Valletta. The team mapped the wreck in 3D in 2017, returning to the site to recover the ship’s bell for conservation.
All cultural property coming from the sea requires extensive desalination and specialised conservation interventions. Failure to undertake professional conservation led to the decay of the retrieved cultural heritage and its accelerated deterioration and loss.
The bell, covered with thick concretions, was retained within sea water until it arrived at Heritage Malta’s conservation laboratories in Bighi, where it was placed in a desalination tank.
Heritage Malta's conservators investigated the bell’s condition and researched the possible interventions to be undertaken. Throughout the past year the water used within the desalination tank was gradually changed from saline to deionised water, with weekly readings of the conductivity kept on record.
Following various cleaning tests to remove the concretions, the conservators opted for an innovative process of using a surface heating method, specifically used for such metal items.
The process was successful and most of the external and internal coverings were removed. This process revealed the inscribed name and date: HMS OAKLEY 1941, which was not previously visible.
It was custom in such cases that a ship's original bell, inscribed with the original name and launch date to be retained. This was because during such belligerent times, there was no time to spare and wait for a new replacement bell to arrive.
The iron clapper was found to be still in situ, while the iron suspension bracket bolts fasting said bracket to the bronze bell were loosened without any damage to be treated separately.
Now that the bell and its iron attachments have been generically cleaned, the process continues. Analyses of the metal composition of the bell will be undertaken at Heritage Malta’s diagnostic scientific laboratories.
This will provide further information to conservators on treatments to be undertaken. The bell will be gradually dried after desalination and further mechanical cleaning, which should eventually lead to the stabilisation of the different metal components. Protective coatings would then be applied. It will continue to be monitored to ensure that no further deterioration occurred.
Heritage Malta is currently taking the necessary provisions for the bell to travel on loan to Polish museums later this year once the treatment process is concluded.
Upon its return to Malta, it would be displayed at Heritage Malta's Maritime Museum.