ORP Warszawa (1968)

ORP Warszawa (formerly the Soviet Smelyi) was a large guided missile destroyer of the Polish Navy, one of the last ships of the modified Kashin class.

Construction
She was built in the 61st Communard's Shipyard in Mykolaiv, Soviet Union, for the Soviet Navy. Commissioned in 1969, she was one of the ships of the CKB-53 class, dubbed Kashin-class destroyers by NATO.

Soviet service
The ship was among the largest destroyers of the time; with 4950 tonnes of displacement she had similar displacement to many World War II cruisers. The flexible design allowed the ships of her class to serve as multi-purpose vessels rather than standard guided missile destroyers. Among the capabilities of the class were anti-surface and anti-submarine missions, convoy escort, long-range bombardment and a variety of other roles. The ship's armament was almost fully automated and was one of the first such ships in the Eastern Bloc.

Modernisation
Between 1972 and 1974 the ship was modernized to the new 61MP standard, dubbed the modified Kashin class by NATO countries. The modernization included a complete refurbishment, change of armament and mounting of detection and fire control systems.

Transfer to Poland
In 1987 the ship was leased by Poland as a replacement for the obsolete Kotlin-class destroyer ORP Warszawa. Smelyi was therefore renamed Warszawa on transfer in 1988. Between 1992 and 1993 she was permanently transferred to Poland (along with the submarines ORP Dzik and ORP Wilk) in exchange for Soviet debts at the Polish Navy Shipyard in Gdynia.

Fate
After 16 years of service in the Polish Navy, she was designated to be sold. In the end, no country was interested in purchasing the ship, and finally she was sent to the Navy's reserve. After two years in reserve she was sold for scrap. Breaking up was completed by the Gdańsk Shipyard.