ORP Gryf was a Polish mine builder from the interwar period and World War II. The keel for this vessel was laid in 1934, and the launch took place in November 1936. The unit was commissioned in February 1938. The total length of the ship at the time of launching was 103.2 meters and a width of 13.06 meters. Standard displacement was around 2,200 tons, and the maximum speed was around 20 knots. The armament included 6 120 mm guns, 4 40 mm guns and up to 600 sea mines.
ORP Gryf was designed as a large minelayer, capable of independent operations in the Baltic Sea. The vessel was built at the French shipyard Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand in the city of Le Havre. The choice of the contractor was not the happiest, as the shipyard has so far built mainly submarines of smaller sizes than ORP Gryf. This resulted in a significant extension of the construction. The unit, when it entered service, was the largest combat ship of the Polish Navy - with the exception of ORP Bałtyk. However, it was not free from flaws. First of all, it had a poor top speed, was not very steerable and maneuverable, and not all of its design solutions turned out to be well-thought-out or reliable. In the period up to the September campaign, ORP Gryf served as a school unit. At the outbreak of World War II, the ship made an attempt to erect a mine barrage in the Bay of Gdańsk, but the action was unsuccessful. On September 3, 1939, while moored in the port of Hel, it took part in an artillery duel with German destroyers. On the same day it was bombed by the Luftwaffe and sank.