PILOTAGE/SECURITY MEASURES/VESSELS OBSERVED/FACILITIES/MISCELLANEOUS DATA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500640137-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 29, 2001
• Sequence Number: 137
• Publication Date: October 4, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

NAVY Declassification/Release Instructions
on File Approved For Release 2005/oU61O7wCIA-IRDR8Q-00809A000500640137-7
CONFIDENTIAT.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
25X1A
SUBJECT Pilotage/Security Measures/Vessels Observed/
Facilitiee/Miacellaneous Data
PLACE ACQUIRED
(BY' SOURCE)
25X1C
DATE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
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D
~CO No.
00/C NO.
DATE DISTR LL /),Tloc)
,The Office of Naval Intelligence, 5w., in report No. 4l..54, furnished the
following information to CIA for IAC dissemio.ation in accordance with para-
graph 3(c) of NSCID No. 7,,7
Pilotage
1. At the Kiel Canal our ship took aboard it German pilot., under contract to
the ship's owners, and he took us as far as the entrance to the Nowy Port.
$e remained on board during our stay in Gdansk, and was not permitted to
go ashore. App.roach,ng the Gulf of Danzig our ship kept well off shore,
between five and ten miles from the Bel. Peninsula, to avoid the mined area
which exists off that spit of land,. H. 0. No. 4976 does not show the buoys
which mark the cleared channel for entering the Gulf of Danzig. Upon nearing
Gdynia we were signalled to proceed to Gdansk,, and at the entrance to the
Nowy Port we took on the Gdansk pilot, This pilot, who came aboard alone,
was about 50 years old and appeared to be quite competent. He spoke English,
but did not engage in any conversation with members of the ship except to
give helm orders. Tugs used to ansist ships in entering the harbor were tied
up at the northern end of the breakwater, two of which were dispatched to
assist our ship in negotiating the Martwa Wisla.. Two tugs were used whenever
our ship moved within the harbor. We tied up first at the Customs Pier,
where we were obliged to wait for several hours before a berth was available
in the Gorniczy Basin. Our ship entered Gdansk in ballast, and upon departure
its maximum draft was 27+0".
Security Measures
2. Immediately upon mooring at the Customs Pier the ship was boarded by a search
Party of 25 or 30 men, including two or three officers. The officers and
four or five men were in uniform and armed with revolvers, but the rent. were
dressed in dungaree clothing suitable for searching the ship's spaces. The
search lasted three or four hours and was intended to be quite thorough but
because of lack of knowledge about ships on the part of the investigators it
was not actually complete or effective. All crew members were required to
remain in their quarters until the search was completed, and whenever it was
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This report Is for the use within the USA of the Intelligence components of the Departments or
Agencies Indicated above. It is not to be transmitted overseas without the concurrence of the
originating office through the Assistant Director of the Office of Collection and Dissemination, CIA.
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CONFmENTIAL 25X1 A
necessary for individual members to Imove about the ship they were always
accompanied by an armed guard. The'lauthorities did not seal the ship's
radio, but forbad the use of cameras Upon departure another search,
even more thorough than the first was conducted and lasted between four
and five hours. The emphasis in this examination was on looking for
stowaways, long poles being used tolprobe through the holds.
Three armed guards were stationed on the dock at all times, one each at the
bow, the stern and the gangway. In addition there was one guard on each
crane and one on each of the railroad engines which came on the dock. No
special passes were required to leave the ship. The gangway guard had
a roster of the crew which he checked against the ID card of the person
going ashore, and logged the times of departure and return for each individual.
All Polish workers who came aboard were required to show their passes to
get on and off. This applied to the Polish pilot as well as to stevedores
and trimmers. I noted that similar security measures were observed witl. other
merchant ships in the harbor, and that Soviet and Polish ships were not
only guarded but no one was allowedion or off.
Vessels Observed
4. In the vicinity of Bornholm Island iln the Baltic Sea I observed a medium size
submarine somewhere between a coastal craft and an ocean-patrol type, proceed-
ing on a southeasterly course. It carried no ensign or hull number, and was
painted a very dark grey. I saw no armament of any sort. I can make no further
identification except tha it appeared to be new and In good condition, and was
not snorkel-equipped. I saw no othe;ri naval vessels either in the Baltic or at
Gdansk. There were, however, many merchant chips present at Gdansk. While
our ship was waiting to move to the boat Tip, the UK ship, OTHRYS, was loading
cement at a small wooden pier on theiLeft bank of the Mortwa Wisla across from
the northern end of Wyspa Holm, Theicement was bound for Argentina in exchange
for grain. The pier had no mechanical leading facilities. The cement was
brought to the pier in trucks and wasl loaded. in bags on board the OTBRYS by
its own gear and by stevedores llie1(YMYS was the only ship I can identify
by name. Three Polish passenger vessels, of medium size and apparently of
recent construction, were undergoing acme sort of repair or alteration at
Navy Port on the south :i.dc of the Martha Wiola. Work was being done on the
superstructure but I could not dere,rmine what type it was. I believe they
were equipped with radar. The three ships all. had the same stack markings,
consisting of yellow painted funnelswith one section having red and black
horizontal bands with the Polish eagle superimposed in white. The letters
"P" and "D" appeared, one on each side of the eagle. On the left side of the
Martha Winla in the area across from 'he Gorni.czy Basin I noted a number of
Soviet tugs and Polish freighters, ap arently inactive. The tugs, moored two
abreasr. numbered abou. twelve, while there were six Polish freighters of about
7?000 or 9,000 tons each. I observed no activity in any of these ships during
our stay in Gdansk, but the turn had oudspeakers going continuously broadcasting
music interspersed with short speecheri.
5. There was a large amount of activity in the Gorniczy Basin, the SW side of
which was being used exclusively ac ap operating base for So-..Jet tugs which would
come in for a few hours to refuel andl'Ithen depart. This continued during
the entire ten days of our stay givinglthe impression that there were numerous
tugs in the area. They were large ocean going tugs but apparently not used
for patrol or minesweeping operations!!?ince I noted no armament of any sort.
Excluding our ship there were a total'lof seven vessels on the iVE side of the
Gorniczy Basin, but I do not recall any of their names. All of them were
loading coal. Two small coasters, one Swedish and the other Finnish, departed
soon after we arrived, and a UK ship was completing loading as we entered the
harbor. Two 7,000 or B,000 'ton Italian ships arrived soon after we started
loading, and as soon as we finished ailiGreek owned ship flying the Panamanian flag
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I!'I
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moved in. A Soviet freighter also about B,000 tons, extremely old
and in poor condition came into the Gorniczy Basin to load coal and tied
up just forward of our ship.. Highest priority was given this ship, and
all work ceased on our vessel. The cranes and workmen were shifted to
the Soviet ship and nothing was done until it had finished loadinga task which
took about 24 hours. As we proceded toward Gdansk I saw a small fleet of
fishing vessels in the area off the Hel Peninsula.
. Port Facilities
6. Construction work was in progress on the left bank of the Martwa Wisla
just across from the north end of Wyspa Holm, consisting of a stone
embanlanent similar to a retaining wall along the river for about 500
yard... The face of the embankment was made of large flat stone slabs,
and appeared to be well constructed. No mechanical equipment was in use,
all work being done by two labor gangs of about ten men each, using hand
tools. In this area also were several mooring piers, which were simply
wooden coverings over piles and dolphins, and none of them had mechanical
loading facilities. Extensive loading facilities were available at the
Coal Tips on the NE side of the Gorniczy Basin. Five pairs of railroad
tracks ran the full length of the pier, affording the opportunity of bring-
ing up many coal cars simultaneously. Coal was stockpiled on the pier at
night. Twelve portable gantry cranes with jib cranes mounting he bridge,
each with an estimated capacity of five tons, were present on the quay.
These cranes would be moved along the pier from ship to ship as needed.
The bridge of each crane spanned some if not all of the railroad tracks, and
at maximum capacity each was rated at 125 tons per day. They were grab-type
using clam shells. The cranes would take the coal from the railroad car and
dump it in the hold, the maximum number available for our ship being six,
but the average four. At most four holds were loaded simultaneously, but
for various reasons such as work stoppage and lack of proper coal size,
generally only two holds were loaded at a time. Since several different
types of coal were loaded on the ship it was necessary to have several cranes
present to load more than one hold at a time.
7. At the Coal Tips we took on 9,367 English tons of coal. The loading process
continued day and night for nine days, with one day idle while the Soviet
ship was given priority, making a total of eight loading days. The mechanical
loading equipment was very inefficient and the whole loading operation compared
unfavorably with Western European ports. The greatest number of ships being
handled at the quay simultaneously was four. Two gangs of 20 coal trimmers
each, were used aboard our ship. These men did a good job and appeared to
be in good health, although not robust. They were, however, a very suspicious
group and would not talk to anyone aboard the ship. The foreman who managed
our loading operat:oua seemed to be exceptionally capable. I felt that there
was a shortage of trimmers on the quay. Those on our ship were all older men,
around 1i5 to 50 years of age. On the other side of the Gorniczy Basin at the
Oreloading Depot I caw six cranes, four being similar to those at the Coal Tips
and the other two gantry cranes. On the south side of the Martwa Wisla at
Nowy Port in the area where the three Polish passenger ships were located there were
several cranes which appeared to be tower or portal type. I saw no floating
cranes or other port facilities.
. Miscellaneous Data
8. A large amount of sulphur was being stored at the Orel.oading Depot on the SW
side of the Gorniczy Basin. I did not observe any construction other than the
embankment. The Customs Houseewhich was located on the bend of the Martwa Wisla
across from the north tip of Wyspa Holm>also was the headquarters for the harbor
pilots. I did not see any fortifications, radar installations or aircraft.
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9? A. foreman of the work detail on the pier. who had been in Scot land during
World War II with & Polish exile group confided in me that there was
widespread dissatisfaction with Communism in P
l
o
and., but because of the
strict security measures it never appeared in the open. None of the ship' a
officers vent ashore and only a few of the crew did. Those who did reported that
there was no entertainment in the town and little to buy, and prices were
exhorbitant. The official rate of exchange was so unfavorable that no one
exchanged any currency, cigarettes and articles of cl
th
o
ing being used as
barter. No one was permitted to carry any money ashore other than Polish
currency obtained by the ship through official channels. Since our ship
exchanged no currency, no money was allowed to be taken ashore, and the
gangway guard searched members r,r ti -,_ . .
756.541
756.545
756.543
55M
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