Polish Naval Academy

The "Heroes of Westerplatte" Polish Naval Academy (PNA) is a naval university supervised by the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland, with a history, uninterrupted by World War II, dating back to 1922.

The Polish Naval Academy educates officer-cadets, commissioned officers, and civilian undergraduate and graduate students, as well as doctoral students. It also offers opportunities for professional development in specialized courses and postgraduate programs.

Pursuant to international agreements, the Polish Naval Academy trains officers for navies of countries in Europe, North Africa, the Near East, and the Far East. International exchanges augment the knowledge of Polish Naval Academy staff and enable students to attend lectures by some of the best experts from leading academic centers in the world.

History

Temporary Officers' Training Corps (1921)

After the foundation of Polish Naval Forces on November 28 of 1918 by the time's Chief of State Józef Piłsudski the formation of its military branch was started. One of the main goals was a formation of a training structure, due to the lack of cadets. The plan was at first to start a Maritime School and a training division which was completed in 1920.

There was no need for this type of training structure until the Polish-Soviet war of 1920, since all of the naval forces were being outsourced from the occupying regime's government. After Poland gained its autonomy, general Kazimierz Porębski decided to form first institution that temporarily provided courses for new officers (pol. Tymczasowe Kursy Instruktorskie dla Oficerów (abbr. TIK)) in Toruń, Poland on March 20 of 1921. It was an 18-month-long course that was preparing officers of land forces for a service on board of battleships. Under the supervision of LCDR Adam Mohuczy in total the course was completed by 39 officers.

Naval Officers' School (1922)

Under the jurisdiction of then superintendent rear admiral Kazimierz Porębski on November 6 of 1922 the Naval Officers' School (pol. Oficerska Szkoła Marynarki Wojennej (abbr. OSMW)) was formed again in Toruń. This time the school consisted of 1 faculty and was meant to provide education ot its midshipmen in preparation for commissioning as officers of the Navy. The study period consisted of 2 years that later got extended to 3. During the study term, midshipmen were gaining experience on board of such battleships as OORP "Komendant Piłsudski" and "Generał Haller" during naval study tours.

• Captains of Naval Officer's School
• Capt. LCDR Adam Mohuczy (October 1, 1922 – October 6, 1924)
• Capt. Witold Panasiewicz (October 6th1924 – October 15, 1925)
• Capt. Czesław Petelenz (October 15, 1925 – November 10, 1926)
• Capt. LCDR Stefan Frankowski (November 23, 1926 – October 18, 1928)

Naval Cadets' School (1928)

Novelization of training structure within Polish army caused a change in the name of Naval Officers' School into Naval Cadets' School (Szkoła Podchorążych Marynarki Wojennej (abbr. SPMW)) with majorly reorganized structure within the institution itself. At first it consisted of a formation of two separate faculties: Maritime and Technical. Practical courses were provided on board of battleships ORP "Iskra" and ORP "Wilia" respectively. Later, in 1935, there was created an additional faculty on Administration directed towards maritime administration. In 1938 the school was moved from Toruń to a nearby town of Bydgoszcz. Courses under the new structure were completed by 158 officers, 173 maritime graduates, 23 technical graduates and 12 administrative graduates.

Structure and scientific activity

The PNA is a naval university of a settled position in the Polish higher educational system. The mission of the PNA is to create conditions necessary to provide security for the Poland at sea through disseminating knowledge, conducting research work, educating and developing officer-cadets and civilian students, as well as perfecting professional military, and civilian workers, in the administration and maritime industry. The Academy co-operates with technical and military Polish and European universities, enterprises and international organizations. University authorities:

• Rector-Commandant - Capt. prof. Tomasz Szubrycht,
• Deputy Commandant - Capt. Mariusz Mięsikowski D.Sc.Eng,
• Vice- Rector for Education - Capt. Dariusz Bugajski Ph.D., D.Sc.,
• Vice- Rector for Science - Capt. Tomasz Kniaziewicz Ph.D., D.Sc,

Chancellor - Bogusław Bąk D.Sc. Eng.

The PNA educates the officers of navy and civilian specialists on four faculties:

• the Faculty of Navigation and Naval Weapons,
• the Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering,
• the Faculty of Command and Naval Operations, and

the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The major part of the activity of the Polish Naval Academy is conducting the research in the following areas:

• naval strategy;
• naval operational art and naval military tactics;
• international law and international security;
• law of the sea;
• maritime navigation and hydrography;
• navigation automation and integration;
• modern deep-sea and diving techniques;
• material engineering and shock resistance of ship structures;
• automation of shipboard command control systems;
• anti-submarine weapons;
• physical fields and echo ranging;
• electronic warfare and ship antimissile defense;
• exploitation of ship, weapons and shipboard systems;

operational and tactical employment of maritime rescue forces.

Civilian studies

The university offers both undergraduate and 28 post-graduate courses in the Polish and English language. The PNA offers courses which focus on practical skills and competence. The PNA students acquire both, practical and social skills with the aid of a broad range of simulators, training simulators, multimedia rooms, and dedicated training courses developed in collaboration with a career adviser and the Academic Career Office. Some of their offered courses are:

• Homeland Security,
• International Relations,
• Maritime Security,
• National Security,
• Hydrography and Navigation,
• Automatics and Robotics,
• Mechanical Engineering and Machine Building,
• Mechatronics,
• Military Pedagogy,
• Information Systems in Security,

Space and Satellite Technologies (intercollegiate course run in cooperation of Gdańsk University of Technology and Maritime Academy of Gdynia).

The PNA provides the opportunity to obtain a doctoral degree (including attendance in doctoral studies) in the field of:

Technical sciences (geodesy and cartography),

Technical sciences (construction and exploitation of machinery),

Social sciences in the area of security science (military science).

Military studies and the recruitment process

Military studies are conducted in five areas of study:

• Navigation,
• Informatics,
• Mechanical Engineering,
• Mechatronics,

Information Systems in Security.

Attending professional defense programs students are trained to serve as commissioned officers in the Polish Armed Forces, mostly in the Navy. The recruitment process for military studies is in the form of competition. In addition to the results obtained on the end-of high school examinations, physical fitness test results as well as interviews are taken into account.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)