General of the Cavalry, mariner, sailor, mountaineer.

Zaruski was born in 1867 in Dumanów, in Podole region. He was a man of renaissance with extremely broad horizons and interests. In 1885 he started studying at the University of Odessa. During his studies he engaged in conspiracy and independence activities, for which he was arrested in 1894 and sent to Arkhangelsk. There, he graduated from maritime school. In 1899, he went back to Crimea and moved to Cracow in 1901 where he started studying at the Academy of Fine Arts. Three years after that, he moved to Zakopane where he set up Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue (TOPR). In 1927 he became marine governor in Gdynia. He was an active social worker, engaged in promoting marine education and sailing. He was the founder of Polish Yacht Club and was in charge of the National Fleet Committee which was responsible for purchasing ships for the Polish fleet (eg. "Dar Pomorza"). He was the president of the Polish Yachting Association in the years 1932 - 1935 and was actively helping Polish scouts. In the years 1935 - 1939 he was the captain of the scout schooner "Zawisza Czarny". After the Second World War broke out, he was imprisoned in Lviv, and later moved to Crimea where he died in 1941.

Builder of Gdynia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry of the Second Polish Republic. Honorary citizen since 1928 and the patron of medal awarded for extraordinary service for Gdynia.

Kwiatkowski was born in 1888 in Cracow. He graduated from Lviv University of Technology. In 1926 he became the Minister of Industry and Trade and in the years 1935 - 1939 he was the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of State Treasury. Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski as famous for his strategic and visionary skills. The construction of the Central Industrial District and connecting main line of railway between Katowice and Gdynia happened thanks to him. He also triggered fast construction of the Gdynia port and the expansion of Polish trade and fishing fleet. Due to his actions, Gdynia became one of the most important ports in the Baltic Sea area. After World War II, as a representative of embankment reconstruction, he started reconstructing Gdynia. However, in 1948 he was removed from the function and moved to Cracow where he started lecturing at the Jagiellonian University. During the next years he was often under surveillance of the Ministry of Public Security and was divested of the right to teach and to retire. He died in 1974 in Cracow.

Sailor, the first Polish man who sailed around the world on his own, Infantry Officer of the Second Polish Republic Army and Polish Air Forces in Great Britain.

Teliga was born in 1917 in Vyazma, Russia, but spent his childhood in Grodzisk Mazowiecki. He was interested in sailing since his early years. During his service in the army, he obtained his helmsman's qualifications. During the Second World War he fought in the Tomaszów Mazowiecki Battle and was then taken prisoner in the Soviet Union. In the years 1939 - 1942, Teliga was working on Crimea as a fisherman. In 1942 he joined the Polish Army and was delegated to Great Britain, where he joined No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron. He came back to Poland in 1947 and worked as a journalist and sailing instructor - first in Warsaw and then in Gdynia. In 1967 he set out from Casablanca on a cruise around the world on "Opty" yacht. He set a record on his way from Fiji do Dakar as he was on the sea for 165 days and did not enter any harbour. The voyage finished in 1969 and due to severe illness, he died a year later. After his death, Leonid Teliga Award was established and is granted for sailing achievements and promotion.

Vice admiral, deck officer and commander of Russian cruisers and battleships. Commander of the Polish Navy in the years 1919 - 1925.

Porębski was born on November 15th in 1872 in Vilnius. In 1892 he graduated from the Sea Cadet Corps in St Petersburg and become an officer in the Russian Navy. Three years later he started studying in Officer Candidate School in Kronstadt. After finishing school he sailed on the Arctic ocean, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Sea of Japan and the Black Sea. He was in charge of units of various classes: from cruisers and battleships to torpedo boats. He took part in sea battles during Russian - Japanese War and World War I. In 1918 he came to Warsaw and set up the "Polish Ensign" association. In 1919 he became the head of the Department of Maritime Affairs. In 1920 he participated in Poland's Wedding to the Sea. During the Polish - Soviet War he was in charge of the Zegrze - Dębe section and commanded naval units on the Vistula River. In 1922 Porębski became the head of the Naval Command. He initiated the creation of the Polish Merchant Navy, the Maritime School and the Navy and Naval Air Brigade Officer School in Tczew. He also promoted the expansion of army fleet and the construction of Gdynia port. He retired in 1925 after the mine scandal. Porębski died on January 20th, 1933 in Warsaw after a long illness.

Polish engineer, construction manager of the Gdynia port, later employee of the Maritime Office.

The port in Gdynia was built thanks to him. He was born in 1863 in Warsaw and graduated from the Warsaw School and Communication Institute in Petersburg. During the First World War he was managing the constructions of ports in Ventspils and Tallinn. In 1920 he was asked by vice admiral Kazimierz Porębski to look for the best spot to build a new seagoing port. He chose a little settlement called "Gdynia" which was located only 16 km from the port of Gdańsk. In his report, he presented numerous advantages of such location of the port - deep waters by the shore, protection from strong winds thanks to the Hel Peninsula and close distance to the nearest railway station. Tadeusz Wenda died in 1948 in Komorowo near Warsaw.

Master Mariner, commander of the "Lwów" bark, commanding officer of "Dar Pomorza", he was called "the captain of captains".

Maciejewicz was born in 1890 in Niemirów Podolski. He started his career in the Navy in Petersburg, where he graduated from the Sea Cadet Corps. Before World War I, he served in the Russian Navy and swam on cruisers, sailing ships and submarines. In 1922, he started working in the Maritime School in Tczew and set off on cruise to Brazil on the "Lwów" sailing ship. He became its commander four years later. In 1926 he was delegated to England to deliver "Iskra" and in 1929 to France to deliver "Dar Pomorza". He was the commander of the latter in the years 1930 - 1938. In the years 1934 - 1935 he was in charge of the ship during its first cruise around the world. After World War II, he got involved in development of marine education in Gdynia and Szczecin, where he commanded the learning sailing ship "Zew Morza". Maciejewicz died in Szczecin in 1972.

Master mariner, marine writer and academic teacher - lecturer of celestial navigation.

Borchardt was born in 1905 in Moscow. In the years 1925 - 1928 he attended the Maritime School in Tczew. He took his first steps in his maritime career, when he was still a student on the "Lwów" sailing ship. His first job was on "Rewa" passenger ship. During the interwar period, he was working on passenger ships on Gdynia - America route. In 1938, he started working at the National Maritime School in Gdynia. When the Second World War broke out, he was an officer on "Dar Pomorza" on its cruise to Sweden. The authorities ordered him to go to Scotland. At the beginning of war, he swam on cargo ships and survived the sinking of "MS Chrobry" and "MS Piłsudzki". In the years 1942 - 1945 he set up lower and higher maritime secondary schools in Landywood in England. He came back to Poland in 1949 on "MS Batory". During the following 20 years he was a lecturer of astronomy, first at the Fishing School and the National Maritime School and since 1968 at Gdynia Maritime University. In 1960 he published "Znaczy Kapitan", which is one of the most important books in maritime literature. He died in 1986 in Gdynia. To honor this great mariner, a sailing ship was named after him.

Vice admiral, fleet commander in the years 1925 - 1939, commander in the Battle of the Danzig Bay in 1939, great patriot, Knight of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari.

Unrug was born on October 7th, 1884 in Branderburg near Berlin. His father was Tadeusz Gustaw, the general of the Prussian Guard. He attended a secondary school in Dresden and then completed an officer training in Marineakademie Kiel. During World War One he served in the German army fleet. In 1919, he started working in the Department of Maritime Affairs in Warsaw. Thanks to his experience and knowledge, he got promoted very quickly. In 1920 he was moved to Gdynia where he became the head of the Hydrographic Office in Gdynia and a year later he became the head of the Fleet Command Headquarters. On January 1st, 1933 he was promoted to the rank of counter admiral. In September 1939, he commanded the Battle of the Danzig Bay and his garrison surrendered in Hel on October 2nd after 31 days of fighting. He and his soldiers were captured by the German. When he was staying in prisoner-of-war camps, the Germans tried to convince Unrug to fight on their side. However, the counter admiral refused to do so and he didn't even want to speak in German, although he spoke this language fluently. He claimed that on September 1st he forgot how to use it. During his whole stay at the camp, he presented honorable and patriotic attitude which was not only admired by his fellow prisoners, but also by the German soldiers. After gaining independence, he moved to Great Britain where he became the deputy head of Navy Leadership and was promoted to the rank of vice admiral. He never came back to Poland after the war and died in France in 1973.

Biologist, outstanding expert of fauna and flora of the Baltic Sea, Polish forerunner of sea research, creator of the Polish biological oceanography.

Demel was born on March 9th, 1889 near Katowice. After passing his secondary school exams, he started nature studies on Lviv University. Next, he continued his education at Geneva University, where he obtained his Master degree and started working in the zoology department. In 1913 he came back to Poland and started working with the Warsaw Scientific Society. In 1915 he joined a scientific internship in Murmansk biological station. This experience led his future career to aspects of sea biology. As the First World War began, he was forced to join the Russian army, but after a year he joined the Polish I Corps in Belarus. He participated in the Polish -Soviet War voluntarily. In 1921 he went back to scientific work and started working in the Marine Fishing Laboratory on Hel which was later moved to Gdynia. In 1929, he organized first scientific course for sea biology students on research vessel "Ewa". In 1938, he obtained Ph.D. degree at the Jagiellonian University and wrote the first thesis on sea biology in the university's history. He spent the Second World War in the occupied capital, where he engaged in secret educational activities. When the war finished, he came back to Gdynia and rebuilt the laboratory. In 1950, he received postdoctoral degree and ordinary professor in 1957. He retired in 1960, but still devoted his time to work. He died on September 27 th in 1978. Nowadays, the Maritime Fishing Institute grants a Kazimierz Demel medal to those who have extraordinary scientific achievements and promote sea knowledge.

The first Polish man who sailed around the world.

Wagner was born on September 17th in 1912 in Krzyżowa Wola. At the age of 15, he and his parents moved to Gdynia, where he discovered his life passion - sailing. He enrolled into a maritime scout team, where he learnt his first sailing skills. He dreamt of doing the same thing that his idol, Joshua Slocum, did - sailing around the world. He found a wrecked launch and decided to renovate and reconstruct it. This is how "Zjawa", the first of yachts on which he sailed around the world, was born. Wagner set out on his cruise on July 8th, 1932 with his friend Rudolf Korniowski. At the beginning of the voyage he kept his plan to sail around the world secret and told everyone that he was going to voyage on the Baltic Sea. He revealed his true destination on the shores of Holland. Before going into the full ocean, "Zjawa" stopped in Lisbon, Casablanca and Dakar. On April 21st, 1933 he sailed into the Atlantic Ocean and reached Brazil on June 3rd. Wagner decided to sell "Zjawa" and buy a new yacht in the Port of Colon. The new "Zjawa II" reached Suva islands in Fiji archipelago. In Australia, Wagner built another yacht and called it "Zjawa III". In 1938 he was going in the direction of Jakarta, through the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and Gibraltar into the Atlantic. On July 4th, 1939 "Zjawa III", next to Cape Faro, was passing the exact same place that "Zjawa I" was passing 6,5 years earlier. Because of the Second World War, Wagner didn't come back to Poland. He joined the Navy and after the war, as an emigrant, worked as a fisherman. In 1947 he went to the Caribbean and opened a yacht center in Puerto Rico. In 1969 Wagner moved to Florida, where he died in 1992.

Ship construction engineer, leading exponent of Gdynia, initiator of numerous projects on maritime issues, founder of "Polish Shipping".

Rummel was born in Liepaya (which now belongs to Latvia) on September 29th, 1878. His father, Władysław, was a port engineer and constructor. He went to secondary school in Tallinn and in 1892 started studying at a Commercial School in Petersburg and then continued his studies in Scotland, in The Royal College of Science and Technology in Glasgow. He started his first job at the Russia's biggest metallurgical syndicate 'Prodamiet'. In 1906 he became a member of the National Shipper's Council in Petersburg. With the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1918, he decided to move to Poland. He started working in the Transport Company Union "Polbal" in Gdańsk and after a year was moved to the company board in Warsaw. There he started helping in the construction of the Gdynia port. He presented papers, wrote articles, published the book "Port w Gdyni" ("Gdynia Port") and tried the convince the most important people in the country that Gdynia was, indeed, a perfect port city. He was the co-creator of the French - Polish Consortium, whose aim was to expand the port. When the port construction had been stopped in 1926, he received the support of minister Kwiatkowski and was permitted to continue the work. He organized merchant fleet, became the head of the "Polish Shipping" and founded the "Polish - British Shipping Company" in 1928. In 1931, using his own funds, he built the Mariner's Home in Gdynia. He was engaged in numerous projects connected with the sea and was one of the Polish Yacht Club's founders and the organizer of the first Sea Holiday in Gdynia. During World War II, he was the Consul General in Greece and helped Polish emigrants. After the war, he came back to Poland. Rummel was married to Olga de Morandi and had two children. He died on April 22nd, 1954.

Master mariner, "Lwów" commander, title character of Borchardt's book "Znaczy Kapitan".

Stankiewicz was born in Mitawa, near Riga on January 22nd in 1889. He was a graduate of Sea Cadet Corps in Petersburg. During World War I he served in the Russian Navy as a navigation officer on "Riurik" cruiser and a commander of a battleship. After the war, he became the Russian consul in Pittsburg in the United Stated. He was then delegated to riverine flotilla in Siberia, where he was arrested by Cheka officers and taken to prison in Irkutsk and later to a labor camp in Krasnoyarsk. He came back to Warsaw in 1921 and was delegated by the head of the Maritime Affairs Department to Maritime School in Tczew, where he worked as the director of navigation faculty. In the summer season, he also organized trainings on the "Lwów" sailing ship. In 1923 he participated with his students in a cruise to Brazil and in the years 1924 - 1926 he was the commander of the unit. Later, he started working on merchant vessels. Since 1931, he was in charge of transatlantics "Pułaski" and "Polonia" and later became the captain of "Piłsudski" passenger ship. In November 1939, he led the ship on its first war cruise to Australia. The ship fell into a mine and sank on November 26th. The captain stayed on the ship until its last moments. He was dragged out of the water, but died due to hypothermia and emaciation. He was buried in Hartlepool, on the east coast of England.

The first sea captain in the history of Polish fishery, the first master mariner of sea fishery, long-standing captain of "Jan Turlejski".

Gorządek was born on December 1st, 1908 in Tashkent. In 1920 he came to Cracow with his parents. In 1929 he was commissioned and served in the Pinsk Flotilla. He moved to Gdynia in 1932 and started working in the Polish - Dutch Herring Company "The North Sea" and later in the Deep Sea Fishing Ships Company "Mewa". He completed a course for ship engineers in the National Maritime School and started working in the Deep Sea Fishing Company "Pomorze". When the Second World War broke out, he was on the North Sea on a fishing ship. He managed to get to Great Britain, where he swam on an English trawler. In 1945 he got the First Class Sea Captain License. After the war, he came back to Poland. In the years 1954 - 1980 he worked as a teacher of fishing and merchant fleet personnel and was in charge of "Jan Turlejski" learning ship on which he experienced 170 cruises. He died in 1988 in Gdynia and was buried in the row of honor in the Witomiński graveyard.

Master mariner, long-standing teacher at the Gdynia National Maritime School, commander of "Dar Pomorza".

Jurkiewicz was born on March 24th, 1912 in Goraj Lubelski. In 1931 he started studying at the Gdynia National Maritime School. His first contact with "Dar Pomorza" was on a candidate cruise. From that moment the ship was present in his whole life. In the years 1934-1935 he participated in its cruise around the world. When the war broke out, he was on a cruise on the Baltic Sea and came back to Poland with a group of older students. On the sailing ship, he obtained all officer degrees including the unit commander, which he was in the years 1953 - 1977. At the same time, he was teaching at the Gdynia National Maritime School and later became its headmaster. When he was commanding "Dar Pomorza", the ship won the Tall Ships' Races in 1972 during its debut. Jurkiewicz was also the founder of the ship's Friends Association. When he retired in 1981, he became the keeper of the ship - museum and kept this job until the end of his life. He died on January 20th in 1985 in Gdynia and was buried there in Witomiński graveyard.

Master mariner, legend of the Polish Ship Salvage.

Poinc was born on May 2nd, 1908 in Skarżysko. He graduated from a secondary school in Sosnowiec and started studying at the navigation faculty of the National Maritime School in Tczew and then completed an army training in the Navy Officer Cadet School in Toruń. In 1939 he obtained the master mariner degree. In the Invasion of Poland, Poinc commanded a platoon in the defense of Gdynia and was later taken prisoner by the Germans. For his participation in the battles, he was honored with the Cross of Valor. After the camp had been released by the allies, he went to England, where he served in the Polish Navy. He came back to Poland in 1946 and became the deputy in the rescue department of Polish Shipping in Gdynia which was in charge of eliminating ship wrecks from ports and roadsteads. Next, he was employed in the Polish Ship Salvage and he continued to search for shipwrecks. He was in charge of finding 200 of them of which 30 were reconstructed and the Polish ensign was displayed on them. In 1952 the captain received an award for the improved method of raising wrecks and a year later for their desludging. In 1957 he became the Harbormaster in Gdańsk and in 1968 the deputy director in the Maritime Office in Gdynia. He retired in 1975 and died in September, 1982 in Gdynia where he was buried in the row of honor in Witomiński graveyard.

Kapitan żeglugi wielkiej, nestor polskiego szkolnictwa morskiego.

Był jednym z pierwszych wykładowców Szkoły Morskiej w Tczewie, a od 1930 r. do wybuchu wojny Państwowej Szkoły Morskiej w Gdyni. Po wojnie organizował szkolnictwo morskie w Szczecinie.
Antoni hr. Halka-Ledóchowski urodził się 13 czerwca 1895 roku na Morawach. Służył na stanowiskach oficerskich we flocie austriackiej, a po odzyskaniu niepodległości, w stopniu kapitana marynarki, w Polskiej Marynarce Wojennej. Przeszedł następnie do służby cywilnej, uzyskał dyplom kapitana żeglugi wielkiej. W Szkole Morskiej w Tczewie, a następnie w Gdyni, wykładał matematykę, dewiację magnetyczną kompasów, astronomię i locję. Po wybuchu II wojny światowej został na krótko aresztowany a następnie osiadł w Krakowie, gdzie pracował jako urzędnik.
Wraz z innym nestorem polskiego szkolnictwa morskiego, kpt. ż.w. Konstantym Maciejewiczem, organizował wydział nawigacyjny, otwartej 1 stycznia 1947 r. Państwowej Szkoły Morskiej w Szczecinie. W 1953 r., ze względu na pochodzenie, zmuszony został do przeniesienia się do pracy w Szczecińskim Urzędzie Morskim. W 1958 r. wrócił do pływania, podejmując pracę w Polskiej Żegludze Morskiej. Pożegnanie z czynną służbą miało miejsce w 1962 r., kiedy to jako kapitan s/s "Poznań" doprowadził statek do Szczecina. Zakończenie rejsy miało wymiar symboliczny, gdyż był to równocześnie ostatni rejs wysłużonego trampa - ostatniego z tzw. "francuzów" - statków kupionych w 1926 r. przez Żeglugę Polską, tworzących zalążek naszej floty handlowej. W 1963 r. kpt. Ledóchowski powrócił jeszcze do pracy w szkolnictwie morskim jako wykładowca astronawigacji w Państwowej Szkole Rybołówstwa Morskiego w Szczecinie, gdzie pracował do przejścia na emeryturę w 1965 roku.

Był autorem m.in. pierwszych w niepodległej Polsce podręczników do nawigacji: "Astronomia żeglarska" (1928), "Tablice nawigacyjne" (1933), "Kurs nawigacji" (1942), "Astronawigacja", "Dewiacja kompasu".

Zmarł 22 sierpnia 1972 r. - pochowany został w kwaterze zasłużonych szczecińskiego Cmentarza Centralnego.

Imieniem kpt. Antoniego Ledóchowskiego nazwano planetarium przy Wydziale Nawigacyjnym Akademii Morskiej w Gdyni.

Kapitan żeglugi wielkiej, absolwent I rocznika Szkoły Morskiej w Tczewie, oficer "Daru Pomorza" podczas rejsu dookoła świata, dyrektor Państwowej Szkoły Morskiej w Gdyni.

Urodził się w 1898 r. w Wojciechowicach koło Ostrołęki. Podczas nauki w gimnazjum w Pułtusku związał się z ruchem skautowskim, później aktywnie działał w Polskim Towarzystwie Gimnastycznym "Sokół". Maturę zdał w 1919 r. w Kijowie, gdzie udzielał się także w polonijnym harcerstwie. Do kraju powrócił wraz z wycofującymi się z Ukrainy oddziałami polskimi, jako członek Polskiej Organizacji Wojskowej .

Jeszcze podczas wojny polsko-bolszewickiej zgłosił akces do Marynarki Wojennej, na front jednak nie trafił. Zgłosił się następnie do utworzonej w Tczewie Szkoły Morskiej. Będąc prymusem, uzyskał niewielkie stypendium, oraz zatrudnienie na stanowisku instruktora wychowania fizycznego.

Uczestniczył w pionierskim rejsie żaglowca szkolnego "Lwów" do Brazylii, a po ukończeniu szkoły objął na nim stanowisko IV oficera. Pracował następnie w Departamencie Morskim Ministerstwa Przemysłu i Handlu, skąd powrócił do Szkoły Morskiej w Gdyni, gdzie w 1936 r. objął stanowisko inspektora, a w 1937 r. otrzymał nominację na dyrektora.

Poza obowiązkami służbowymi udzielał się w wielu organizacjach działających na rzecz morza. Zajmował się także publicystyką morską, a jego książkowa relacja z wyprawy "Daru Pomorza" dookoła świata "Przez trzy oceany" otrzymała nagrodę Srebrny Wawrzyn Akademicki, przyznawaną przez Polską Akademię Literatury.

Zmobilizowany 29 sierpnia 1939 r., objął dowództwo statku żeglugi przybrzeżnej "Gdynia". W drugim dniu wojny, bezpośrednie trafienia bomb topią "Gdynię", ginie ok. 40 ludzi, ranny Stanisław Kosko trafia do gdyńskiego szpitala, gdzie 8 września umiera. W pogrzebie na Cmentarzu Witomińskim, wśród świstu kul, uczestniczyła garstka profesorów, uczniów i pracowników Szkoły Morskiej.
Po wojnie żona postawiła kapitanowi pomnik z napisem: "Pierwszy uczeń i ostatni dyrektor Szkoły Morskiej w Gdyni".

Kontradmirał (awansowany pośmiertnie, w 2007 r. do stopnia wiceadmirała), Szef Służb Kierownictwa Marynarki Wojennej II RP, inżynier budowy okrętów, zamordowany w Katyniu w 1940 r.

Urodził się 16 października 1882 roku w majątku Giedejki na Wileńszczyźnie. W 1901 roku ukończył szkołę realną w Wilnie i tego samego roku wstąpił do rosyjskiej marynarki wojennej, rozpoczynając studia na Wydziale Budowy Okrętów Morskiej Szkoły Inżynieryjnej w Kronsztadzie.
W 1905 roku, po ukończeniu studiów z tytułem inżyniera i nominacji na pierwszy stopień oficerski ? miczmana, otrzymał przydział służbowy w porcie wojennym w Kronsztadzie. Przez całą służbę w Carskiej Marynarce Wojennej związany był ze stoczniami. Był m.in. głównym inżynierem , a potem dyrektorem Rosyjsko-Bałtyckich Zakładów Budowy Okrętów w Rewlu (Tallinie).
Do Polski wrócił w czerwcu 1920 roku i po weryfikacji na stopień komandora porucznika, w końcu tego roku objął stanowisko komendanta Portu Wojennego w Modlinie, a jednocześnie szefa Służby Technicznej Flotylli Wiślanej. W 1925 roku został przeniesiony do Kierownictwa Marynarki Wojennej, następnie był przewodniczącym Komisji Nadzorczej przy Budowie Okrętów we Francji - dwóch niszczycieli (OORP ?Wicher" i ?Burza?) i 3 okrętów podwodnych (OORP ?Wilk", ?Ryś", ?Żbik"). Od sierpnia do końca września 1932 roku komandor Czernicki był przewodniczącym Komisji Budowy Nowych Okrętów w kraju - 4 trałowców typu ?Jaskółka". 1 października 1932 roku objął obowiązki szefa Służb Kierownictwa Marynarki Wojennej (technicznych i logistycznych). Z jego inicjatywy podjęto w 1934 roku prace nad projektem budowy Stoczni Marynarki Wojennej w Gdyni. W uznaniu zasług wniesionych w budowę morskiej siły zbrojnej Xawery Czernicki mianowany został w marcu 1939 roku kontradmirałem.
Po agresji niemieckiej na Polskę zajmował się pracami likwidacyjnymi biur Kierownictwa Marynarki Wojennej, po których zakończeniu otrzymał rozkaz ewakuacji do Pińska ? ówczesnej siedziby Flotylli Rzecznej. Po dotarciu do miejsca podróży, szybko pogarszająca się sytuacja militarna Polski, zmusiła kadrę Kierownictwa MW do dalszej podróży. Grupa pod dowództwem kontradmirała Xawerego Czernickiego udała się do Brodów, a następnie w kierunku na Równe. 23 września dostał się do niewoli sowieckiej. Razem z innymi oficerami 6 listopada 1939 roku trafił do Kozielska. Został zamordowany w 1940 roku przez NKWD.

Wiceadmirał Xawery Stanisław Czernicki odznaczony był m.in.: Krzyżem Oficerskim Orderu Odrodzenia Polski (IV klasy), francuską Legią Honorową (IV klasy), szwedzkim Orderem Miecza (III klasy) oraz orderami rosyjskimi: Świętego Stanisława i Świętej Anny.
Postanowieniem Prezydenta RP śp. Lecha Kaczyńskiego z dnia 5 października 2007 został mianowany pośmiertnie do stopnia wiceadmirała.

Dziennikarz, działacz, popularyzator spraw morza. Wieloletni redaktor naczelny kultowego miesięcznika "Morze", współtwórca "Rocznika Gdyńskiego", wybitny Gdynianin, kronikarz miasta i polskiego morza.

Urodził się 9 grudnia 1921 r. we Włocławku. Czasy okupacji spędził jako robotnik w Płocku. W 1945 r., po zdaniu matury, rozpoczął pracę w Wydziale Morskim Urzędu Wojewódzkiego w Gdańsku. W 1946 r. zamieszkał w Gdyni, mieście które pokochał i na rzecz którego pracował przez całe swoje zawodowe życie. Z powodów zdrowotnych (wada wzroku) nie dana mu była służba na morzu. Stał się jednak wielkim orędownikiem i popularyzatorem spraw morskich.

W latach 1946-1951 pracował w redakcjach czasopism ˝Żeglarz˝ i ˝Młody Żeglarz˝, wydawanych przez Państwowe Centrum Wychowania Morskiego w Gdyni. Jako instruktor PCWM prowadził m.in. tzw. Kursy Pracy Morskiej przysposabiające do pracy w zawodach morskich.
Wkrótce także ujawniła się jego pasja i talent dziennikarski. W roku 1952 został sekretarzem redakcji miesięcznika ˝Morze˝, później przez 20 lat (1968-1988) był jego redaktorem naczelnym. ˝Morze˝ Jerzego Micińskiego to marka o ogólnokrajowym zasięgu i wielkim wpływie na rozumienie spraw morza - gospodarki i techniki morskiej, kultury, nauki, historii i tradycji morskiej Polski.

Był inicjatorem i redaktorem jedenastu tomów ˝Rocznika Gdyńskiego˝. Wydawnictwo to stało się prawdziwym archiwum wiedzy o Gdyni, jej historii, współczesności, ludziach. Jerzy Miciński prowadził także bardzo aktywną działalność społeczną na rzecz Gdyni i morza. Współtworzył i działał w Towarzystwach: Miłośników Gdyni, Przyjaciół ˝Daru Pomorza˝, Okrętu-Muzeum "Błyskawica", Towarzystwie Przyjaciół Centralnego Muzeum Morskiego, reaktywowanej Lidze Morskiej. Położył również duże zasługi dla muzealnictwa morskiego. Uchodzi za inicjatora skutecznej batalii prasowej o zachowanie ˝Daru Pomorza˝ i ˝Sołdka˝. Miał także swój istotny udział w zbiórce funduszy na żaglowiec ˝Dar Młodzieży˝.

Jerzy Miciński jest autorem kilku książek o fundamentalnym znaczeniu dla historii polskiej floty m.in.: ˝Pod polską banderą˝ (wspólnie ze Stefanem Kolickim, 1962), ˝Polskie statki pomocnicze i specjalne 1920-1939˝ (1967), ˝Żaglowce handlowe z Rewy˝ (1974). Jednakże ukoronowaniem stała się czterotomowa praca ˝Księga statków polskich˝(1996- 2002). Dzieło to z powodu śmierci autora dokończyli jego uczniowie i współpracownicy
Jerzy Miciński zmarł 10 stycznia 1995 r. w Gdyni. Pochowany został na cmentarzu Witomińskim.