The "ORP Błyskawica" destroyer was built in the British shipyard John Samuel White & Co. Ltd. in 1936. It was first used in 1937 as part of the Destroyer Division of the Polish Navy and experienced its first naval campaign one year later. In those times, it was one of the fastest and the most modern ships of its class. During the war, "Błyskawica" actively participated in battles, for example in the Narvik Battles, where its twin unit, "ORP Grom" was sunken. It took part in convoy services, the continent invasion in Normandy and came back to Poland in 1947.

The ship has been a museum since 1976 and can be found at the Kościuszko square in Gdynia. Currently, it's the only ship of the Polish Navy that survived World War II and the oldest destroyer of the Anti-Hitler Coalition fleet in the world .