On June 28th approximately one hundred members of the Polish American community of Southern California gathered at the United States Naval Base, San Diego, California to observe the commissioning of the guided missile frigate Tadeusz Kosciuszko into the Polish Naval Fleet. Included in this group were dozens of Polish American Congress members. The vessel formerly known as the USS Wadsworth, originally commissioned in 1980, was donated to the Polish Navy enabling Poland to continue upgrading its aging Soviet built fleet to conform to NATO standards. Instrumental in this process and present at the ceremony was Lieutenant Peter Podbielski a member of the United States Embassy stationed in Warszawa. Lieutenant Podbielski a native of Bayonne, New Jersey has played a key role in regards to Poland obtaining American vessels to upgrade its fleet.
Security was understandably tight at the naval base. All visitors were required to have current passports available for review. Colonel Andrzej Turek, Military and Naval Attache from the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C., representatives from the Naval base in San Diego and PAC members Olgierd Klejnot, Andrzej Nizynski and Jozef Ladowicz worked diligently to overcome much of the “red tape” involving participation in this historical event. PAC member and Polish National Alliance Lodge 700 President Edward Fitkowski arranged to have a contingent of Krakusy Polish dancers under the directorship of Maciej Pasternak participate in the event. They acted as part of the Polish honor guard and at the end of the program several beautifully dressed Krakowianki presented bouquets of flowers and kisses to the naval dignitaries.
Besides the large contingent of Polonians, a sizable number of family members of the frigates crew attended the event. The three-hour ceremony was presided over by the Wadsworths Commander, Douglas J. Venlet. Decommissioning the Wadsorth was conducted in a dignified manner following U.S. Naval tradition. Many dignitaries were in attendance including Rear Admiral (retired) William Lund Putnum who in 1972 had himself commanded the Wadsworth. William H. Butler, Rear Admiral (Upper Half) United States Naval Reserve was also in attendance. The Kosciuszko was handed off into the capable hands of Commanding Officer Krzysztof Mackowiak. Representatives of the Polish Navy, Rear Admiral Zbigniew Popek, Chief of Logistics, and Rear Admiral Maciej Weglewski, Commander 3rd Flotilla were also present. The lowering of the United States flag and ships colors were accompanied by the one hundred twenty white dressed members of the ships crew debarking the vessel to the tune of America the Beautiful. Within minutes the Polish flag and 3rd Flotilla colors were raised and an equal number of blue dressed Polish seamen boarded the vessel and took control to the familiar Polish tune Sea Our Sea, We Will Always Protect You. Afterward visitors were invited to a sumptuous buffet not far from the vessel anchorage and then proceeded on board the frigate for a tour.
The Kosciuszko sailed for Charleston, South Carolina on July 1st. There she took on additional supplies and proceeded to Gdynia, Poland in order to join the Polish 3rd Flotilla. The Kosciuszko is the second guided missile frigate donated to Poland by the United States. The first vessel formerly known as the Clark was commissioned in the Polish Navy as the Pulaski in March of 2000