Both vessels are a part of the mine countermeasure se-
ries developed as Project 258. The first specimen of the
series is ORP "Kormoran" used by the Polish Navy in the
13th Minesweeper Squadron of the 8th Coastal Defence
Flotilla. This squadron, based in Gdynia, is the unit which
will have the two remaining vessels replacing the 206FM
minehunters at its disposal. According to a tradition da-
ting back to the interwar period, the names of minelaying
and minehunting vessels are borrowed from seabirds'
names. The first Albatros serving the Polish Navy was
a roadstead minesweeper developed as part of project
253Ł, received by Poland from the USSR in 1946 and
NAVY NAVY
