Gdańsk Bay & Gdynia · Poland · Artificial reef
Torpedownia (Babie Doły)
Collapsed walls of a wartime torpedo test station rising from the sea
Photo: Czonek · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Torpedownia is the ruin of a German wartime torpedo test station standing in the sea off the Babie Doły district of Gdynia. Divers explore collapsed walls and scrapped metal over a sandy bottom between 6 and 12 m. It is an ideal first taste of wreck diving in controlled conditions on the Gulf of Gdańsk.
Also known as Torpedownia, Stara Torpedownia, Babie Doly, Babich Dołach.
Where it is and how deep
54.5814° N, 18.5394° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Most groups arrive by boat, tie up to the ruined buildings and enter the water straight from them. Around the station the bottom lies at 6 to 12 m, rising to about 3 m where sections of the structure have collapsed. The U-shaped building is ringed by rubble and scrapped metal structures, and the sandy floor keeps visibility good, reaching 7 to 10 m in spring and autumn.
Background
The Torpedownia is what remains of a complex of research buildings where torpedoes for the German navy and air force were produced and tested during the Second World War. A second building of the kind stood off Oksywie. Over the years the Babie Doły building fell into ruin, and today it is an unusually interesting and popular dive.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Gdańsk Bay & Gdynia: July and August bring the warmest water; January to March is painfully cold, down to about 2 °C in March.
Know before you go
- Torn concrete and scrap metal leave many places where a drysuit can rip or gear can be damaged, so close attention is needed throughout the dive.
Dive videos
Diving on Torpedownia na Babich Dołach(Gdynia, Poland), January 2021 · Shtepakm on YouTube
Sources
- TORPEDOWNIA – Centrum Techniki Nurkowej — Centrum Techniki Nurkowej
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- A ruined grey concrete building with a central graffiti-covered tower stands on pillars in open blue sea under a pale sky by Czonek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Gdańsk Bay & Gdynia
Wreck
A former minesweeper sunk on purpose for diver training
Wreck
A well-preserved patrol boat bombed in Hel harbour in the last weeks of the war
Wreck
A trawler turned German minesweeper, sitting upright near Hel
Wreck
A Soviet-designed submarine chaser where eels and large pike have settled
Similar dives elsewhere
Havheksen, an underwater course laid out for divers beside Copenhagen
A neon-yellow Piper once owned by astronaut Alan Shepard, hovering at 10 m
The large tugboat Triumph, and very large ling cod on the structures
Ten marine-cement sculptures set on the seabed in 2018