The ORP Błyskawica is notable for many reasons, including:

• On September 7, 1939, ORP Błyskawica made contact with and attacked a German U-Boat. This was the first documented combat between the Allied Navies and the German submarine fleet in WWII.
• A month later, on November 7, 1939, the crew of ORP Błyskawica was the first to report seeing the Germans launch a torpedo from an aircraft, one of two Heinkel 115s that attacked the ship. Although the Admiralty was dubious about it at the time, the observed similar attack and sinking of an allied ship a few days later in the same area confirmed their observation.
• On the nights of May 4 and May 5, 1942, ORP Błyskawica helped defend the shipyards and aircraft factory in Cowes, Isle of Wight from an air raid by 160 German bombers - An incident which is still celebrated every year.
• In 1942, ORP Błyskawica escorted the Queen Mary onto her rendezvous point after the collision which sunk HMS "Curacoa".
• ORP Błyskawica is the only Polish Navy ship awarded the Virtuti Militari medal, Poland's highest military decoration for courage in the face of the enemy.
• ORP Błyskawica served longer than any other military ship in WWII.
• During WWII, ORP Błyskawica logged 146,000 nautical miles and escorted eighty-three convoys, conducting 108 operational patrols in all, in which she sunk two enemy warships, damaged three submarines and shot down at least four aircraft.
• ORP Błyskawica is now the oldest destroyer in the World. The ship is preserved as a museum in Gdynia, Poland.