In 1934 the British shipbuilder J. Samuel White won a competition to design and build large destroyers for the Polish Navy, beating a proposal from fellow British shipbuilder Swan Hunter. (A design by the French shipyard Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire had been rejected in 1933).^[1] An order for two destroyers of the Grom class was placed on 29 March 1935.^[2]

At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, the Naval Directorate (KMW) made efforts to acquire another, after the "Wicher" and "Burza", destroyers. On November 24, 1932, the head of the KMW Rear Admiral Jerzy Świrski obtained, after a personal conversation with Marshal Piłsudski, his oral consent to expand the existing fleet^[3]. As a result, in May 1933, a tender for the supply of two destroyers was issued among the French shipyards, and after its fiasco, the next in January 1934 among the Swedish shipyards, also failed in disagreement. During this time, tactical and technical assumptions for the planned ships crystallised, including, among others, the use of the artillery department of the Bofors section, 120 mm, as the main artillery.

At the time of their construction, the Groms were amongst the fastest and most heavily armed destroyers to be built.^[2][4] Błyskawica was 114 metres (374 ft 0 in) long overall and 109 metres (357 ft 7 in) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 11.3 metres (37 ft 1 in) and a draught of 3.1 metres (10 ft 2 in). Displacement was 2,011 long tons (2,043 t) standard and 2,520 long tons (2,560 t) full load.^[5] Three 3-drum boilers fed steam to two sets of geared steam turbines which were rated at 54,500 shaft horsepower (40,600 kW), driving two propeller shafts to give a design speed of 39 knots (72 km/h; 45 mph).^[4][5] Main gun armament consisted of seven 120 mm (4.7 in) guns (50 calibre M34/36 guns supplied by Bofors of Sweden) in three twin and one single mounts, with an anti-aircraft armament of two twin Bofors 40 mm guns and eight 13.2 mm machine guns. Six 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes were carried, compatible with the French torpedoes used by the preceding Wicher-class destroyers. Anti-submarine armament consisted of two depth charge chutes with 40 depth charges, while rails were fitted to permit up to 44 mines to be carried. The ship's complement consisted of 180 officers and men.^[1][4][5]

Błyskawica, the second of the two destroyers, was laid down on 1 October 1935 at J. Samuel White's Cowes, Isle of Wight shipyard, and was launched on 1 October 1936.^[5] Sea trials were successful, with the ship exceeding the design speed of 39 knots.^[6] Błyskawica was commissioned on 1 October 1937.^[5]