HNLMS K XVI was one of five K XIV-class submarines built for the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN). Entering service in 1934, the submarine was deployed to the Netherlands East Indies. On 24 December 1941, K XVI torpedoed and sank the Sagiri; the first Allied submarine to sink a Japanese warship. A day later, the Dutch submarine was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-66 (later renumbered to be I-166) off Borneo, with all aboard killed. The wreck of K XVI was rediscovered in October 2011 by a group of recreational divers and has since been illegally salvaged.

Construction

K XVI was ordered from Rotterdam-based shipbuilder Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij on 30 May 1929, and was laid down on 31 May 1930.[1] The submarine was launched on 8 April 1933, and commissioned into the RNN on 31 January 1934.[1]

Operational history

In January 1935, the boat was deployed to the Netherlands East Indies.[1] She remained in this area after the start of World War II.[1]

On 24 December 1941, approximately 35 nautical miles (65 km; 40 mi) off Kuching at 02°30′N 109°50′E / 2.500°N 109.833°E / 2.500; 109.833, the submarine torpedoed and sank the Sagiri.[2][3][4] The destroyer's aft magazine caught fire and exploded, sinking the ship with 121 of the 241 personnel aboard killed.[3][4] Later that evening, the submarine attempted to attack the destroyer Murakumo, but was fended off by depth charges.[1]

K XVI was torpedoed by the I-66 a day later, and sank with all 36 aboard.[1][2] The boat was one of seven Dutch submarines lost during World War II.[2]

On 25 October 2011, the Dutch Ministry of Defence announced that the wreck of K XVI had been found by Australian and Singaporean recreational divers off the northern coast of Borneo.[2] In July 2024 it was reported that the wreck of K XVI had been illegally salvaged.[5][6]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f "The submarine K XVI". DutchSubmarines.com. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d Agence France-Presse, Missing Dutch WWII sub found off Borneo
  3. ^ a b D'Albas, Death of a Navy, [page needed]
  4. ^ a b Brown, Warship Losses of World War II, [page needed]
  5. ^ Jaime Karremann (5 July 2024). "Wrak Nederlandse onderzeeboot K XVI geroofd". Marineschepen.nl (in Dutch).
  6. ^ Mariska Buitendijk (8 July 2024). "Sunken Dutch submarines in Malaysia investigated". SWZ|Maritime.

References

Books
  • Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-914-7.
  • D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 978-0-8159-5302-9.
News articles

Further reading

Allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNLMS_K_XVI
No tags for this post.