HNLMS K XVI

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 Japanese destroyer 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.

HNLMS K XVI in the Dutch East Indies, circa 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II.
History
Netherlands
Name: HNLMS K XVI
Ordered: 30 May 1929
Awarded: 31 May 1930
Builder: Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij
Laid down: 8 April 1933
Commissioned: 31 January 1934
Fate: Sunk on 25 December 1941
General characteristics
Class and type: K XIV-class submarine
Displacement:
  • 865 tons surfaced
  • 1045 tons submerged
Length: 73.64 m (241 ft 7 in)
Beam: 6.51 m (21 ft 4 in)
Draught: 3.93 m (12 ft 11 in)
Propulsion:
Speed:
  • 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) surfaced
  • 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) submerged
Range:
  • 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) on the surface
  • 26 nmi (48 km; 30 mi) at 8.5 kn (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) submerged
Complement: 38
Armament:
  • 4 × 21 inch bow torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 21 inch stern torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 21 inch external-traversing torpedo tubes forward of the conning tower
  • 1 x 88 mm gun
  • 2 x 40 mm guns

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) off Kuching at 02°30′N 109°50′E, the submarine torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer 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 Japanese submarine I-166 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]

Citations
  1. "The submarine K XVI". DutchSubmarines.com. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  2. Agence France-Presse, Missing Dutch WWII sub found off Borneo
  3. D'Albas, Death of a Navy,
  4. Brown, Warship Losses of World War II,
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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
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