HNLMS K XVIII

K XVIII was one of five K XIV class submarines built for the Royal Netherlands Navy. She served during World War II.

K XVIII
History
Netherlands
Name: K XVIII
Builder: Fijenoord, Rotterdam
Laid down: 10 June 1931
Launched: 27 September 1932
Commissioned: 23 March 1934
Fate: Sunk on 16 June 1945
General characteristics [1]
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

Service history

The submarine was laid down in Rotterdam at the shipyard of Fijenoord on 10 June 1931. The launch took place on 27 September 1932. On 23 March 1934 the boat was commissioned in the Dutch navy.[2] From 20 June to 1 August 1934 K XVIII, K XVII, Hertog Hendrik, Evertsen and Z 5 made a trip to the Baltic Sea. The ports of Gdynia, Königsberg, Riga and Copenhagen were visited.[2]

On 14 November 1934 the boat was sent to the Dutch East Indies, where she arrived on 11 July 1935 in Surabaya. During this journey Felix Andries Vening Meinesz conducted gravity measurements,[2] as he had previously done aboard the USS S-21 in the Caribbean. On 6 September 1938 she participated in a fleet show at Surabaya. The show was held in honor of the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands who celebrating her fortieth year as head of state. More than twenty navy ships participated in the show.[2]

In the war K XVIII sank several Japanese ships.[2] On 24 January 1942 the boat was severely damaged by Japanese depth charges and was forced to return to Surabaya to be repaired.[2] While still under repair at Surabaya she was scuttled on 2 March 1942 in order to prevent the Japanese from capturing the boat.[2] K XVIII was raised by the Japanese in 1944 and converted into an air warning picket hulk and deployed in the Madura Strait. On 16 June 1945 the hulk was sunk by the British submarine Taciturn.[2]

Summary of raiding history

Ships sunk and damaged by K XVIII.[2]

DateShip nameNationality/TypeTonnage (GRT)Fate
23 January 1942?Japanese destroyer1400Sunk
23/24 January 1942Tsuruga MaruJapanese cargo ship6988Sunk
24 January 1942P 37 or # 12Japanese patrol boat or Submarine Chaser935 or 291Damaged
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References
  1. "Dutch Submarines: The K XIV submarine class". dutchsubmarines.com. 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  2. "Dutch Submarines: The submarine K XVIII". dutchsubmarines.com. 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2013.

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