HNLMS O 24

O 24, laid down K XXIV was an O 21-class submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy that saw service during World War II. The most famous occupant of O-24 was Piet de Jong, who was the commanding officer from 1944 until 1946 and who later became Minister of Defence in 1963 and served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1967 until 1971.[4]

O 24 in 1948
History
Netherlands
Name: HNLMS O 24
Builder: Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij, Rotterdam
Laid down: 12 November 1937
Launched: 18 March 1940
Commissioned: 13 May 1940
Decommissioned: June 1955
Stricken: 1962
Fate: Sold for scrapping, 1963
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: O 21-class submarine
Displacement:
  • 990 tons surfaced
  • 1205 tons submerged
Length: 77.7 m (254 ft 11 in)
Beam: 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
Draught: 3.95 m (13 ft 0 in)
Propulsion:
Speed:
  • 19.5 kn (36.1 km/h; 22.4 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) surfaced
  • 28 nmi (52 km; 32 mi) at 8.5 kn (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) submerged
Complement: 39
Armament:
  • 4 × 21 in (533 mm) bow torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 21 in stern torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 21 in (1×2) external-traversing TT amidships (removed post-war)
  • 40 mm Vickers gun, replaced in early 1942 by 20 mm Oerlikon
  • British Mk IV and Mk VIII torpedoes
  • German G7a torpedoes[2]
Service record
Commanders:
  • Lt.Cdr G.B.M. van Erkel
  • (12 May – 1 June 1940)
  • Lt.Cdr O. de Booy
  • (14 July 1940 – 3 March 1942)
  • Lt.Cdr W.J. de Vries
  • (3 March 1942 – 25 October 1944)
  • Lt.Cdr P.J.S. de Jong
  • (25 October 1944 – 8 April 1946)[3]
Operations: 24 war patrols
Victories: 8 ships sunk totalling 15,598 tons

Ship history

The submarine was laid down on 12 November 1937 as K XXIV at the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (RDM) shipyard in Rotterdam. During construction she was renamed O 24, and was finally launched on 18 March 1940. Following the German invasion of 10 May 1940, O 24 was hastily commissioned, still incomplete, and sailed for England on 13 May, to be finally completed at the Thornycroft shipyard at Southampton.[5]

From September 1940 she was attached to the 9th Submarine Flotilla at Dundee for patrols in the North Sea and off the Norwegian coast. In March 1941 she joined the 8th Submarine Flotilla at Gibraltar for operations in the Bay of Biscay and Atlantic Ocean, and convoy patrol duties. She also operated off the east coast of Italy, sinking several ships.[5]

In July 1942 O 24 was transferred to the British Eastern Fleet based at Colombo in Ceylon for operations in the Indian Ocean. Her patrols took her into the Strait of Malacca, off Sumatra, and around the Andaman Islands, attacking Japanese shipping and also landing small groups of British special forces on various islands. In mid-1944 she was refitted at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, then sailed for Fremantle, Australia, for further operations in the East Indies. After the Japanese surrender she was based at Batavia, before finally returning to the Netherlands in April 1946.[5]

O 24 was reduced to the status of training ship in 1947, and was decommissioned in June 1955 to serve as a floating battery until 1958, then as an instruction vessel until 1962 when she was struck, and sold for scrapping the following year.[5]

Victories

Ships sunk by O 24.[6]

DateShip nameNationality/TypeTonnage (GRT)Coordinates
12 June 1941FianonaItalian tanker660043°08′N 10°30′E
12 June 1941V 121 CarloforteItalian auxiliary patrol vessel14343°45′N 09°20′E
6 August 1941BombardiereItalian freighter61341°47′N 12°06′E
7 August 1941Margherita MadreItalian schooner29641°23′N 12°28′E
6 September 1941V 63 CarlaItalian auxiliary patrol vessel34743°45′N 09°21′E
9 September 1941Italo BalboItalian freighter511442°47′N 09°57′E
21 February 1943Bandai MaruJapanese coaster16507°52′N 98°16′E
20 August 1943Chosa MaruJapanese auxiliary gunboat253805°09′N 100°10′E
14 Apr 1945Goenoeng Talang IIJapanese sailing cargo vessel4002°20′S 100°49′E
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References
  1. "Dutch Submarines: The O 21 submarine class". dutchsubmarines.com. 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  2. "Torpedoes and mines of the Dutch submarine service". dutchsubmarines.com. 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2013. In 1940 the British captured 84 German torpedoes. Since no British submarine had torpedo tubes long enough, they were issued to Dutch submarines which did.
  3. Houterman, Hans; Koppes, Jeroen (2013). "Dutch Submarines (Onderzeeboten)". unithistories.com. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  4. Houterman, Hans; Koppes, Jeroen (2012). "Nederlandse marineofficieren 1940-1945 : Petrus Josef Sietse de Jong". unithistories.com. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  5. "Dutch Submarines: The submarine O 24". dutchsubmarines.com. 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  6. Helgason, Guðmundur (2013). "HNMS O 24". uboat.net. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
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