HNLMS K XVI
Construction
K XVI was ordered from Rotterdam-based shipbuilder Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij on 30 May 1929, and was laid down on 31 May 1930. The submarine was launched on 8 April 1933, and commissioned into the RNN on 31 January 1934.
Operational history
In January 1935, the boat was deployed to the Netherlands East Indies. She remained in this area after the start of World War II.
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, the submarine torpedoed and sank the Sagiri. The destroyer's aft magazine caught fire and exploded, sinking the ship with 121 of the 241 personnel aboard killed. Later that evening, the submarine attempted to attack the destroyer Murakumo, but was fended off by depth charges.
K XVI was torpedoed by the I-66 a day later, and sank with all 36 aboard. The boat was one of seven Dutch submarines lost during World War II.
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. In July 2024 it was reported that the wreck of K XVI had been illegally salvaged.
Citations
- ^ "The submarine K XVI". DutchSubmarines.com. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
- ^ Agence France-Presse, Missing Dutch WWII sub found off Borneo
- ^ D'Albas, Death of a Navy,
- ^ Brown, Warship Losses of World War II,
- ^ Jaime Karremann (5 July 2024). "Wrak Nederlandse onderzeeboot K XVI geroofd". Marineschepen.nl (in Dutch).
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
- Agence France-Presse (25 October 2011). "Missing Dutch WWII sub found off Borneo". The Australian. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
