HNLMS ''K XVI'' was one of five s built for the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

(RNN). Entering service in 1934, the submarine was deployed to the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. On 24 December 1941, ''K XVI'' torpedoed and sank the ; the first

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

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 diver Recreational diving or sport diving is diving for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment, usually when using scuba equipment. The term "recreational diving" may also be used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of r ...

Construction

''K XVI'' was ordered from Rotterdam-based shipbuilder

Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij The Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (RDM) was the largest pre-World War II shipbuilding and repair company in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, existing from 1902 to 1996. It built 355 mostly major seagoing vessels, 18 of which were submarines. R ...

on 30 May 1929, and was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

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

. She remained in this area after the start of World War II. On 24 December 1941, approximately off Kuching at , the submarine torpedoed and sank the .Agence France-Presse, ''Missing Dutch WWII sub found off Borneo''D'Albas, ''Death of a Navy'', Brown, ''Warship Losses of World War II'', The destroyer's aft

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

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 , but was fended off by

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

s. ''K XVI'' was torpedoed by the 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 {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

announced that the wreck of ''K XVI'' had been found by Australian and Singaporean

s off the northern coast of Borneo.

Citations

References

;Books * * ;News articles * {{DEFAULTSORT:K XVI, HNLMS 1933 ships Ships sunk by Japanese submarines K XIV-class submarines Lost submarines of the Netherlands World War II shipwrecks in the South China Sea Maritime incidents in December 1941 Warships lost in combat with all hands Submarines sunk by submarines Submarines built by Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij