''O 13'' was an of 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 ...

that saw service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was built by the

Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde Damen Naval is a Dutch shipyard, and a continuation of the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, responsible for a number of ships used by the Royal Netherlands Navy. It is owned by the Damen Group. Damen Naval is situated in Vlissingen. History ...

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic l ...

. She was one of many Dutch ships doing convoy duty during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. At the time of the German invasion of the Netherlands, ''O 13'' was on patrol off the Dutch coast and was attacked by German planes on multiple occasions. After fleeing to England, the submarine was lost during a patrol on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

.dutchsubmarines.com :: O 13
/ref>

Service history

Before World War II

''O 13'' ran into a fishing boat, ''HD 7'', from

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

in the Schulpengat on 26 September 1933, sinking ''HD 7''. With sister ship , ''O 13'' attended the Brussels International Exposition in 1935.Dutchsubmarines.com :: O 15
/ref> Later that year ''O 13'', with the Dutch vessels , , , , and , sailed around the

, stopping at

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

and

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. In 1937 ''O 13'' did convoy duty in the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

during the

,Dutch Submarines.com :: O 12
/ref> along with ''Hertog Hendrik'', , , and ''O 15''.scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: maritiemekalender 10-jan-1931
/ref>

During World War II

During the German attack on the Netherlands in 1940 ''O 13'' patrolled along the Dutch coast and was attacked multiple times by German aircraft. On 10 May 1940, she sailed to England escorted by the minesweeper and arrived in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

the next day. During the

evacuation of Dunkirk The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

''O 13'' was on patrol in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. After the

Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

''O 13'' was transferred to the 9th Submarine Flotilla based in Dundee, Scotland, together with the other Dutch submarines , , , and . ''O 13'' sailed on her first patrol from Dundee on 12 June 1940 and disappeared. The submarine was presumed lost on 22 June 1940. Since there are no German records about ''O 13'' having been sunk it is assumed that the submarine ran into a mine, a distinct possibility since ''O 13'' was patrolling in an area known to have been mined,K.W.L. Bezemer, ''Zij vochten op de zeven zeeën''. W. de Haan, 1954. possibly the same minefield where the Polish submarine was lost. One other possibility is that ''O 13'' was rammed by the Polish submarine , which reported running into an unidentified submarine on 20 June at 0.25 am, but that submarine allegedly had a deck gun mounted forward of the conning tower and ''O-13'' did not.dutchsubmarines.com :: The Wilk case
/ref> Moreover, the newest analysis of the ''Wilk's'' damages shows the most probable possibility: that it collided with a German minefield protector

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of yac ...

, rather than a submarine.Andrzej S. Bartelski (in Polish). ''Tajemnica ataku ORP Wilk'' (A mystery of ORP Wilk attack). "Morze, Statki i Okręty" nr 11/2013 (139), p. 30-40 Searching of the ''O13'' wreck in the area of the ''Wilk's'' reported collision was fruitless.

Monument and memory

In September 2009,

Dundee International Submarine Memorial Dundee International Submarine Memorial commemorates the 296 sailors and commandos lost on operations from the submarine base at Dundee in Scotland, HMS ''Ambrose'', during World War II. Background Dundee in Scotland was the home port of the Ro ...

was dedicated to the memory of the 296 sailors and commandos who served on submarines operating from there and who did not return, among them the crews of ''O 13'' and . ''O 22'' was located near Norway in 1993. ''O 13'' is referred to as "still on patrol", as it is the last Dutch submarine still to be found, of the seven submarines the Royal Dutch Navy lost in World War II. In September 2012, the Royal Netherlands Navy announced they would renew the search with new, advanced equipment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:O 13 1930 ships Ships built in Vlissingen World War II submarines of the Netherlands O 12-class submarines Missing submarines of World War II Lost submarines of the Netherlands Maritime incidents in June 1940 World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea Warships lost with all hands Submarines built by Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde