''O 19'', laid down as ''K XIX'', 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 ...

. ''O 19'', along with her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, were the first submarines in the world to be equipped with a

submarine snorkel A submarine snorkel is a device which allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. British Royal Navy personnel often refer to it as the snort. A concept devised by Dutch engineers, it was widely used ...

that allowed the submarine to run its diesel engines while submerged.

Ship history

Commissioning

The submarine's keel was laid at the Wilton-Fijenoord shipyard in Rotterdam on 15 June 1936 as ''K XIX'' but was renamed ''O 19'' at some point. The submarine was launched on 22 September 1938 and commissioned in the Dutch navy on 3 July 1939. After her commissioning the HNLMS ''O 19'' was put into service by commander Lieutenant-on-sea 1 (LTZ 1) K. van Dongen on July 3, 1939, following a short training period. Three weeks later, on 25 July 1939, the new submarine was already on its way to the

Dutch 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 ...

via the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

where the boat arrived on 13 September.

World War II

On 10 May 1940, the day the Germans invaded the Netherlands, the entire mobilization was proclaimed in the Dutch colony. Most Dutch warships, including the ''O 19'', were used to protect allied merchant ships and to patrol the Indonesian archipelago. On May 31, 1941, the command of the Dutch submarine was taken over by LTZ 1 F.J.A. Knoops. The submarine performed multiple patrols and missions in the Pacific theater of World War II, sinking multiple Japanese vessels, attacking shipping convoys and laying mines. On 8 July 1945, ''O 19'' was en route to Subic Bay in the Philippines at a speed of when it struck

Ladd Reef Ladd Reef ( vi, Đá Lát; Mandarin ) is a Vietnam-controlled reef in the Spratly group of islands, South China Sea. China (PRC) and Taiwan (ROC) are also claimants of the reef. Like Spratly Island, Ladd Reef lies to the west of the Philippine ...

in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

. Unable to pull free of the reef, the crew of ''O 19'' were rescued by the U.S. Navy submarine . To prevent enemy capture, ''O 19'' was scuttled by her crew and the ''Cod's'' crew using explosives, torpedoes and gunfire.

Design

The diesel engines for the HNLMS ''O 19'' was built under the license of the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

''Sulzer'' by the ''Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde'' in

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 ...

. It had 40mm Bofors machine guns, which could be stored in watertight compartments in front of and behind the command tower, just like the ''O 12''-class submarines. The HNLMS ''O 19'' was also equipped with noise pulses from ''Atlas Werke'' in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, which at that time were considered the best in the world. In 1943, during a major maintenance period in Great Britain, the noise spanner of the HNLMS ''O 19'' was replaced by an Asdic system of type 120B.

Summary of raiding history

Ships sunk by ''O 19''.

References

Bibliography

External links

Video of ''USS Cod'' sinking ''O 19''IWM Interview with survivor Elke Scholte
{{DEFAULTSORT:O 19 1938 ships Ships built in the Netherlands World War II submarines of the Netherlands World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Lost submarines of the Netherlands O 19-class submarines Maritime incidents in July 1945