The ''O 19'' class was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of two

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

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 ...

by '' Fijenoord'', Rotterdam. The ships were designed as submarine minelayer for operations in both European and colonies waters. The class comprised ''O 19'' and ''O 20'' and 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. The submarines diving depth was . These units were very similar to earlier

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

, with a reduced torpedo battery and 10 vertical mine tubes fitted on each beam.

History

The two Dutch submarines of the ''O 19''-class, which were built on June 15, 1936 at the yard of Wilton-Fijenoord in

Schiedam Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...

, deviated in many ways from their predecessors. The boats were first planned as K XIX and K XX (K stands for submarines intended for Dutch Colonies) but during the construction it was decided that they were going to be put on the budget of the Department of War, which resulted in the names getting changed to O 19 and O 20. With that the ships were the first Dutch submarines that were not specifically built for Dutch or colonial waters, but would be intended for general service. The HNLMS O 19 and O 20 were put into service in 1939 following a short training period.

Design

The design of the ''O 19''-class submarines came from the Dutch engineer G. van Rooy and was partly based on that of the Polish submarines of the Orzel-class, which were built in the

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at the same time. The ''O 19''-class submarines were the first submarines built in the

that could lay mines and were equipped with 20 vertical minetubes, also called "minebuns". These minebuns, which were located outside the pressure-resistant double skin, could each accommodate two mines that could be discharged separately from each other hydraulically. The design of the minebuns came from the French shipyard Normand-Fenaux. The only mine-laying submarine that had been in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy was HNLMS M-1, a German U-boat that had run aground in the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, was interned and later taken over from the Germans. The diesel engines for the submarines of the ''O 19''-class submarines were 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 ...

company '' 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 ...

. Besides the ability to lay mines and fire torpedoes both submarines of the ''O 19''-class were also equipped with 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. When it comes to sonar the ''O 19''-class submarines were equipped with noise pulses from the German company ''Atlas Werke'', these were precursors of the ''

Gruppenhorchgerät The ''Gruppenhorchgerät'' ('group listening device', abbreviated GHG) was a hydrophone array which was used on Nazi Germany's U-boats in World War II. Development In World War I carbon microphones were still used as sound receivers. The individu ...

'' which were used by the famous

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

s during the

Second World War 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 ...

. In 1943, during a major maintenance period in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, the noise spanner of the HNLMS ''O 19'' was replaced by an Asdic system of type 120B.

Boats

The ships were originally laid down as ''K XIX'' and ''K XX'' but later renamed ''O 19'' and ''O 20''.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Description of classVideo of USS Cod sinking O 19
{{WWII Dutch ships Submarines of the Netherlands