HNLMS ''K X'' was one of the three s of the Royal Netherlands Navy, built to serve as a patrol vessel in the Dutch colonies.

Ship history

The submarine was ordered from the Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde shipyard at

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

on 27 June 1917, but not laid down until 1 November 1919, and finally launched on 2 May 1923. Commissioned on 24 September 1923, she sailed alone to the Dutch East Indies in late 1924.

World War II

In February and March 1941 ''K X'', and patrolled the Sunda Strait while based at

Tanjung Priok Tanjung Priok is a district of North Jakarta, Indonesia. It hosts the western part of the city's main harbor, the Port of Tanjung Priok (located in Tanjung Priok District and Koja District). The district of Tanjung Priok is bounded by Laksaman ...

, while the was sinking Allied merchant shipping in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

. After repairs at Surabaya ''K X'' returned to service on 8 December 1941 for local defense duties following the start of the war with Japan. On 25 December 1941 ''K X'' sailed to the

Celebes Sea The Celebes Sea, (; ms, Laut Sulawesi, id, Laut Sulawesi, fil, Dagat Selebes) or Sulawesi Sea, of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east b ...

following the

Japanese invasion of the Philippines Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. On 8 January 1942 ''K X'' arrived at

Tarakan Tarakan is an island and the largest city of the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of the province. The city boundaries are co-extensive with the island (including a co ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

for repairs, just days before the Japanese invasion. ''K X'' slipped out of port on 10 January and after dark observed a large fleet of Japanese ships at anchor off the coast. While attempting to position herself for a torpedo attack the submarine was spotted by an enemy destroyer and was forced to submerge. Short on battery power and with faulty steering gear and only one diesel engine operating the submarine returned to Surabaya for repairs. ''K X'' returned to duty on 24 February to patrol off Surabaya. During the Japanese invasion of Java she was damaged by depth charges and forced to return to port. On 2 March 1942 ''K X'' was scuttled at Surabaya to avoid being captured by the Japanese. ''K X'' was raised by the Japanese during the war and used as a floating oil hulk. Recovered by the Dutch after the war, she was scrapped at Surabaya in 1946. Crewmen from ''K X'', and were sent back to England to crew the submarine ''Haai'', then under construction as , but their unescorted passenger ship was sunk by the German

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 ro ...

north of the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

on 29 October 1942, and only four of the 34 Dutch Navy men aboard survived.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:K X 1923 ships Ships built in Vlissingen K VIII-class submarines World War II submarines of the Netherlands Maritime incidents in March 1942