''K XII'' was a patrol
submarines of the
Royal Netherlands Navy. The ship was built by ''Fijenoord'' shipyard in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
.
Service history
The submarine was ordered on 3 September 1921 and laid down in Rotterdam at the shipyard of ''Fijenoord'' on 9 January 1923. The launch took place on 15 July 1924.
On 19 May 1925 the boat was commissioned in the Dutch navy.
In September 1926 ''K XII'' left
Den Helder for the
Dutch East Indies. The route she took led through the
Suez Canal.
On 6 September 1938 she participated in a fleet review at
Surabaya. The show was held in honor of the Dutch Queen
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...
on the 40th anniversary of her
inauguration. More than twenty navy ships participated in the review.
World War II
During the war she made several patrols 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 Phi ...
and waters around the Dutch East Indies and
Australia. Only the patrol ''K XII'' made from 7 to 16 December 1941 in the South China Sea was successful. According to American sources ''K XII'' sank or damaged the
Japanese freighter ''Toro Maru'' (1,939t) on 12 December. Japanese sources name the troopship ''Awajisan Maru'' (9,794t) as the target. Dutch sources report an approximately 8,000t ship as the target but give no name. A day later on 13 December she sank the Japanese tanker ''Taizan Maru'' (3,525t).
On 6 March 1942 ''K XII'' fled Surabaya ahead of the invading Japanese forces taking with them the naval commander of Surabaya,
Pieter Koenraad
Pieter Koenraad (6 June 1890 – 22 February 1968) was a Dutch Naval Officer, the Rear-Admiral of naval forces in the Dutch East Indies between 1943 and 1946, during World War II. Before the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies, he was the fl ...
and his staff. The ship arrived in Australia on 20 March.
The submarine carried out patrols for the Dutch intelligence service, including the landing of spies on the coast of Java, and from June 1943 to March 1944, the ''K XII'' operated under American command and was involved in anti-submarine exercises with Australian and other Allied warships off Fremantle.
On 5 May 1944 the boat was paid off and sold in 1945.
Australian tourist attraction
The K XII became a tourist attraction in
Luna Park Sydney
Luna Park Sydney is a heritage-listed amusement park located at 1 Olympic Drive in the harbourside suburb of Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. The amusement park is owned by the Luna Park ...
and
Manly Fun Pier
The Manly Fun Pier (or Manly Amusement Pier) was a small amusement park located on a wharf in Manly, New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaC ...
. After a storm in June 1949, the sub was towed to less exposed waters but the towline broke and the sub drifted ashore at
Fairlight. It remained there for 18 months before being salvaged and cut up for scrap in 1951.
References
External links
Description of ship
{{DEFAULTSORT:K XII, HNLMS
1924 ships
Ships built in the Netherlands
K XI-class submarines
World War II submarines of the Netherlands