''K XII'' was a patrol

submarines 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 o ...

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 ...

. 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 ''"N ...

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 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 ...

for 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 ...

. The route she took led through 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 ...

. On 6 September 1938 she participated in a fleet review at

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

. 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 War ...

on the 40th anniversary of her

inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...

. 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 Phil ...

and waters around the Dutch East Indies and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. 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

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese 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 Rese ...

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, Australia. It was in operation from 1931 until its closure in 1989. History The Manly Fun Pier started life as a cargo wharf at ...

. 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 Fairlight may refer to: In places: * Fairlight, East Sussex, a village east of Hastings in southern England, UK * Fairlight, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Fairlight, Saskatchewan, Canada In other uses: * Fairlight (company), an ...

. 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