HNLMS O-19
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''O 19'', laid down as ''K XIX'', was an of the
Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...
that saw service during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. ''O 19'', along with her
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, 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 o ...
, were the first submarines in the world to be equipped with a
submarine snorkel A submarine snorkel is a device which allows the engine of a submarine to operate Underwater, 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 eng ...
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 (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
via the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
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 patrols and missions in the Pacific theater, sinking several Japanese vessels, attacking convoys and laying mines. In 1944 ''O 19'' was placed under Task Force 71 of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
. On 16 November 1944 a Japanese coaster was spotted and sunk. On 8 July 1945, ''O 19'' was en route to
Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...
in the Philippines at a speed of when it struck Ladd Reef 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 South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
. Unable to pull free of the reef, the crew of ''O 19'' were rescued by the U.S. Navy submarine . To prevent capture, ''O 19'' was scuttled by both crews using explosives, torpedoes and gunfire.


Design

The diesel engines for the HNLMS ''O 19'' was built under the license of the
Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...
''Sulzer'' by the ''Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde'' in
Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...
. It had 40 mm Bofors guns, which could be stored in watertight compartments in front of and behind the command tower, just like the ''O 12''-class submarines. ''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 (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, 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 ''O 19'' was replaced by an Asdic system of type 120B.


Summary of raiding history

Ships sunk by ''O 19''.


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

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External links


Video of ''USS Cod'' sinking ''O 19''IWM Interview with survivor Elke Scholte
{{DEFAULTSORT:O 19 1938 ships Ships built by Wilton-Fijenoord 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