HNLMS ''Tonijn'' (Dutch: ''

Thunnus ''Thunnus'' is a genus of ocean-dwelling, ray-finned bony fish from the mackerel family, Scombridae. More specifically, ''Thunnus'' is one of five genera which make up the tribe Thunnini – a tribe that is collectively known as the tunas. Al ...

'') was a ''Potvis''-class

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

(modified ) 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 ...

Ship history

The submarine was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 26 October 1962 at the ''Wilton-Fijenoord'' shipyard in

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

and launched on 14 June 1965. 24 February 1966 she was commissioned in the Dutch navy. While on exercise northwest of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, she received the news that the

US 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 ...

's submarine ''

Walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobeni ...

'' had gone missing. ''Tonijn'' participated in the search for the boat on 16 December 1968. It turned out ''Walrus'' was not lost but had lost radio contact due to a malfunction. From 18 to 28 July 1976 ''Tonijn'' made a visit to

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

to participate in the

Kieler Woche The Kiel Week () or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is considered to be one of the largest sailing events globally, and also the largest summer festivals in Northern Europe, ...

. Later that year she visited

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

from 11 to 14 September. In 1978 ''Tonijn'' was docked at the shipyard of RDM for maintenance. In September 1979 after fires broke out in the port engine room and starboard engine room assisted in towing the boat to

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. The boat was in serious trouble as she also suffered from ''battery depletion'' that was performed at the time the fires broke out leaving the boat with 10% battery power. Den helder - texel 033

On 16 October a refit of the boat began at a dry-docked in Rotterdam. This lasted until 11 December 1979. In 1984 the boat participated in an exercise at

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

with and the . The boat made a trip to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in 1990 and later that year to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. On 10 January 1991 the boat was decommissioned. ''Tonijn'' is preserved as a museum boat at the

Dutch Navy Museum The Dutch Navy Museum is a naval museum in Den Helder, Netherlands. The museum is dedicated to the history of the ''Koninklijke Marine'' (Royal Netherlands Navy). The most important ships the museum owns are: * (minesweeper) * ( ironclad ram) * ...

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 ...

and open to the public since the summer of 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonijn 1965 ships Ships built by Wilton-Fijenoord Dolfijn-class submarines Museum ships in the Netherlands Submarines built by Wilton-Fijenoord