The O 9-class submarine consisted of three submarines, built for the Royal Netherlands Navy. Used for patrols in the Dutch home waters. The class comprised O 9, O 10, and O 11. Its diving depth was 60 metres (200 ft).

Class overview
NameO 9 class
Builders
Operators Royal Netherlands Navy
Preceded byHNLMS O 8
Succeeded byO 12 class
Built1923–1926
In commission1926–1944
Completed3
Lost1
General characteristics
TypeSubmarine
Displacement
  • 526 tons surfaced
  • 656 tons submerged
Length54.66 m (179 ft 4 in)
Beam5.7 m (18 ft 8 in)
Draught3.53 m (11 ft 7 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced
  • 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged
Range
  • 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) on the surface
  • 25 nmi (46 km; 29 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged
Complement29
Armament

Design

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The O 9-class submarines were designed by J.J. van der Struyff, at the time chief engineer of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN).[1] Together with the submarines of the K XI class they were the first submarines designed fully in-house by the RNN, which resulted in the first indigenous Dutch submarine design.[2][3] The submarines of the O 9-class were the first Dutch submarines built with two propellers and a double hull.[4] Previous classes only had a single hull and one propeller. As a result the submarines of the O 9-class had a different external shape in comparison to previous Dutch submarine classes as they were no longer cigar shaped.[1] The submarines had a length of 54.66 meters, a beam of 5.70 meters and a draught of 3.53 meters.[5] Furthermore, each submarine had a displacement of 526 ton while surfaced and 656 ton underwater.[6] The diving depth of the O 9 class was 60 meters.[7]

The primary armament of the O 9-class submarines consisted of five torpedo tubes; two 53.3 cm torpedo tubes and three 45 cm torpedo tubes.[8][9] The 45 cm torpedo tubes were unusual since most contemporary submarines in service with foreign navies at the time did not use 45 cm torpedo tubes anymore.[10] In addition to the torpedo tubes, each submarine had a single 8.8 cm cannon and a machine gun, which could be used against planes.[6] There was also enough room in the submarine to store 10 torpedoes.[8]

The O 9-class submarines were equipped with two 6 cylinder two-stroke diesel engines made by the company Sulzer in Winterthur.[11][5] Besides the diesel engines, it also had two electric motors and 120 cells.[4] This gave a capacity of 4350 Ah and allowed the submarine to operate solely on electric power for 3 hours.[8] The engines allowed the submarines to reach 900 hp when surfaced and 500 hp underwater, which resulted in a maximum speed while surfaced of 12 kn and underwater 8 knots.[12][4]

Service history

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In the morning of 6 March 1940 the submarines of the O 9-class were planning to do exercises near Texel that would be filmed for propaganda purposes.[13] However, while leaving the harbor of Den Helder the O 11 got rammed by the surveillance vessel BV 3 and as a result of severe damage sunk.[14]

At the time of the German invasion O 11 was under repair in Den Helder.[7] On 14 May 1940 she was scuttled there to prevent her being captured by German forces. However the Germans raised the ship and ordered it repaired. In September 1944 O 11 was sunk in Den Helder to block the entrance of the harbour.[15]

Ships in class

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The ships were built by three different shipyards. O 9 was built by the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde in Flushing, O 10 in Amsterdam at the Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij and O 11 in Rotterdam at Fijenoord shipyard.[9][16]

O 9-class construction data[17][18]
Name Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned
O 9 23 September 1922 7 April 1925 18 January 1926 1 December 1944
O 10 24 December 1923 30 July 1925 1 September 1926 11 October 1944
O 11 24 December 1922 19 March 1925 18 January 1926 Dutch Navy: 14 May 1940 (scuttled)
German navy: September 1944 (sunk)

Citations

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  1. ^ a b Jalhay (1982), p. 113.
  2. ^ Bosscher (1984), pp. 150-151.
  3. ^ Raven (1988), p. 88.
  4. ^ a b c Mark (1997), p. 78.
  5. ^ a b Bosscher and Busssemaker (2007), p. 86.
  6. ^ a b Mark (1997), p. 68.
  7. ^ a b von Münching (1978), p. 34.
  8. ^ a b c Bosscher and Busssemaker (2007), p. 87.
  9. ^ a b von Münching (1978), p. 33.
  10. ^ Bosscher and Busssemaker (2007), p. 24.
  11. ^ Bosscher and Busssemaker (2007), p. 29.
  12. ^ Bosscher and Busssemaker (2007), pp. 86-87.
  13. ^ Bosscher (1984), p. 185.
  14. ^ Jalhay (1982), p. 114.
  15. ^ Mark (1997), p. 79.
  16. ^ Raven (1988), p. 178.
  17. ^ Mark (1997), pp. 78-79.
  18. ^ Jalhay (1982), pp. 113-114.

References

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  • Jalhay, P.C. (1982). Nederlandse Onderzeedienst 75 jaar (in Dutch). Bussum: De Boer Maritiem. ISBN 90-228-1864-0.
  • Bosscher, Ph.M.; Bussemaker, H.O. (2007). Gelouterd door strijd: De Nederlandse Onderzeedienst tot de val van Java, 1942 (in Dutch). Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw. ISBN 978-90-6707-614-2.
  • Mark, Chris (1997). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II (in Dutch). Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 90-6013-522-9.
  • Bosscher, Ph.M. (1984). De Koninklijke Marine in de Tweede Wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Vol. 1: Voorgeschiedenis en de verrichtingen in Nederland, de Europese wateren en het noordelijke deel van de Atlantische Oceaan tot het uitbreken van de oorlog in Azië (December 1941). Franeker: Wever. ISBN 90-6135-371-8.
  • von Münching, L.L. (1978). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in de Tweede Wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Alkmaar: Alk. ISBN 90-6013-903-8.
  • Raven, G.J.A., ed. (1988). De kroon op het anker: 175 jaar Koninklijke Marine (in Dutch). Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw. ISBN 90-6707-200-1.

Further reading

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  • Jalhay, P.C.; Wijn, J.J.A. (1997). Ik nader ongezien! De onderzeeboten van de Koninklijke Marine. Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw. ISBN 9067074624.


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