HNLMS K VII

K VII was a K V-class patrol submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The ship was built by Fijenoord shipyard in Rotterdam.

History
Netherlands
Name: K VII
Builder: Fijenoord, Rotterdam
Laid down: 25 July 1916
Launched: 8 March 1921
Commissioned: 5 September 1922
Decommissioned: 18 February 1942
General characteristics [1]
Type: K V-class submarine
Displacement:
  • 569 tons surfaced
  • 649 tons submerged
Length: 57.31 m (188 ft 0 in)
Beam: 5.6 m (18 ft 4 in)
Draught: 3.82 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsion:
Speed:
  • 13.5 kn (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) surfaced
  • 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged
Range:
  • 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph) on the surface
  • 25 nmi (46 km; 29 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged
Complement: 31
Armament:
  • 2 × 17.7 inch bow torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 17.7 inch stern torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 17.7 inch external-traversing torpedo tubes forward of the conning tower
  • 1 x 75 mm gun
  • 1 x 12.7 mm machine gun

Service history

The submarine was laid down in Rotterdam at the shipyard of Fijenoord on 25 July 1916. The launch took place on 8 March 1921. On 5 September 1922 the ship was commissioned in the Dutch navy.[2]

18 September 1923 K VII together with K II, K VIII and the submarine tender Pelikaan began their journey to the Dutch East Indies, the ships theater of operations. On board K II was professor F.A. Vening Meinesz who conducted gravity measurements. He left the ship in Colombo. The ships where delayed when Pelikaan ran aground at Tunis.

On 11 December 1923 the ships arrived at Sabang where they stayed until 7 December. On 7 December they set sail for Tanjung Priok where they arrived at 24 December 1923.[2][3]

World War II

In 1941 at the time of the declaration of war with Japan the boat was in Surabaya where it was kept in reserve. On 18 February 1942 the K VII was destroyed in a Japanese bombing of the Surabaya harbor. At the time of the bombing the boat was submerged in the harbor in an attempt to save the ship from destruction. The attempt failed and all 13 men manning the boat died in the attack.[2]

References
  1. "Dutch Submarines: The K V submarine class". dutchsubmarines.com. 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  2. "Dutch Submarines: The submarine K VII". dutchsubmarines.com. 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  3. "Dutch Submarines: The submarine K II". dutchsubmarines.com. 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
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