HMAS K9
.jpg) HMAS K9 in 1943 | |
| Career (Netherlands) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | K IX |
| Ordered: | 27 June 1917 |
| Launched: | 23 December 1922 |
| Commissioned: | 21 June 1923 |
| Decommissioned: | 25 July 1942 |
| Fate: | transferred to RAN |
| Career (Australia) |  |
| Name: | K9 |
| Commissioned: | 22 June 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 31 March 1944 |
| Reclassified: |
Training vessel (1942) Oil carrier (1944) |
| Fate: | Stranded on Fiona Beach, NSW |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Submarine |
| Length: | 210 ft (64 m) |
| Beam: | 18 ft (5.5 m) |
| Draught: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft diesel electric Sulzer diesels 1500 hp electric motor 630 hp |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h) surfaced 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) at 11 knots (20 km/h) surfaced 25 nautical miles (46 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged |
| Complement: | 31 |
| Armament: | 4 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes (2 bow, 2 stern) 1 × 88 mm (3.5 in) gun 1 × 12.7-millimetre (0.50 in)machine gun |
HMAS K9 (formerly Dutch submarine K IX) was a submarine that served with the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.
Construction
K IX was ordered on 27 June 1917, launched on 23 December 1922 and commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy on 21 June 1923.[1]
Operational history
Royal Netherlands Navy
K IX was based in the Netherlands East Indies from 13 May 1924. By the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, K IX was out of commission but was returned to active service in March 1942. Following the fall of the Netherlands East Indies K IX escaped to Fremantle, Western Australia, arriving on 13 March 1942.[2]
Transfer to Australia
In May 1942 the Dutch government offered K IX to the Royal Australian Navy for use in anti-submarine warfare training. This offer was accepted and K IX arrived in Sydney for repairs on 12 May. On 1 June K IX was damaged by a torpedo explosion during the Attack on Sydney Harbour.[2] K IX was decommissioned from the Royal Netherlands Navy on 25 July 1942 and following extensive repairs was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS K9 on 22 June 1943.[3]
Due to the boat's poor mechanical condition HMAS K9 saw little service with the RAN and spent most of her time in commission under repair.[2] K9 was badly damaged by a battery explosion on 22 January 1944. Due to a lack of spare parts the submarine was decommissioned on 31 March 1944,[2] having spent only 31 days at sea.[4] Following her decommissioning K9 re-entered Dutch service as an oil lighter. K9 was washed ashore near Seal Rocks, New South Wales on 8 June 1945 while under tow to Merauke in Dutch New Guinea and was stripped for scrap.[2]
Notes
- ↑ "Dutch Submarines: The Submarine K IX". Dutchsubmarines.com. 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Carruthers 2006, p. 151.
- ↑ Straczek 1996, p. 103.
- ↑ Stevens 2001, p. 132.
References
- Carruthers, Steven (2006) [1982]. Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942: A Maritime Mystery (Revised ed.). Narrabeen: Casper Publications. ISBN 0-9775063-0-4.
- Stevens, David (2001). The Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Centenary History of Defence. Volume III. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-554116-2.
- Straczek, J.H. (1996). Royal Australian Navy: A-Z Ships, Aircraft and Shore Establishments. Sydney: Navy Public Affairs. ISBN 1876043784.
External links
- Submarines Association of Australia The Pioneers
- Dutchsubmarines.com The Submarine K IX
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