HNLMS O 21

O 21
History
Netherlands
Name: O 21
Builder: Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, Vlissingen
Laid down: 20 November 1937
Launched: 21 October 1939
Commissioned: 10 May 1940
Decommissioned: 2 November 1957
Fate: Sold for scrapping, 24 January 1958
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: O 21-class submarine
Displacement:
  • 990 tons surfaced
  • 1205 tons submerged
Length: 77.7 m (254 ft 11 in)
Beam: 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
Draught: 3.95 m (13 ft 0 in)
Propulsion:
Speed:
  • 19.5 kn (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph) surfaced
  • 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) submerged
Range:
  • 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced
  • 28 nmi (52 km; 32 mi) at 8.5 kn (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) submerged
Complement: 39
Armament:
  • 4 × 21 in (533 mm) bow torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 21 in stern torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 21 in (1×2) external-traversing TT amidships

O 21, laid down K XXI was an O 21-class submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy that saw service during World War II. During the war she sank several ships, among them the German submarine U-95.

Ship history

The submarine was laid down on 20 November 1937 as K XXI at the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, Vlissingen During construction she was renamed O 21, and was finally launched on 21 October 1939. Following the German invasion of 10 May 1940, the O 21 was hastily commissioned, still incomplete, and sailed for England on 12 May together with her sister O 22 and the tugboat B.V. 37, to be finally completed at the Navy yard in Rosyth.[2]

During the war she operated around England, the Mediterranean sea, Colombo in the Indian Ocean and Fremantle off the west coast of Australia. She survived the war and was decommissioned on 2 November 1957 and sold for scrap the following year.[2]

Summary of raiding history

Ships sunk and damaged by O 21.[3]

Date Ship name Nationality/Type Tonnage (GRT) Fate
28 July 1941 Ernesto Italian merchant ? missed
3 August 1941 ? Italian barquentine ? Damaged
5 September 1941 Isarco Italian merchant 5738 Sunk
3 October 1941 Oued Yquem Vichy-French merchant 1369 Sunk
22 November 1941 San Salvatore Italian schooner 92 Sunk
28 November 1941 U-95 German submarine 769 tonnes (757 long tons) ↑
871 t (857 long tons) ↓ 		Sunk 36°24′N 3°20′W / 36.400°N 3.333°W / 36.400; -3.333
13 March 1943 Kasuga Maru No.2 Japanese merchant cargo ship 3967 Sunk
22 April 1943 Yamazato Maru Japanese army cargo ship 6925 Sunk
29 July 1945 ? Japanese coaster ? Damaged
29 July 1945 ? Japanese coaster ? Damaged

References

  1. ↑ "Dutch Submarines: The O 21 submarine class". dutchsubmarines.com. 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Dutch Submarines: The submarine O 21". dutchsubmarines.com. 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  3. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur (2013). "HNMS O 21". uboat.net. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
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