HMAS K9

HMAS K9 in 1943
History
Netherlands
Name: K IX
Ordered: 27 June 1917
Launched: 23 December 1922
Commissioned: 21 June 1923
Decommissioned: 25 July 1942
Fate: transferred to RAN
History
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

  1. ↑ "Dutch Submarines: The Submarine K IX". Dutchsubmarines.com. 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Carruthers 2006, p. 151.
  3. ↑ Straczek 1996, p. 103.
  4. ↑ Stevens 2001, p. 132.

References

External links


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