View source for HNLMS O 13

{{Short description|O 12-class submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy}}
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|Ship image=Hr. Ms. O 13.jpg
|Ship caption=''O 13''
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|Ship country=Netherlands
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Netherlands}}
|Ship name=''O 13''
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|Ship builder=[[Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding|Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde]], [[Vlissingen]]
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|Ship laid down=1 December 1928
|Ship launched=18 April 1931
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|Ship commissioned=1 October 1931
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|Ship fate=Missing after 12&nbsp;June&nbsp;1940
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption= 
|Ship class={{sclass|O 12|submarine}}
|Ship type=
|Ship displacement=*610&nbsp;tons surfaced
*754&nbsp;tons submerged
|Ship length= {{convert|60.4|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|6.8|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draught={{convert|3.6|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} 
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*2 × {{convert|900|bhp|0|abbr=on}} [[diesel engine]]s
*2 × {{convert|310|bhp|0|abbr=on}} [[electric motor]]s
|Ship speed=*{{convert|16|kn|abbr=on|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|8|kn|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship range=*{{convert|10000|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}} on the surface
*{{convert|28|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|8.5|kn|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship test depth=
|Ship complement=29-31
|Ship armament=*4 × 21 inch bow [[torpedo tube]]s
*1 × 21 inch stern [[torpedo tube]] 
*2 × 44 mm guns<ref name="dutchsubmarines-O12-class">[http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/classes/class_o12.htm dutchsubmarines.com :: O 12 class]</ref>
*1 × 12.7 mm machine gun
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'''''O 13''''' was an {{sclass|O 12|submarine}} of the [[Royal Netherlands Navy]] that saw service during [[World War II]]. She was built by the [[Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding|Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde]] of [[Vlissingen]].<ref name="dutchsubmarines-O12-class" /> She was one of many Dutch ships doing convoy duty during the [[Spanish Civil War]]. At the time of the German invasion of the Netherlands, ''O 13'' was on patrol off the Dutch coast and was attacked by German planes on multiple occasions. After fleeing to England, the submarine was lost during a patrol on the [[North Sea]].<ref name="dutchsubmarines-O13">[http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats/boat_o13.htm dutchsubmarines.com :: O 13]</ref>

==Service history==
===Before World War II===
''O 13'' ran into a fishing boat, ''HD 7'', from [[Den Helder]] in the [[Schulpengat]] on 26 September 1933, sinking ''HD 7''. With sister ship {{HNLMS|O 15||2}}, ''O 13'' attended the [[Brussels International Exposition (1935)|Brussels International Exposition]] in 1935.<ref name="dutchsubmarines-O15">[http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats/boat_o15.htm Dutchsubmarines.com :: O 15]</ref> Later that year ''O 13'', with the Dutch vessels {{HNLMS|O 12||2}}, {{HNLMS|O 15||2}}, {{HNLMS|Hertog Hendrik||2}}, {{HNLMS|Van Ghent|1926|2}}, {{HNLMS|Kortenaer|1927|2}} and {{HNLMS|Z 5||2}}, sailed around the [[North Sea]], stopping at [[Gothenburg]] and [[Oslo]]. In 1937 ''O 13'' did convoy duty in the [[Strait of Gibraltar]] during the [[Spanish Civil War]],<ref name="dutchsubmarines-O12">[http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats/boat_o12.htm Dutch Submarines.com :: O 12]</ref> along with ''Hertog Hendrik'', {{HNLMS|Johan Maurits van Nassau|1932|2}}, {{HNLMS|Nautilus|1930|2}}, {{HNLMS|Java|1921|2}} and ''O 15''.<ref name="10-01-1931">{{in lang|nl}} [https://archive.today/20130222191729/http://www.scheepvaartmuseum.nl/collectie/maritieme-kalender?j=1938&m=1&d=10 scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: maritiemekalender 10-jan-1931]</ref>

===During World War II===
During the [[Battle of the Netherlands|German attack on the Netherlands in 1940]] ''O 13'' patrolled along the Dutch coast and was attacked multiple times by German aircraft. On 10 May 1940, she sailed to England escorted by the [[minesweeper (ship)|minesweeper]] {{HNLMS|Jan van Gelder||2}} and arrived in [[Portsmouth]] the next day. During the [[evacuation of Dunkirk]] and [[Operation Aerial#Evacuation from Bordeaux, Le Verdon, Bayonne and St Jean-de-Luz|Bordeaux]] ''O 13'' was on patrol in the [[English Channel]]. After the [[Fall of France]] ''O 13'' was transferred to the 9th Submarine Flotilla based in [[Dundee, Scotland]], together with the other Dutch submarines {{HNLMS|O 20||2}}, {{HNLMS|O 21||2}}, {{HNLMS|O 23||2}}, and {{HNLMS|O 24||2}}. ''O 13'' sailed on her first patrol from Dundee on 12 June 1940 and disappeared. The submarine was presumed lost on 22 June 1940.<ref>UK National Archives ADM 199 1856</ref>

Since there are no German records about ''O 13'' having been sunk it is assumed that the submarine ran into a mine, a distinct possibility since ''O 13'' was patrolling in an area known to have been mined,<ref name="vierde noot">K.W.L. Bezemer, ''Zij vochten op de zeven zeeën''. W. de Haan, 1954.</ref> possibly the same minefield where the Polish submarine {{ORP|Orzeł|1938|6}} was lost. One other possibility is that ''O 13'' was rammed by the Polish submarine {{ORP|Wilk|1929|6}}, which reported running into an unidentified submarine on 20 June at 0.25 am, but that submarine allegedly had a deck gun mounted forward of the conning tower and ''O-13'' did not.<ref name="dutchsubmarines-wilk">[http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/specials/special_the_wilk_case_part_one.htm dutchsubmarines.com :: The Wilk case]</ref> Moreover, the newest analysis of the ''Wilk's'' damages shows the most probable possibility: that it collided with a German minefield protector [[buoy]], rather than a submarine.<ref name=msio13>Andrzej S. Bartelski (in Polish). ''Tajemnica ataku ORP Wilk'' (A mystery of ORP Wilk attack). "Morze, Statki i Okręty" nr 11/2013 (139), p. 30-40</ref> Searching of the ''O13'' wreck in the area of the ''Wilk's'' reported collision was fruitless.<ref name=msio13/>

==Monument and memory==
In September 2009, [[Dundee International Submarine Memorial]] was dedicated to the memory of the 296 sailors and commandos who served on submarines operating from there and who did not return, among them the crews of ''O 13'' and {{HNLMS|O 22||2}}.<ref>[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dundee-International-Submarine-Memorial/178502908906382 Dundee International Submarine Memorial] at Facebook</ref> ''O 22'' was located near Norway in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|title=HNMS ''O 22'' (P 22) of the Royal Dutch Navy|url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2893.html|work=U-boat.net|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> ''O 13'' is referred to as "still on patrol", as it is the last Dutch submarine still to be found, of the seven submarines the Royal Dutch Navy lost in World War II.<ref>{{cite web|title=O13 Still On Patrol|url=http://www.stillonpatrol.nl/en/|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> In September 2012, the Royal Netherlands Navy announced they would renew the search with new, advanced equipment.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dutch Navy to search for Dundee-based submarine lost in WWII|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-19428553|publisher=BBC News Tayside and Central Scotland|accessdate=3 February 2013|date=31 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kuiken|first=Alwin|title=Laatste gezonken onderzeeboot WO II in vizier|url=http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4492/Nederland/article/detail/3291001/2012/07/24/Laatste-gezonken-onderzeeboot-WO-II-in-vizier.dhtml|accessdate=3 February 2013|newspaper=Trouw|language=Dutch|date=24 July 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{coord|8|40|N|111|40|E|display=title}}
{{O 12 class submarine}}
{{June 1940 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:O 13}}
[[Category:1930 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Vlissingen]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:O 12-class submarines]]
[[Category:Missing submarines of World War II]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in June 1940]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea]]
[[Category:Warships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Submarines lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Submarines built by Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde]]