O 21 (Dutch)
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | Dutch O21 |
| Fate: | Decommissioned on 1 December 1948. Sold to be broken up for scrap in April 1949. |
O21 entering Gibraltar harbour.
Commanders
| 1940: | Lieutenant Commander | Johannes Frans Van Dulm (RNN) | |
| 1941: | Lieutenant Commander | Karel Van Dongen (RNN) | |
| 1944: | Lieutenant | Frans Jan Kroesen (RRN) | MID |
The submarine was laid down as K XXI at the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, Vlissinge.n During construction she was renamed O21.
Following the German invasion of O21 was hastily commissioned, still incomplete, and sailed for England on 12 May together with her sister O22 and the tugboat B.V. 37, to be finally completed at the Navy yard in Rosyth.
During the war she operated around England, the Mediterranean Sea, Colombo in the Indian Ocean and Fremantle off the west coast of Australia. She sank several ships, among them the German submarine U-95. She survived the war and was decommissioned on 2 November 1957 and sold for scrap the following year.
Related Pages
Events
| 10-05-1940 | Departed from her builders' yard to escape to England. She proceeds together with sister ship O22. The submarines are escorted by auxiliary patrol vessel HrMs BV 37. |
| 12-05-1940 | Arrived safely in Portsmouth along with O13 and O22 |
| 01-09-1940 | O21 fired two torpedoes at German U-boat U-60 in the North Sea. Both torpedoed missed the target. |
| 27-02-1941 | Late in the afternoon, off Milford Haven O21, O23 and their escort the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse encounter the British merchant Losada. As La Moqueuse was more than a mile behind both submarines the crew of the Losada think they were German U-boats and opened fire. To prevent being hit both submarines crash dive. The crew of La Moqueuse had not seen both submarines dive and was now also under the impression that a German U-boat was nearby and dropped three depth charges. O 21 was the target of the attack but sustains no damage. Both submarines surfaced shortly afterwards. |
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