2 × 21 inch external-traversing torpedo tubes forward of the conning tower
1 x 88 mm gun
2 x 40 mm guns
HNLMS K XVI was one of five K XIV-classsubmarines built for the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN). Entering service in 1934, the submarine was deployed to the Netherlands East Indies. On 24 December 1941, K XVI torpedoed and sank the Sagiri; the first Allied submarine to sink a Japanese warship. A day later, the Dutch submarine was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-66 (later renumbered to be I-166) off Borneo, with all aboard killed. The wreck of K XVI was rediscovered in October 2011 by a group of recreational divers and has since been illegally salvaged.
Construction
K XVI was ordered from Rotterdam-based shipbuilder Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij on 30 May 1929, and was laid down on 31 May 1930.[1] The submarine was launched on 8 April 1933, and commissioned into the RNN on 31 January 1934.[1]
Operational history
In January 1935, the boat was deployed to the Netherlands East Indies.[1] She remained in this area after the start of World War II.[1]
On 24 December 1941, approximately 35 nautical miles (65 km; 40 mi) off Kuching at 02°30′N109°50′E / 2.500°N 109.833°E / 2.500; 109.833, the submarine torpedoed and sank the Sagiri.[2][3][4] The destroyer's aft magazine caught fire and exploded, sinking the ship with 121 of the 241 personnel aboard killed.[3][4] Later that evening, the submarine attempted to attack the destroyer Murakumo, but was fended off by depth charges.[1]
K XVI was torpedoed by the I-66 a day later, and sank with all 36 aboard.[1][2] The boat was one of seven Dutch submarines lost during World War II.[2]
On 25 October 2011, the Dutch Ministry of Defence announced that the wreck of K XVI had been found by Australian and Singaporean recreational divers off the northern coast of Borneo.[2] In July 2024 it was reported that the wreck of K XVI had been illegally salvaged.[5]
