The submarine was ordered on 12 April 1937 and laid down on 20 November 1937 as K XXII at the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, Vlissingen. During construction she was renamed O 22, and was finally launched on 20 January 1940. Following the German invasion of 10 May 1940, O 22 was hastily commissioned, still incomplete, and sailed for England on 12 May together with her sister O 21 and the tugboat B.V. 37, to be finally completed at the Navy yard in Rosyth.[2]
During the war she operated in the North Sea and made five patrols. During her last patrol O 22 was lost with her entire crew, 42 Dutch and 3 British sailors. Her wreck was discovered in 1993 by a ship of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. On 2 November 1996 a ceremony at the wreck site was held to commemorate the loss.[2]