One of two Royal Netherlands Navy submarines wrecked in Malaysian waters during WW2 appears to have become yet another victim of unlicensed salvors in South-east Asian waters.
A team of underwater survey experts and researchers have explored the wreck-sites of HNLMS K-XVI and O-20 off Borneo and confirmed that although the latter submarine remains at its location, K-XVI is believed to have been illegally salvaged.
Also read: Australian divers find WW2 Dutch sub wreck
Malaysia and the Netherlands are considering what action to take, following the joint expedition they conducted to check the integrity of the wrecks between 17 and 30 June.
The mission was led by Malaysia’s foreign ministry, navy, maritime enforcement agency (MMEA) and a number of other government bodies, working with the Netherlands’ cultural heritage agency, defence ministry and embassy.
A commemoration ceremony was held by the Dutch delegation to honour the submarine crew killed in action – all 36 from K-XVI and seven including the captain from O-20.
Also read: Australian divers find WW2 Dutch sub wreck
K-XVI
K-XVI was built for the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1934. The 74m vessel was sent to the Netherlands East Indies where, on Christmas Eve 1941, she became the first Allied submarine to sink a Japanese warship, the destroyer Sagiri (another target for modern-day metal looters).
K-XVI was however sunk with the death of all hands on Christmas Day after being torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-66 about 65km off Kuching, northern Borneo. K-XVI was rediscovered in 2011 by Australian and Singaporean recreational divers.
O-20
Another of the seven Dutch submarines lost during the war, HNMLS O-20 (laid down in 1936 as K-XX) also has a historic claim to fame. She and her sister-ship O-19 are said to have been the first boats in the world to be equipped with submarine snorkels, which allowed them to run their diesel engines while submerged.
Commissioned into the Dutch navy in 1939, the 81m vessel reached the Dutch East Indies in December 1939 under the command of the British Eastern Fleet.
She was scuttled on the captain’s orders following an extended engagement with Japanese destroyers shortly a week before the demise of K-XVI, on 19 December 1941. One of the destroyers, Uranami, rescued 32 survivors after reportedly using depth-charges to keep sharks away from the location through the night.
In 2002 seven Dutch expedition divers discovered the wreck 65km north-east of Kota Baru at a depth of 44m, identifying it through a retrieved deck-phone.
The official survey team concluded that the joint underwater expedition had “provided an excellent opportunity for the Netherlands and Malaysia to enhance bilateral relations, particularly in the area of training and capacity building related to maritime archaeology and underwater cultural heritage management”.
They had carried out a similar exercise in 2019 to locate two other Dutch submarines, O-16 and K-XVII.
Chinese salvage ship detained again
Meanwhile a Chinese salvage vessel accused last year of pillaging the British WW2 shipwrecks HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse off Malaysia has been detained again by that country’s maritime enforcement agency and naval personnel.
The 122m Chuan Hong 68 was seized by the MMEA on 1 July off Tanjung Hantu in Perak state. The location was on the other side of the Strait of Malacca from where the vessel had previously been caught off Johor, but still close to WW2 wreck-sites with the pre-atomic metals and armaments that attract unlicensed salvors.
No illegal scrap-metal was found on this occasion but the vessel was said to be carrying “suspicious tools” such as lpg cylinders that could be used to fuel underwater metal-cutting. It was held after its captain failed to produce original vessel documents or proof of port clearance, and because of irregularities in its crew manifest.
The crew were mainly Chinese and Bangla Deshi and the ship is registered to Fujian Ya Rui Marine, though the Chinese company claims that it has been chartered by a Malaysian firm.
Also on Divernet: SHIP HELD IN CONNECTION WITH BRITISH WAR-GRAVE LOOTING, DUTCH COMPANY PAYS PRICE FOR ILLEGAL SALVAGE, ILLICIT JUTLAND WRECK SALVAGE – ALLEGED CULPRIT NAMED, DIVER CONVICTED OF ILLICIT WRECK SALVAGE
