O 11. Date and place unknown.
1921
30 Aug 1921: O 11 is ordered.
1922
24 Dec 1922: O 11 is laid down at the Fijenoord shipyard in Schiedam.
1925
19 Mar 1925: O 11 is launched.
1926
18 Jan 1926: O 11 is commissioned to the Royal Netherlands Navy.
18 Jan 1926 - ?: O 11 is under the command of ?
21 Jun - 30 Jul 1926: O 9, O 11, Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp, Jacob van Heemskerck, Z 7 and Z 8 sail from Nieuwediep (Den Helder) to the Baltic Sea. They visit the ports of Kiel, Göteborg and Drontheim.
1927
9 May - 1 June 1927: O 10, O 11, Hertog Hendrik, Z 5, Z 6, Z 7 and Z 8 sail from Nieuwediep (Den Helder) to Norway.
12 Jul - 8 Aug 1927: O 10, O 11, Hertog Hendrik, Z 5, Z 6, Z 7 and Z 8 sail from Nieuwediep (Den Helder) to the Baltic. On the way back the ships take the route via the Kattegat.
1930
? 1930 - 1931: O 11 is under the command of ?
1931
3 Sep 1931 - 1 June 1932: O 11 is under the command of Ltz. II .
1936
4 May - 20 June 1936: O 9, O 10, O 11, Hertog Hendrik and Z 5 sail to the Baltic.
1938
Mar 1938 - ?: O 11 is under the command of ?
1939
24 Aug 1939 - 6 Mar 1940: O 11 is under the command of ?
29 Aug 1939: The Dutch armed forces are mobilized. , O 10 and O 11 are attached to the 'coastal division". These subs are the offensive part of the coastal defence.
1940
6 Mar 1940: At approximately 10 hrs the O 11 collides with the tugboat Hr.Ms. BV 3 (ex Amsterdam). She is rammed just forward of her conning tower. There are 3 Officers and 27 crew members on board the submarine. Three men die (Sergeant torpedomaker , Koksmaat and Sergeant telegraphist F.W.J. Steenvoort) and the submarine sinks in the harbour entrance of Willemsoord (Den Helder). About 14 men are on the deck and jump into the sea. The emergency telephone buoy does arrive on the surface but unfortunately no telephone connection can be established with the crew members inside.
Source WI #2 1995: " Proceeded by O 10 and O 9, she was leaving the Den Helder Naval Base in order to participate in the production of a promotional movie to be titled "Somewhere in The Netherlands". One cameraman was on board O 11 and another on the western pier of the "Old Harbour" entrance, which in those days was only some 150 yards wide. Just as O 10 cleared the harbour entrance, the auxiliary guard ship (Bewakingsvaartuig) BV 3, the militarized 368 ton former seagoing tug Amsterdam of the bureau Wijsmuller, arrived from the West and proceeded to enter the harbour. The high pier prevented a mutual sighting, there was inadequate traffic control and the small submarines of those days carried no voice radios.
Avoiding the O 10, the BV 3 got into a counter current immediately upon rounding the pier, and to avoid running aground, commenced an emergency turn to port, crossing the entrance axis. Also missing O 9 and despite an "emergency astern" by O 11, the BV 3 collided with the latter, cutting deeply in the port side of her forward torpedo room By this time, all watertight doors on O 11 had been securely closed, except for the one between the forward torpedo room and the forward battery room/crew's quarters. This door was blocked by a clamp falling over to the wrong side by the force of the impact. Making a bad situation even worse, the BV 3 then went astern, instead of keeping her bow inside the O 11 and pushing the stricken submarine gently toward the eastern bank where she could have been run aground. As a result, both of the forward compartments flooded rapidly, causing O 11 to sink completely.
Both the executive officer and the Chief Engineer had descended from the bridge to the control room shortly before the collision, leaving only the mooring detail, helmsman, cameraman and the Captain to jump into the water after the impact, but not until the latter had securely close the conning-tower hatch. All were quickly rescued by small craft. Three Petty officers and the submarine's cook were trapped in the two flooded compartments forward of the control room, but one of them made a miraculous escape. Clinging to some equipment as high as possible in the torpedo room, he waited until the inflow of water stopped and then dove through the hole and swam free without even being injured.
Inside the O 11, from the control room aft was never flooded. When blowing of all non-fuel tanks did not improve the situation, it was decided to blow No. 3 main (fuel) tank, causing first the periscope to appear above the surface of the water, then the stern and finally the conning tower (note: but the bow remains on the seabed). The Captain of the O 11, still circling his stricken ship in the motor launch of the cruiser Sumatra, then went back to the bridge and finding it dry, tapped on the hatch to indicate the situation. It was immediately opened from below, and the 14 crew members who had been in the central and stern portion of the sub at the time of the collision emerged single file with their swimming belts on, as in a drill, and disembarked. In fact, they did not even get their feet wet. Shortly thereafter O 11 again sank. "
The collision took place close to the cruiser Hr.Ms. Sumatra. During the night the Sumatra assisted in the operation by illuminating the area with her searchlights. The Sumatra left port on March 7 1940.
Click here for photos of the O 11 going down and being raised.
Click here for a movie of the O 11 sinking.
7 or 9 (probably incorrect) Mar 1940: O 11 is raised and is moved to a shallow bank at the other end of the harbour in order to remove the bodies of the three crew man that drowned and to built a cofferdam around the hole.
Click here for photos of the O 11 going down and being raised.
10 or 11 Mar: O 11 is moved to the Den Helder Naval Base for repairs after first being disarmed.
10 May 1940: Germany attacks the Netherlands.
14 May 1940: While under repair in the dry-dock of the Rijkswerf shipyard in Den Helder, the O 11 is scuttled in order to avoid being captured by invading German forces.
The Germans raise the O 11.
The Dutch shipyard personnel drag on the repairs on the O 11 as much as possible and it therefore takes much longer to repair the O 11 than the Germans had planned for.
1941
7 Dec 1941: The USA declares war on Japan after Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbour. Approximately 7 hours after the attack the Netherlands also declares war on Japan.
14 Dec 1941: Japanese planes bomb Tarempah (Anambas Islands) which is Netherlands East Indies territory.
27 Dec 1941: Japanese invaders occupy Tambelan Islands, Dutch territory, between Borneo and Singapore
1944
Sep 1944: The Germans sink the O 11 in the Buitenhaven to block the entrance of the Den Helder harbour.
1945
8 May 1945: Germany surrenders.
15 Aug 1945: Japan surrenders.
1947
10 Dec 1947: O 11 is raised and sold (at a later date, possibly 1948) for scrap.
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