| O 27 in Rotterdam, sometime after World War II. |
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For more O 21 class images check out the O 21 class photo special.
1938
8 July 1938: K XXVII is ordered.
1939
3 Aug 1939: K XXVII is laid down at the R.D.M. shipyard in Rotterdam.
At some stage (exact day/year unknown) during the construction the K XXVII is renamed O 27.
1940
10 May 1940: Germany attacks the Netherlands.
12 May 1940: Majoor torpedomaker is killed by a mortar during the German attack on Rotterdam (Netherlands). According to other sources this happened on May 14th, which is confirmed by the text on his gravestone.
When the Germans invade the Netherlands, the yard personnel scuttle the O 27. Because of the unexpected and swift occupation of the Southern Maas bank the Dutch yard personnel does not have enough time for a successful destruction of the boat.
The Germans also captured the "getrimd diesel systeem" or "snort system" with the O 25, O 26 and O 27. The Royal Netherlands Navy was the first navy to install such a system on their submarines (O 19 and O 20).
The Germans complete the O 27 and rename the boat U-D5.
1941
Exact period unknown: The Germans test the snort of 'O 26'. Late 1941 the tests are broken off (against the wishes of U-Boat designer Christoph Aschmoneit) and the BdU orders the removal of the snorts of U-D3, U-D4 and U-D5.
26 Sep 1941: U-D5 is launched.
23 Nov 1940 or 26 Apr 1941 or 26 Sep 1941: O 27 is launched.
Nov 1941 - Aug 1942: U-D5 is attached to the 5th training Flotilla in Kiel. The U-D5 will not be commissioned before January of 1942 !
1 Nov 1941 - Jan 1943: U-D5 is under the German command of KptzS. B. Mahn.
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.
1942
30 Jan 1942: U-D5 is commissioned to the German Navy as U-D5.
Aug 1942 - Jan 1943: U-D5 is attached to the 10th Flotilla in Loriënt and conducts war patrols west of the Cape Verde Islands.
30 Aug 1942: U-D5 departs for a patrol in the Central Atlantic.
Oct 1942: U-D5 is operating West of Freetown (South Africa).
29 Oct 1942: U-D5 sinks the British freighter Primrose Hill (7628brt).
12 Nov 1942: U-D5 arrives in Loriënt (France).
Dec 1942 - Jan 1943: U-D5 is under the German command of Oblt. K.D. König (deputized)
1943
Jan 1943 - May. 1945: U-D5 is attached to the U-Abwehrschule in Bergen, Norway, and is used as a school boat.
Jan - Feb 1943: U-D5 is under the German command of Kptlt. Horst-Tessen von Kameke.
Feb 1943 - May. 1945: U-D5 is under the German command of Kptlt. H.U. Scheltz.
Mid July 1943: During a tactical exercise (probably off Gotenhafen) the U-D5 practices submerged supplying from the supply U-boat U-490 .
American Navy Interrogation Report of Survivors from U-490, sunk 12 June 1944 mentions that: .....Prisoners stated that the Engineer Officer of U-490 had made a study of the problem of transferring fuel oil from one U-boat to another while submerged. During the tactical exercises in July 1943, this officer actually practiced submerged supplying from the Dutch submarine UD-5. The prisoners knew almost nothing about the procedure employed. They believed that hose and cable connections between the two boats were made on the surface. A telephone connection was then established and the boats submerged after which oil was pumped from one to the other.....
Some other sources report it was U-D4, and not U-D5.
It is reported that after U-D4 is converted to a tanker U-Boot she is used to train U-Boat crews in submerged refuelling in the Baltic. This was first practised in Sept/Oct 1943. Until the end of 1944 she is been used for about 220 submerged refuelling exercises.
These reports are not confirmed by any published source.
1945
Feb 1943 - 30 May 1945: U-D5 is under the German command of Kptlt. Hans-Ulrich Scheltz.
8 May 1945: Germany surrenders.
9 May 1945: U-D5 surrenders at Bergen (Norway).
30 May 1945: Germany has surrendered and the U-D5 plus 23 other captured German submarines sail from Bergen (Norway) to Lissahally (Northern Ireland) in order to be scuttled. This operation is called 'Operation Deadlight'.
Because of her different silhouette and the typical Dutch fisher girl painted on the conning tower the U-D5 is recognized as a former Dutch submarine and, instead of being scuttled, is returned to the Royal Netherlands Navy.
A Dutch crew is send to Lissahally and the U-D5 returns to Dundee.
| O 27 returning to Dundee in 1945. Note the German call sign (D-5) and the painted Dutch fisher girl on the conning tower. |
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13 July 1945: O 27 is commissioned in Dundee to the Royal Netherlands Navy as O 27.
13 July 1945 - 9 Oct 1946: O 27 is under the command of ?
15 Aug 1945: Japan surrenders.
Until her decommissioning, the O 27 served as a torpedo trial boat, piggy boat, and training vessel (for the submarine service in Den Helder) and was used for trials.
1946
8 Feb 1946: O 27 arrives in Rotterdam.
Nov - Dec 1946: O 27 makes a trip to British waters. After her return she is de-commissioned for maintenance and reconversion (she had wuite a lot of German equipment installed).
9 Oct - 21 Dec 1946 (Apr - Nov according to H.M. van der Veen): O 27 is under the command of Ltz. II .
1947
1 May 1947 - ?: O 27 is under the command of ?
10 May 1947: O 27 is re-commissioned (pennant S 807). She will be used as 'inschiet boot' (torpedo trial boat).
10 May 1947 - ??: O 27 is used as an torpedo trial boat.
1949
10 May - 1 Sep 1949: O 27 is under the command of Ltz. II .
July 1949: O 27, Tijgerhaai (1) and the Vulkaan make a trip to Gothenburg (Sweden) and Trondheim (Norway).
1 Sep - 28 Nov 1949: O 27 is under the command of Ltz. II .
28 Nov 1949 - 23 Jan 1951: O 27 is under the command of .
1950
1 Feb 1950: O 27 is from now on available for ASW.
1951
31 Aug - 17 Dec 1951: O 27 is under the command of Ltz. I .
1952
3 Mar - 1 May 1952: O 27 is under the command of ?
1 May - 1 Sep 1952: O 27 is under the command of Ltz. I .
1 Sep - 1 Oct 1952: O 27 is under the command of Ltz. I .
1953
27 Aug 1953 - 31 Mar 1954: O 27 is under the command of Ltz. I .
1954
31 Mar - 28 May 1954: O 27 is under the command of Ltz. II .
1 June 1954: the former commander of O 27,Ltz. II G.P.F. Munnik, is promoted to Ltz. I
1955
10 Oct 1955 - 8 Feb 1956: O 27 is under the command of .
1956
8 Feb - 29 Oct 1956: O 27 is under the command of .
29 Oct 1956 - 31 July 1957: O 27 is under the command of .
1958
17 Feb - 22 May 1958: O 27 is under the command of .
22 May - 14 Nov 1958: O 27 is under the command of .
1959
2 Mar - 14 Nov 1959: O 27 is under the command of .
14 Nov 1959: O 27 is stricken.
1960
23 Dec 1960: O 27 is sold for brake up to Jos De Smedt in Antwerp for the sum of 131000 Dutch guilders
1961
O 27 is broken up.
Her deck gun is currently displayed (unconfirmed) at the Military Home KTOMM Bronbeek it was donated by the Maritime Museum in Den Helder.
For more O 21 class images check out the O 21 class photo special.
