Zeeleeuw (1) at sea (Photo: © Nick Kuyper).

For additional photos and information please check the 'related pages list' at the bottom of this page.

1943

7 Aug 1943: Hawkbill is laid down at the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. in Wisconsin (U.S.).

1944

9 Jan 1944: Hawkbill is launched.

17 May 1944: Hawkbill is commissioned to the U.S. Navy and conducts several successful war patrols.

1945

8 May 1945: Germany surrenders.

15 Aug 1945: Japan surrenders.

1952

Hawkbill is modernized (Guppy refit).

1953

Jan - March 1953: A group Dutch submariners sails on the Ocean Liner MS Rijndam from Rotterdam to New London (Connecticut, USA). They are trained by USN submarines and sail/train, after first having some indoor classes, with mixed crews (US and Dutch) on board the Icefish  and Hawkbill. They sail on a daily basis in order to learn as much as possible on these subs. By mid March a second group of Dutch submariners has arrived.

21 Apr 1953: Hawkbill is decommissioned (U.S. Navy).

For more information on the Hawkbill check out Subnet.

Under the terms of the "mutual aid and defence program"  or "mutual defence assistance program" (MDAP) the Icefish and Hawkbill were loaned to the Netherlands for a period of 5 years. The period is then extended several times.

21 Apr 1953: Hawkbill is commissioned to the Royal Netherlands Navy, renamed Zeeleeuw (1), and added to the Walrus (1) class.

21 Apr 1953: The new pennant number of Zeeleeuw (1) is S803.

21 Apr - 18 Dec 1953: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of Ltz. I  .

31 May 1953: Zeeleeuw (1) departs from the USA.

11 June 1953: Zeeleeuw (1) arrives in Rotterdam (Netherlands).

Summer 1953: Zeeleeuw (1) is still working-up and during exercise SS X NATO she 'beats' the RN as well as the USN.

18 Dec 1953 - 29 Nov 1954: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of Ltz. I  .

1954

12 Jul - 17 Jul 1954: Zeeleeuw (1) and Zwaardvis (1) participate in the fleet week of Rotterdam (the Netherlands).

Mid-fifties

Dick Clark reports: " . . .you may be interested in the following story told to me by Hawksbill's Captain, Worth Scanland. Scanland was a career naval officer who retired sometime in the late 60s. It was, I believe, in the mid 50s that he was assigned a duty that took him to Holland to your primary naval/submarine base. While having lunch he said he looked across the bay and immediately recognized his old boat. Afterward he walked over and met the captain and crew and shared a "delightful" afternoon talking about the history of the boat and his experiences during the war. . . ."

1955

1 June - 4 July 1955: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of Ltz. I  (temp.).

4 July - 18 July 1955: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of Ltz. I  (temp.).

Sep - 26 Sep 1955: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of Ltz. I  .

20 Oct -  31 Oct 1955: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of Ltz. I  .

28 Nov -  28 Dec 1955: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of Ltz. I  .

28 Dec 1955 -  6 Apr 1956: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of Ltz. I  .

Late 1955: Walrus (1) and Zeeleeuw (1) sail to the Arctic Ocean. The trip is called "Operation IJsduet".

1956

6 Apr - 10 Dec1956: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of .

1957

13 May - 14 Oct 1957: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of .

14 Oct 1957 - 1 Apr 1958: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of .

Oct 1957: The Walrus (1) and Zeeleeuw (1) depart for a journey to the Dutch Antilles and Suriname.

Check out the Walrus (1) & Zeeleeuw (1) voyage to the Netherlands West Indies photo special for images of this voyage.

1958

7 Mar 1958: Zeeleeuw (1) arrives in Rotterdam.

Mar 1958: Walrus (1) and Zeeleeuw (1) are back in the Netherlands.

25 Aug 1958 - 31 July 1959: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of .

31 Jul 1959 - 25 May 1960: Zeeleeuw (1) is being overhauled at the yard of the Rotterdamse Droogdok Maatschappij in Rotterdam.

1960

25 May 1960 - 21 Sep 1962: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of .

Late 1960: Zeeleeuw (2) is piggy boat during the testing of the new S2F's ASW airplanes.

Dec 1960: As part of Squadron 'Smaldeel 1', which also consists of Walrus (1), the Zeeleeuw (1) sails to Edinburgh (Scotland) and several other (no data available yet) ports.

1962

14 Mar 1962: Squadron 5, including the submarines Dolfijn (3) and Zeeleeuw (1), are ordered to the west coast of the United States for a "showing the flag" voyage.  Dolfijn (3) and Zeeleeuw (1) make the trip together.

March 1962: A group of Dutch Naval vessels (Task Group 228.0 consisting of several destroyers,  Dolfijn (3) and Zeeleeuw (1) are directed to Hollandia (via the Panama Canal) because of the political situation in Dutch New Guinea. After the situation in Indonesia improves Dolfijn (3) will return to the Netherlands.

17 Mar 1962: Dolfijn (3) and Zeeleeuw (1) arrive in Cristobal (Colombia), and departs again for Balboa (via the Panama Canal) where she will be re-supplied the same day at the US Naval Station Rodman.

18 Mar 1962: Dolfijn (3) and Zeeleeuw (1) depart from Balboa.

24 Mar 1962: Dolfijn (3) and Zeeleeuw (1) arrive in Manzanillo (Mexico). Here they get the order to transit to Guam.

27 Mar 1962:Dolfijn (3) departs from Manzanillo and heads for Guam. Zeeleeuw (1) will depart on the 28th.

The submarines have a different maximum surface speed and therefore will not make the transit together. Zeeleeuw (1) soon catches up with the Dolfijn (3) and when arriving Zeeleeuw (1) is arriving in Hollandia she will already be 3 days ahead of Zeeleeuw (1). This is increase even further by a tropical storm encountered by Dolfijn (3) while transiting from Guam to Hollandia. This makes her divert her course several times.

?20? Apr 1962: Zeeleeuw (1) arrives in Dutch New Guinea waters. She is stationed at Manokwari (New Guinea), from which she conducts two war patrols in the Afura Sea.

July 1962: Zeeleeuw (1) is relieved by Walrus (1).

11 July 1962: Zeeleeuw (1) visits Dakar (Senegal)..

14 July  - 12 Sep 1962: Zeeleeuw (1) sails back to Den Helder. She takes the route via Cape Hope.

1963

1 Apr 1963 - 21 Jan 1964: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of Ltz. I  .

1964

21 Jan - 11 Sep 1964: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of .

1965

30 Mar - 26 Apr 1965: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of .

26 Apr 1965 - 28 Dec 1965: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of .

28 Dec 1965 - 12 Jan 1967: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of Lt/Ltz. I  .

1967

4 Dec 1967 - 17 Dec 1968: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of .

1968

17 Dec 1968 - 31 Oct 1969: Zeeleeuw (1) is under the command of .

1969

June - Oct 1969: Zeeleeuw (1) visits many port. Among these ports are: Londonderry (Northern Ireland), Dundee, Inverary (Scotland), Haakonsvern (Norway), Torquay, Portsmouth, Portland (England).

2nd half of 1969: Zeeleeuw (1) and also Walrus (1) exercise in the Bay of Biscay. 

15 Sep - 22 Nov 1969: Zeeleeuw (1) is part of a squadron voyage. Some of the visited ports are: Gibraltar, Ceuta and Casablanca. Because of her decommissioning Zeeleeuw (1)only visits Gibraltar for re-supplying and small maintenance.

Early Oct 1969: Zeeleeuw (1) (soon to be stricken) and Walrus (1) say goodbye by sailing past one another in the Bay of Biscay (France). During this 'sail past' they throw potatoes at each other.

Check the Zeeleeuw(1) in the 1960s page for photos of this event.

?13/31 Oct 1969: Zeeleeuw (1) is stricken.

1970

Zeeleeuw (1) is returned and stricken (US Navy).

20 Feb 1970: Zeeleeuw (1) is sold to the Royal Netherlands navy.

?Mar - Apr 1970: Zeeleeuw (1) participates in an exercise in northern waters.

2 Jun 1970: Zeeleeuw (1) is stricken.

24 Nov 1970: Zeeleeuw (1) is sold to Trans Trading N.V. in Rotterdam for 1313131,30 Dutch guilders.

 

 

Zeeleeuw (1) related pages

Zeeleeuw (1) boat history

Walrus (1) class photos

Zeeleeuw (1) photos

Zeeleeuw (1) 1969 photos

Zeeleeuw (1) 1967-1969 photos

Zeeleeuw (1) related books

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