| Navy | The Royal Dutch Navy |
| Type | Submarine |
| Class | K XIV |
| Pennant | |
| Built by | Feijenoord (Schiedam , Holland) |
| Ordered | 25 Jun 1930 |
| Laid down | 10 Jun 1931 |
| Launched | 27 Sep 1932 |
| Commissioned | 23 Mar 1934 |
| Lost | 2 Mar 1942 |
| History | Was still undergoing repairs at Surabaya to the damage sustained during the depth charging of 24 January 1942. Scuttled at Surabaya on 2 March 1942 to prevent her from being captured by the Japanese. 3 men, including its former commander (Lt.Cdr. Carel Adrianus Johannes van Well Groeneveld) are killed the next day when inspecting the state of the boat after the scuttle when one of the unexploded charges still inside the boat goes off. |
Commands listed for HNMS K XVIII
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | luitenant ter zee 1e klasse (Lt.Cdr.) Carel Adrianus Johannes van Well Groeneveld, DSO, RNN | 21 Aug 1939 | 2 Dec 1941 (1) | |
| 2 | luitenant ter zee 1e klasse (Lt.Cdr.) Carel Adrianus Johannes van Well Groeneveld, DSO, RNN | 4 Jan 1942 | 2 Mar 1942 (1) | |
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Notable events involving K XVIII include:
The page for this submarine was last updated in December 2013.
4 Jan 1942
HrMs K XVIII (Lt.Cdr. C.A.J. van Well Groeneveld, RNN) ended a refit at Surabaya. She then commenced a period of trials and training.
14 Jan 1942
HrMs K XVIII (Lt.Cdr. C.A.J. van Well Groeneveld, RNN) departed Surabaya for a deep dive test in Madura Strait and full power speed trials.
16 Jan 1942
After succesful trials HrMs K XVIII (Lt.Cdr. C.A.J. van Well Groeneveld, RNN) is ordered to return to Surabaya and then to proceed to Makassar Strait. As K XVIII has departed Surabaya two days before with stores and fuel for 14 days her Commanding Officer decided to proceed to Makassar Stait at once making this her 1st war patrol.
17 Jan 1942
In the afternoon HrMs K XVIII (Lt.Cdr. C.A.J. van Well Groeneveld, RNN) arrived in her patrol area off Balikpapan.
21 Jan 1942
HrMs K XVIII (Lt.Cdr. C.A.J. van Well Groeneveld, RNN) sank the Balikpapan light vessel with gunfire so that it could not act as a beacon to the expected Japanese landing force.
23 Jan 1942
Late in the evening HrMs K XVIII (Lt.Cdr. C.A.J. van Well Groeneveld, RNN) attacked the Japanese landing force off Balikpapan. In all four torpedoes were fired and the Japanese transport Tsuruga Maru (7289 GRT, built 1916) was sunk during this attack in position 01°20'S, 117°01'E.
The Japanese light cruiser Naka (offsite link) was missed during this attack.
K XVIII then retired from the scene.
24 Jan 1942
In the early moring HrMs K XVIII (Lt.Cdr. C.A.J. van Well Groeneveld, RNN) closed the Japanese landing force again. She fired a torpedo at what was thought to be a cruiser of minelayer but in fact was the Japanese the Japanese submarine chaser Ch-12 (offsite link). The torpedo ran under the submarine chaser that then started a counter attack with depth charges which caused major damage to K XVIII.
K XVIII was bottomed and repairs were carried out. She surfaced during the evening and managed to sneak out of the area and set course to Surabaya. The electric motors were both damaged and could not be used. K XVIII was able to dive but could not be propelled under water.
27 Jan 1942
HrMs K XVIII (Lt.Cdr. C.A.J. van Well Groeneveld, RNN) ended her 1st war patrol at Surabaya. It was estimated that repairs would take about 2 months.