The search for O-13, still on patrol

Kloef · 09-30-12, 09:52 AM

This topic is to inform you about the last missing Dutch Submarine , the O-13 and the recent developments taking place.

O-13 was reported missing while patrolling the North Sea in June 1940, and the real story as to what has happened still needs to be uncovered. There are different versions to the truth, she ran on a seamine, others believe she collided with a Polish submarine who deliberatly tried to ram it mistaking the O-13 for a German U-boot. The Polish submarine 'Wilk' did ram something but it's not certain if this was O-13.

The search for O-13 continues to this day, after the war the whole known patrol area measuring 100Km by 360KM was sweeped and sweeped again by sonar and other instruments, but finding a small submarine on a seabottom littered with wrecks, fishnetting and more dangerous objects like seamines is a hard task indeed and untill a couple of months ago there was still no evidence or anything indicating the possible final resting place of O-13.

With the help of individuals and commercial offshore industry as well as the fishing industry new information was gathered and data containing markings of dangerous spots all over the patrol area of O-13 were collected. There are now stronger indications as to O-13's whereabouts somewhere in the Northsea and the Royal Dutch Navy is lauching an expedition in October to try to find her, the area is now concentrated in a 25Km by 25Km area, right in the middle of two German Seamine fields constructed in early 1940. There is the possibility those fields were not mapped or wrongly mapped when O-13 left for her final patrol, but this needs to be confirmed.

The wreck of the O-13 will be left untouched as it is a grave for the men who sailed on her, for everyone who has a strong bondage with the Royal Dutch Navy and it's submarines in particular, as well as for the crew's familymembers and enthousiasts from all parts of the world this is very important as she is the last Dutch submarine missing, once she has been located the crew's familymembers (Dutch and British) and the Royal Dutch Navy will perform a ceremony at the wrecks location. There will also be an attempt made to recover an object from the boat.

The Captain, E.H Vorster:

The Crew:

If she's found it will certainly be great news, maybe we can finally find the real reason why she was lost and what happened on that fatefull last patrol. The grief is still there, the tears and emotions are as strong as the day the O-13 was reported missing. Maybe finally the familymembers can find some comfort in at least knowing where their loved ones are and find some rest.

INFORMATION ABOUT O-13:

There is alot of information to be found about the O-13 and i will post some links here, some are Dutch but most are in English so that should be interesting.
At the moment i'm researching alot of information about the O-13 and i will share this with you in this topic in the weeks to come once the expedition is underway.

This link is probably the most complete website about O-13, and also in English:

http://home.hccnet.nl/f.rienstra/Rienstra/O13%20en.html

Information about the Boat and it's crewmembers:
http://www.onderzeeboot.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&It emid=74

An article from the Daily Mail:
http://www.stillonpatrol.nl/wp-conte...-september.pdf

This link is from the website 'commitee of victims family members Submarines' :
http://www.onderzeeboot.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84:fi nding-o-13&catid=45&Itemid=81

http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/ has alot of information too about the O-13, and is very accurate and detailed.

This topic will be updated on a regular basis, thanks for your attention and keep visiting this topic for more interesting news about the O-13, the last missing Dutch Submarine.

Kloef · 10-03-12, 11:32 AM

UPDATE 10-3-2012:

At the moment a documentary is in the making about O-13, the filmmaker has a very informative website, but unfortunately in Dutch. I've been in contact with the documentary maker and i have offered my help in translating the website in English so more people can read it, there are some trailer movies already on the site and although it's in Dutch the atmosphere of the movie is pretty impressive. So i will be pretty busy in the evenings the coming weeks.

It would be great if the documentary would be translated in English once it launches and we have discussed this too since there is interest from abroad.

The website:
www.stillonpatrol.nl

Kloef · 10-05-12, 01:36 PM

Update 10-5-2012

The film makers need some important information, i thought it would not be a bad idea to ask you people on this forum if you can answer the following questions, your help is appriciated

This is the information they need:

What did nautical cards look like in 1940?
Our designer is looking for examples and wants to know what letter fonts were used.
This information is necessary for creating the film's graphical cards.

Who owns a copy of the book 'Torpeda W Celu' written by Boleslaw Romanowski?
Romanowski was the Polish officer who describes the Wilk incident in this book.
We want to borrow this book to film the text.
Who speaks and reads the Polish language?
We are looking for someone who can translate this piece from Polish to Dutch/ English.
And we are looking for two Polish speaking males who can record audioclips for us.

More info:
http://www.facebook.com/StillOnPatrol

Stay tuned for more news about the O-13, the last Dutch submarine Still on Patrol

Kloef · 10-13-12, 06:55 AM

Update 10-13-2012:

The search for information about O-13 has produced a bunch of pictures taken by familymembers:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...2266335&type=1

Kloef · 02-02-13, 09:08 AM

Update 2-1-2013:

I'm happy to inform you that the site www.stillonpatrol.nl now has an English version. There you will find more information about what's going on and the progress so far.

captgeo · 02-03-13, 08:43 AM

great stuff.......

would you mind if I posted the following link in our sticky above" submarine web sites"?
http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/

Kloef · 02-03-13, 12:30 PM

No problem, and thanks for the compliment

Kloef · 03-05-13, 12:09 PM

UPDATE: 03-05 2013:

This update is to inform you that the expedition will take place this year, the winter is almost over and all of the people involved with the search and everything around it have been busy gathering information.

There were family members who found old pictures, the documentary is well underway (previews can be found on the website www.stillonpatrol.nl) and we are all just waiting for more information.

Surprisingly some movie material was found showing the O-13 on it's way to the West Indies, amazing found by Mister Wahlers,one of the familymembers. These clips will certainly be used in the documentary.

As this story is becoming bigger more people get interested so this whole thing is becoming somewhat of a adventure, we all just can't wait for the expedition to start..

Stay tuned!

09-30-12, 09:52 AM	#1
Kloef Weps Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 360 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	The search for O-13, still on patrol, UPDATE 10-13-2012 This topic is to inform you about the last missing Dutch Submarine , the O-13 and the recent developments taking place. O-13 was reported missing while patrolling the North Sea in June 1940, and the real story as to what has happened still needs to be uncovered. There are different versions to the truth, she ran on a seamine, others believe she collided with a Polish submarine who deliberatly tried to ram it mistaking the O-13 for a German U-boot. The Polish submarine 'Wilk' did ram something but it's not certain if this was O-13. The search for O-13 continues to this day, after the war the whole known patrol area measuring 100Km by 360KM was sweeped and sweeped again by sonar and other instruments, but finding a small submarine on a seabottom littered with wrecks, fishnetting and more dangerous objects like seamines is a hard task indeed and untill a couple of months ago there was still no evidence or anything indicating the possible final resting place of O-13. With the help of individuals and commercial offshore industry as well as the fishing industry new information was gathered and data containing markings of dangerous spots all over the patrol area of O-13 were collected. There are now stronger indications as to O-13's whereabouts somewhere in the Northsea and the Royal Dutch Navy is lauching an expedition in October to try to find her, the area is now concentrated in a 25Km by 25Km area, right in the middle of two German Seamine fields constructed in early 1940. There is the possibility those fields were not mapped or wrongly mapped when O-13 left for her final patrol, but this needs to be confirmed. The wreck of the O-13 will be left untouched as it is a grave for the men who sailed on her, for everyone who has a strong bondage with the Royal Dutch Navy and it's submarines in particular, as well as for the crew's familymembers and enthousiasts from all parts of the world this is very important as she is the last Dutch submarine missing, once she has been located the crew's familymembers (Dutch and British) and the Royal Dutch Navy will perform a ceremony at the wrecks location. There will also be an attempt made to recover an object from the boat. The Captain, E.H Vorster: The Crew: If she's found it will certainly be great news, maybe we can finally find the real reason why she was lost and what happened on that fatefull last patrol. The grief is still there, the tears and emotions are as strong as the day the O-13 was reported missing. Maybe finally the familymembers can find some comfort in at least knowing where their loved ones are and find some rest. INFORMATION ABOUT O-13: There is alot of information to be found about the O-13 and i will post some links here, some are Dutch but most are in English so that should be interesting. At the moment i'm researching alot of information about the O-13 and i will share this with you in this topic in the weeks to come once the expedition is underway. This link is probably the most complete website about O-13, and also in English: http://home.hccnet.nl/f.rienstra/Rienstra/O13%20en.html Information about the Boat and it's crewmembers: http://www.onderzeeboot.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&It emid=74 An article from the Daily Mail: http://www.stillonpatrol.nl/wp-conte...-september.pdf This link is from the website 'commitee of victims family members Submarines' : http://www.onderzeeboot.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84:fi nding-o-13&catid=45&Itemid=81 http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/ has alot of information too about the O-13, and is very accurate and detailed. This topic will be updated on a regular basis, thanks for your attention and keep visiting this topic for more interesting news about the O-13, the last missing Dutch Submarine. __________________ http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/ Last edited by Onkel Neal; 02-02-13 at 09:12 AM. Reason: fixed link

10-03-12, 11:32 AM	#2
Kloef Weps Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 360 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	UPDATE 10-3-2012: At the moment a documentary is in the making about O-13, the filmmaker has a very informative website, but unfortunately in Dutch. I've been in contact with the documentary maker and i have offered my help in translating the website in English so more people can read it, there are some trailer movies already on the site and although it's in Dutch the atmosphere of the movie is pretty impressive. So i will be pretty busy in the evenings the coming weeks. It would be great if the documentary would be translated in English once it launches and we have discussed this too since there is interest from abroad. The website: www.stillonpatrol.nl __________________ http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/

10-05-12, 01:36 PM	#3
Kloef Weps Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 360 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	Update 10-5-2012 Update 10-5-2012 The film makers need some important information, i thought it would not be a bad idea to ask you people on this forum if you can answer the following questions, your help is appriciated This is the information they need: What did nautical cards look like in 1940? Our designer is looking for examples and wants to know what letter fonts were used. This information is necessary for creating the film's graphical cards. Who owns a copy of the book 'Torpeda W Celu' written by Boleslaw Romanowski? Romanowski was the Polish officer who describes the Wilk incident in this book. We want to borrow this book to film the text. Who speaks and reads the Polish language? We are looking for someone who can translate this piece from Polish to Dutch/ English. And we are looking for two Polish speaking males who can record audioclips for us. More info: http://www.facebook.com/StillOnPatrol Stay tuned for more news about the O-13, the last Dutch submarine Still on Patrol __________________ http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/

10-13-12, 06:55 AM	#4
Kloef Weps Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 360 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	Update 10-13-2012: The search for information about O-13 has produced a bunch of pictures taken by familymembers: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...2266335&type=1 __________________ http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/

02-02-13, 09:08 AM	#5
Kloef Weps Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 360 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	Update 2-1-2013: I'm happy to inform you that the site www.stillonpatrol.nl now has an English version. There you will find more information about what's going on and the progress so far. __________________ http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/ Last edited by Kloef; 02-02-13 at 09:10 AM.

02-03-13, 08:43 AM	#6
captgeo Samurai Navy Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Ontario,Canada Posts: 550 Downloads: 105 Uploads: 0	great stuff....... would you mind if I posted the following link in our sticky above" submarine web sites"? http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/ __________________

02-03-13, 12:30 PM	#7
Kloef Weps Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 360 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	No problem, and thanks for the compliment __________________ http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/

03-05-13, 12:09 PM	#8
Kloef Weps Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 360 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	UPDATE: 03-05 2013: This update is to inform you that the expedition will take place this year, the winter is almost over and all of the people involved with the search and everything around it have been busy gathering information. There were family members who found old pictures, the documentary is well underway (previews can be found on the website www.stillonpatrol.nl) and we are all just waiting for more information. Surprisingly some movie material was found showing the O-13 on it's way to the West Indies, amazing found by Mister Wahlers,one of the familymembers. These clips will certainly be used in the documentary. As this story is becoming bigger more people get interested so this whole thing is becoming somewhat of a adventure, we all just can't wait for the expedition to start.. Stay tuned! __________________ http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/