USS COD gato class destroys dutch submarine

[momo55]

A realy strange event ...this is hard for a crew i can imagine.

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0OVO1QXJ0

[seafarer]

Some still pics of O-19 and O-20

Amazing that the video says she is still on the reef - you'd think surely a storm would have dislodged her by now. I see that you can SCUBA dive on one of her tanker maru victems off Thailand though!

[SteamWake]

Couple of things struck me as strange in that vid.

1.) The interviewee mentioned "Those guys had been on that boat for 5 years"

2.) The guy kicking the brass overboard when they were using the deck gun. I guess they just dumped the casings wherever they could.

3.) When they launched the torpedo at the stricken vessel it seemed like it was only a few seconds of run time. I supposed that was video edited for effect.

Anyhow some really good footage. Maybe the rate of fire debate folks can take a few cues off the deck gun sequence.

[seafarer]

O-19 arrived in the Dutch East Indies in 1939 - I think that's what he meant. Surely not the original crew for that whole time? Some must have been rotated out to other duty?

[SteamWake]

"That was the saddest thing youve ever seen......" [edit] "They had been abord that thing for 5 years. Hadent even been home for 4 or 5 years."

[seafarer]

I know, I've seen the video before, but I never took that comment to literally mean that every single man onboard O-19 had been onboard O-19 since they'd left Europe in 1939.

She went through 5 commanding officers during that time, so why other crew wouldn't change either is beyond me. The commander at the time had only assumed command the previous December. She'd even been back to European waters in 1944. Of course none of the men had seem home - Holland was occupied by the Germans. But it's not like the crew had not changed, nor that the crew had even been in the east Indies the whole time. And they'd certainly not spent 5 whole years never stepping off the boat.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by seafarer

Holland was occupied by the Germans.

Doh !... Is there a forest around here.. too many trees.

[Angus89]

That boat looked a lot like the german u-boats. Did the dutch build their own or buy from germany? Imagine bein allies and having to hide from the Amercans lest you be mistaken for a german. Lends a new aspect to sh4 in my opinion would love to try that out in game.

[seafarer]

They built these boats in Rotterdam. They were also the first navy to have submarine's with snorkles, although it sounds like once war came along, most commanders had the snorts removed as there were still, err, kinks in the concept to be worked out I get the impression that those early snorts were highly regarded in concept, but deeply hated in actual practice.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by seafarer

They built these boats in Rotterdam. They were also the first navy to have submarine's with snorkles, although it sounds like once war came along, most commanders had the snorts removed as there were still, err, kinks in the concept to be worked out I get the impression that those early snorts were highly regarded in concept, but deeply hated in actual practice.

If I remember correctly they had a tendency to inhale salt water spray.

Not a healthy thing for an internal combustion engine.

Back on topic. Its interesting to note that the skipper was fairly new to the boat. One can only imagine they must have been moving along at a pretty good clip in shallow waters to drive the boat up on the shoal like that. Not really a good idea to go zipping around in those conditions. A 'rookie' mistake ?

Maybe he used too high a time compression :p or he forgot to hit return to course after loading a saved game... :hmm:

[seafarer]

One of the accounts of a crew member said they were doing 18 knots when they grounded Also, that most subs would have pulled free, but that O-19's open mine laying ports were snagging on parts of the reef. Bad luck all around it sounds.

Must have made for a heck of a trip home for the USS Cod too - 153 people packed into a fleet boat cannot be fun!

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by seafarer

One of the accounts of a crew member said they were doing 18 knots when they grounded Also, that most subs would have pulled free, but that O-19's open mine laying ports were snagging on parts of the reef. Bad luck all around it sounds.

Must have made for a heck of a trip home for the USS Cod too - 153 people packed into a fleet boat cannot be fun!

What tha ? 18 knots with the mine ports open ?

Bad luck or bad seamanship... Oh well water under the bridge... (get it ? )

[seafarer]

By Siem Spruijt, crewmember of the Dutch Submarine O 19.
....
Hardly relieved from watch at four in the morning and just about to get into my bunk, the world seemed to have come to a stand still all of a sudden and I was practically flying through the air and thrown against the bulkhead. A violent shaking of the boat immediately followed. What happened? The sub, doing 18 knots, had struck Ladd Reef, coral reef in the South China Sea submerged due to high tide. The impact was immense. Just imagine 2300 tons and with a speed of 18 kts coming to a complete standstill within 20 meters! The heavy shaking was caused by both diesels full astern while the screw tips where hitting the reef.
...
I will now quote my senior engineer officer Mr. Kiepe (deceased) in technical command:

"..........At low tide it appeared that the boat was grounded at various places around amidships. The CO reported the mishap and requested assistance, whilst the ship's company commenced transferring heavy weights from the forward to the stern of the boat. Water and fuel not needed for the journey to Subic were blown overboard. The anchor and chain dropped on the reef, as did the mines which could be dropped out of their bins.
...
We found a way to make the boat jump, which would hopefully be of use. When a boat has main ballast tanks fitted with Kingstons, the low-pressure turbo blower can be used to put as much pressure in as it can stand. By opening the Kingstons suddenly, the released air makes the boat jump some inches, which should be helpful during pulling. With the USS Cod assisting, the attempt to pull O 19 off had a higher chance of success. The attempt began at high tide, with both diesels running astern at full power, torpedoes being fired from all bow tubes, the gun being fired, the jump-effect being used and the Cod pulling on the screws with her powerful engines. All to no avail, as the O-19 did not move an inch. A smooth hull submarine would have come off I am sure, but O-19 had open mine bins lodged in the reef, making it impossible to shift. A number of attempts were made, all of which were abortive. There was nothing else to do but to comply with Com. Task Force 71's order for the destruction of the boat on the 10th of July

That makes me think that the mine doors were open due to the post-stranding jettisoning of mines, and had become lodged from all the movement as they tried to get her off?

That's her on the reef:

[Gino]

Some interesting things:

The O19 was based in Freemantle Australia, and so was the USS Cod. However, the crew from both boats had never met. The subvets from Cod that I talked to said that they didn't even know there were dutch submarines fighting in the Pacific until they had to rescue one...

The O10's commander was a fine skipper, that knew his stuff. But since they had been unable to 'shoot' a star for about a week they were off by a couple of miles. This caused the accident. Luckily nobody got killed.

The O19 was promised a tugboat to pull them off the reef. However, this was assigned to another spot, so the Cod was sent instead. Something the O19 skipper complained about later.

During the 'Thank-You-Cod' party in Freemantle the announcement came that the war was over. You can guess what kind of party that must have been. Even the subvets tell us nowadays 'It was the best party ever!!!"

groetjes,

[SteamWake]

Interesting espically the part about not being able to get a star shot.

I thought a 'noon sight' could be taken in all but the worst of conditions.