K VII. Date and place unknown.

 

1916

25 July 1916: K VII is laid down at the Fijenoord shipyard in Rotterdam.

1921

8 Mar 1921: K VII is launched.

1922

5 Sep 1922: K VII is commissioned to the Royal Netherlands Navy.

5 Sep - 13 Nov 1922: K VII is under the command of Ltz. I  .

1923

15 May - 23 Oct 1923: K VII is under the command of Ltz. I  .

18 Sep - 24 Dec 1923: K VII travels to the to the Dutch East Indies accompanied by the submarine tender Pelikaan,  K II and K VIII. 

The group is under the command of  Kapt.ltz. E. M. Wissmann and prior to departure from Den Helder the group is inspected by Sbn. C. Fock.

Pelikaan, K II and K VII depart from Den Helder (18 Sep, around 11:30 hrs) and they anchor off Den Helder. They continue their voyage around 12:30 hrs and head for Gibraltar. K VIII departs from Rotterdam. Other sources report the K VIII departs from Vlissingen and joins the group on the North Sea  The boats travel via Gibraltar, Tunis, Alexandria, the Suez Canal, Aden, Colombo and Sabang. In the N.E.I. they form the Pelikaan division. 

22 Sep 1923 at +/- 10:00 hrs: While in the Bay of Biscay the group has to make an 2 hr stop to give K VIII time for repairs.

24 Sep 1923: The weather has calmed down and a sloop from the Pelikaan, carrying fresh bread, comes alongside the submarines.

Between 15:30 and 17:00 hrs the K II submerges for exercises with other vessels.

25 Sep 1923: In the deep (100 - 300 meters) waters off Cape Rocca K II (and possibly the other submarines as well) conducts several dive exercises. At the end of the day they set course to Gibraltar.

28 Sep1923 at +/- 01:00 hrs: The group arrives in Gibraltar.

3 Oct - 7 Oct 1923: The group departs from Gibraltar and heads for Tunis.

11 Oct - 18 Oct 1923: The group departs from Tunis and heads for Alexandria. The initial time of departure is 01:00 hrs. But this has to be postponed because the Pelikaan has engine problems. When the Pelikaan is finally ready to set sail her anchor winches fail as well. The other vessels now do leave port but wait for the Pelikaan to join them, which eventually happens around 19:00 hrs.

But half up the channel the helmsman makes a mistake and the Pelikaan runs aground.

12 Oct 1923: K II tries to pull the Pelikaan free. Although the cable is as thick as an upper arm and brand new it still brakes.

12 or 13 Oct 1923: The other vessels of the group take over 80000 tons of fuel from Pelikaan and finally a French tugboat pulls her free.

While transiting to Alexandria the K II submerges a couple of hours each day. K II makes these frequent dives in order to take gravity measurements.

16 Oct 1923 at +/- 16:00 hrs: A sloop from the Pelikaan brings another load of fresh bread.

18 Oct 1923: The group arrives in Alexandria.

25 Oct - 6 Nov 1923: The groups sails from Alexandria to Aden (Yemen).

25 Oct 1923 at +/- 10:00 hrs: The group departs from Alexandria.

26 Oct 1923 at 11:00 hrs: The group arrives in Port Said (Suez Canal).

In the Red Sea the temperature in K II's engine room rises to 100ºF, after submerging the temperature rises to 115-130ºF.

13 Nov - 27 Nov 1923: The groups sails from Aden to Colombo (Ceylon).

During this transit K II submerges about 6 times. While submerged they use the ijsmachine (ice machine) to cool down the air in the boat.

Because the Pelikaan had numerous engine failures the group arrives in Colombo three days late.

Several officers visit the graves of the K IV sailors that were killed in an accident in 1921.

5 Dec - 11 Dec 1923: The group sails from Colombo (Ceylon) to Sabang (Dutch East Indies)

17 Dec- 24 Dec 1923: The ships sail from Sabang to Tandjong Priok (Batavia/Jakarta, Dutch East Indies).

23 Oct - 31 Oct 1923: K VII is under the command of .

31 Oct - 8 Nov 1923: K VII is under the command of Ltz. I  .

8 Nov - 247 Nov 1923: K VII is under the command of .

27 Nov 1923 - 1 Mar 1924: K VII is under the command of Ltz. I  .

24 Dec 1923: The ships arrive in Tandjong Priok (Batavia/Jakarta).

K VII (left) and K II in Manila, 1926. More pictures of this series can be seen at the K II,  K VIII and K IX page. (Photo: © E.G. Tall EM2(SS), collection D.E. Tall ET1(SS))

1924

1 Mar 1924 - 5 June 1925: K VII is under the command of Ltz. I  .

1925

5 June 1925 - 12 June 1926: K VII is under the command of Ltz. I  .

1926

25 Mar 1926: K VII, K II, K VIII and K IX sail together from Tarakan to Manila (Philippines) and back

12 June - 24 Dec 1926: K VII is under the command of Ltz. I  .

1927

1 Apr - 1 June 1927: K VII is under the command of Ltz. I  .

1928

22 Mar - 1 June 1928: K VII is under the command of Ltz. I  .

1929

12 Feb - 1 June 1929: K VII is under the command of Ltz. II  .

1 June 1929 - 1 Feb 1930: K VII is under the command of Ltz. I  .

1930

According to his files he also commanded the K VII, unfortunately the dates of this command are not in his files. But is was probably some time in 1930-31.

? 1930 - 1931: K VII is under the command of Ltz. II  .

1933

? 1933 - 9 Mar 1935: K VII is under the command of ?

1935

9 Mar - 29 Oct 1935: K VII is under the command of Ltz. II  .

19?? - 19??

K VII is kept in reserve

? - 18 Feb 1942: K VII is under the command of Ltz. II  .

1940

10 May 1940: Germany attacks the Netherlands.

1941

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.

7 Dec 1941: The CZM radios (#109 1207-2215) that "War with Japan has broken out".

< 8 Dec 1941 >: K VII is kept in reserve at Soerabaja.

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

18 Feb 1942: Japanese bombs destroy the K VII at Soerabaja harbour. At the time she is submerged in the harbour in order to protect herself from the bombs. Unfortunately the plan does not work and all 13 hands on board are lost. Some of them (others have a seaman's grave) are currently buried at the Honorary Graveyard Kembang Kuning at Soerabaja.

The names of the lost crew members are listed on the page.

 

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