Dutch Submarines: News of 2002

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Walrus(2) back home from "Enduring Freedom"
27 Dec 2002 Heldersche Courant	Just before noon on the 27th of December the Walrus (2) arrives in Den Helder.

December Submarine/Tender dispositions
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	12 Dec 27 Dec	Arrival Arrival	Barcelona, Spain Den Helder, home port
	Dolfijn (4)	7 Dec 10 Dec	- Arrival	Kristiansand, Norway Den Helder, home port
	Bruinvis	-	-	-
	Zeeleeuw (2)	-	Maintenance	Den Helder, home port
	Mercuur (4)	-	-	-

Walrus(2) Spying on the Irania Navy
21 Nov 2002 Radio Netherlands	In an interview with Radio Netherlands Secretary of State for Defence Van der Knaap stated that the Walrus (2) is gathering information on the Iranian Navy, as requested by the USA.

Walrus(2) supporting Operation Enduring Freedom
2003 National Radiot	It has been reported that several non-Dutch translators (speaking Arabic) were on board the Walrus (2) while the sub was operating in the Arabic Sea and the Persian Gulf.

September Submarine/Tender dispositions
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	16 Sept	Departure	Den Helder, home port
	Dolfijn (4)	-	-	-
	Bruinvis	25 - 29? Sept	Visit	Cardiff, England
	Zeeleeuw (2)	-	Maintenance	Den Helder, home port
	Mercuur (4)	-	-	-

Submarine & Mine Service not going abroad
6 Dec 2002 Heldersche Courant	The Dutch Navy denied that in the future the Submarine Service and/or Mine Service will be replaced to Belgium or Germany. The official spokesman said it was nonsense.

November Submarine/Tender dispositions
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	18 Nov	-	Dubai, UAE
	Dolfijn (4)	29 Nov	-	Bergen, Norway
	Bruinvis	29 Nov	Arrival	Den Helder, home port
	Zeeleeuw (2)	-	-	-
	Mercuur (4)	-	-	-

Walrus(2) heading for the Arabic peninsula
16 Sept 2002 Heldersche Courant	On 16 Sept Walrus(2) has departed from Den Helder. She will travel to the Arabic Sea and the Persian Gulf to support the international anti-terrorist operation "Enduring Freedom".

Days at sea
2003 Defence Budget	The 'days at sea' stats for the Dutch submarines as listed in the 2003 national budget is as follows: 2001: 465 days, 2002 expected: 200 days, and 430 days at sea are estimated for 2003. The estimated 200 days for 2002 seem a bit low since 280 days are listed for peace keeping missions alone.

October Submarine/Tender dispositions
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	8 Oct 22 Oct	-	Aksaz, Turkey? Muscat, Oman
	Dolfijn (4)	-	-	-
	Bruinvis	11 Oct 18 Oct	- -	Falmouth, England Devonport, England
	Zeeleeuw (2)	-	-	-
	Mercuur (4)	11 Oct 17 Oct	- Arrival	Falmouth, England Den Helder, home port

Readiness Dutch Subs
2003 Defence Budget	The readiness of Dutch subs (as listed in the national budget 2003) is as follows: Immediately: 1 boat, short term: 2 boats and long term: 1 boat.

September Submarine/Tender dispositions
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	25 Sep	-	Palma de Majorca
	Dolfijn (4)	-	-	-
	Bruinvis	13 Sep 25 Sep	-	Devonport, England Cardiff, England
	Zeeleeuw (2)	-	-	-
	Mercuur (4)	-	-	-

OZD celebrates 95th anniversary
23 Aug 2002	Today the Dutch Submarine Service (OZD / OnderZeeDienst) celebrates its 95th anniversary in Amsterdam. Actually the 95th anniversary would have been on 21 Dec 2001 (since the first Dutch sub, the O 1, was commissioned on 21 Dec 1906) but it is celebrated today because all 4 Dutch submarines are now in port and open to the public. related image

Wreck of O 20 located
IAHD Press Release 9 July 2002	A Dutch expedition has located the wreck of the O 20. All seven members of the expedition are members of the International Association for Handicapped Divers, three members have a physical handicap.. . . the full story

Nationale Vlootdagen/Netherlands Navy Days in Den Helder
Mindef July 2002	12,13 and 14 July 2002: Bruinvis is open to the public during the Netherlands Navy Days in Den Helder.

July Submarine/Tender dispositions
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	17 July	Arrival	Den Helder, home port
	Dolfijn (4)	-	Maintenance	Den Helder, home port
	Bruinvis	12,13,14	Navy Days	Den Helder, home port
	Zeeleeuw (2)	15 July	Arrival	Den Helder, home port
	Mercuur (4)	-	-	-

Zeeleeuw(2) crew donates money
Mindef 15 June 2002	The Zeeleeuw (2) crew donates the sum of 1475 Antillean guilders to the Myrna Dovalle School, a school for children with hearing problems. The money is handed over during a visit of the children to the Zeeleeuw (2).

Zeeleeuw(2) hunts for drugs smugglers
Heldersche Courant 12 June 2002	Zeeleeuw (2) is currently used to prevent drugs trafficking in the Caribbean. The submarine surface off Willemstad (Curaçao) last Monday. The crew will spend a few day on the island and will support several charities. Zeeleeuw(2)'s presence in the area is part of Operation Enduring Freedom. She has relieved USN units that are needed elsewhere in the 'War Against Terrorism'.

June Submarine/Tender dispositions
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	14 June 17 June 20 June 21 June	Arrival Departure Arrival Departure	Dublin, Ireland Dublin, Ireland Devonport, England Devonport, England
	Dolfijn (4)	-	Maintenance	Den Helder, home port
	Bruinvis	7 June 17 June	Visit Visit	Devonport, England Devonport, England
	Zeeleeuw (2)	10 June 17 June	Arrival Departure	Willemstad, Curaçao Willemstad, Curaçao
	Mercuur (4)	7 June 10 June 12 June	Arrival Departure Arrival	Falmouth, England Plymouth, England Den Helder, home port

May Submarine/Tender dispositions
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	5 May 8 May	Arrival Departure	Devonport Devonport
	Dolfijn (4)	-	Maintenance	Den Helder, home port
	Bruinvis	-	-	-
	Zeeleeuw (2)	8 May 12 May	Arrival Departure	San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico
	Mercuur (4)	5 May 8 May 16 May	Arrival Departure Arrival	Plymouth, England Plymouth, England Den Helder, home port

Apr Submarine/Tender dispositions
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	4 Apr 19 Apr	Departure Departure	Den Helder, home port Faslane, Scotland
	Dolfijn (4)	-	Maintenance	Den Helder, home port
	Bruinvis	4 Apr ?	Departure Visit	Malta La Coruna, Spain
	Zeeleeuw (2)	13 Apr 18 Apr 19 Apr	Departure Arrival Departure	Den Helder, home port Bergen, Norway Bergen, Norway
	Mercuur (4)	18 Apr 19 Apr 27 Apr 29 Apr	Arrival Departure Arrival Departure	Bergen, Norway Bergen, Norway Dublin. Ireland Dublin. Ireland

Mercuur rescues crew of burning yacht
Mindef.nl 12 Mar 2002	On 12 March 2002 at 05:30 hrs the torpedo trials vessel Mercuur (3) rescued the crew (3 in total) of the English motor yacht Lorien of the Lochs. The yacht had already reported the fire at 03:00 hrs but this message was not received ashore. At this time the yacht was at a position of 90 kilometres west of Zandvoort (Netherlands). Mercuur tried to tow the yacht but these attempts failed because the yacht was still burning.

Egyptian Moray program could face further delays
AMI Feb 2002	The Egyptian Moray program could face further delays since US Congressional critics are lobbying to reduce the US annual military aid package to Egypt. .

Submarine/Tender dispositions week 6 - 11
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	18 Feb 21 Feb 22 Feb 25 Feb 26 Feb 1 Mar <4-10> Mar	Arrival Departure Arrival Departure Arrival Departure At sea	Ulsnes, Norway Ulsnes, Norway Stavanger, Norway Stavanger, Norway Herdlefjord, Norway Herdlefjord, Norway -
	Dolfijn (4)	-	Maintenance	Den Helder, home port
	Bruinvis	Late Feb	Visit	Aksaz, Turkey
	Zeeleeuw (2)	18 Feb 25 Feb 2 Mar	Departure Departure Arrival	Portsmouth, England Plymouth, England Den Helder, home port
	Mercuur (4)	18 Feb 20 Feb 22 Feb 4? Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar	Arrival Departure Arrival Arrival Departure Arrival	Stavanger, Norway Stavanger, Norway Den Helder, home port London, England London, England Den Helder, home port

Dutch sub on drugs hunt
Helderse Courant & E.T.	The Dutch Navy will deploy a submarine in the Caribbean as an answer to the increasing drugs trafficking in the area. There are rumours that the smugglers even using small submarines to transport the goods. This task will probably be performed by Zeeleeuw (2). She will probably sail for the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba sometime in March.

Submarine/Tender dispositions week 1 - 5
Various Sources	Walrus (2)	<8> Feb	-	At sea
	Dolfijn (4)	-	Maintenance	Den Helder, home port
	Bruinvis	-	-	Middle East
	Zeeleeuw (2)	4 Feb 11 Feb 15 Feb	Departure Departure Arrival	Den Helder, home port Plymouth, England Portsmouth, England
	Mercuur (4)	<8> Feb	-	At sea

Days at sea
2002 National Budget	The 'days at sea' stats for the Dutch submarines as listed in the 2002 national budget is as follows: 2000: 339 days, 2001 estimate: 480 days, and also 480 days at sea are estimated for 2002.

Readiness Dutch Subs
2002 National Budget	The readiness of Dutch subs (as listed in the national budget 2002) is as follows: Immediately: 1 boat, short term: 2 boats, long term: 1 boat.

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Sorbet Royal 2002
Helderse Courant	In May this year the Dutch Navy will participate in the triennial Submarine Escape and Rescue Exercise Sorbet Royal. This time the exercise will be held in Danish waters from 20 to 31 May. Part of the exercise will be the exit of a group of divers (from the Dutch Navy "duik en demonteer groep") using the escape hatch while the submarine is at a depth of 45 meters.