The Royal Netherlands Navy is prepared to open her submarines to female sailors. This is the navy's response to an investigatio of woman in the German and Norwegian submarine service.

10 November
14 November
29 November
31 November

8 Otober
9 October
13 October

After posponing the search for O 13 in 2004 it seems the search has now finally started. A vessel from the Dutch hydrpgraphical service has booked a berth in a Norwegian port for three weeks. Sources say this is because of the sonar search for the O 13.

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The search was almost a complete failure. The Dutch vessel spend most time in port whith technical problems and due to bad weather (wind force 7). A vessel from the British Navy could also not perform a decent search because of the bad weather. The The "Stichting Comité nabestaanden onderzeeboten 1940-1945" will try to setup a new search for the summer of 2006.

The Dutch Ministry of Defence will take RDM to court on Monday in order to force them to srap the two ex-Royal Netherlands Navy submarines, or to get them back to the Netherlands.

During the Vlootdagen (Fleet Days) in Den Helder the Bruinvis, Zeeleeuw (2), Dolfijn (4) and Mercuur (4) are open to the public. Photos of the vessels during these Fleet Days can be found on the various photo pages.

Today the Dutch Submarine Service (and the Mine Service) have seized to exist as seperate services within the Royal Netherlands Navy. The Cdt of the Submarine Service has handed over the Submarine Service Banner to the CZMNED (Cdt. Naval Forces Netherlands). From now on the Dutch submarines will form a group within the navy, instead of an independant branch/service with own administration and support.
The submarines will now be represented in the navy by a so called "groepsoudste" (group senior / group commander).
During the ceremoy the Cdt Submarine Service handed over the Submarine Service Banner to CZMNED Vice Admiral J.W. Kelder. Click here for a photos of the transfer of the banner.

On Saturday, July 9, 2005, USS COD and the Netherlands American Society of Ohio (NASO) will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the of the crew of the Dutch submarine O-19 by USS COD with a picnic and ceremonies highlighted by a reenactment of the transfer of the Dutch flag from O-19 to COD. Ceremonies begin at 1PM, followed by a picnic on the lawn adjacent to the submarine. Admission is free to all members of the Dutch community.

17 June - 30 June 2005: The Dolfijn (4) and Mercuur (4) participate in the Submarine Rescue exercise Sorbet Royal 2005. This international exercise is held in the Bay of Taranto. Divers from various nations will work together to rescue submariners during the exercise in the Mediterranean off the coast of Taranto, Italy from June 17-30, 2005. Sorbet Royal 2005 is the largest and most challenging live submarineescape and rescue exercise ever conducted. Participating nations will test their capabilities and interoperability with 27 participating nations (including 14 NATO nations, Russia, Ukraine and Israel). Four submarines will be placed on the bottom (each with up to 52 men aboard) while rescue forces with a range of sophisticated rescue vehicles and systems work together to solve complex disaster rescue problems in a variety of difficult scenarios.

On June 14th the Dutch Ministry of Defence stated the following: HNLMS Dolfijn was not involved in a collision with a French fishing vessel off the coast of England in January 2004. State Secretary Cees van der Knaap confirmed this on Tuesday (14 June) during the Question Hour in the House of Representatives. He said that the ship's journal had revealed that, at the time of the accident, the submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy was some twenty kilometres away, on the surface. The commanding officer responded immediately to the distress calls and the submarine reached the scene quickly. More info on this incident.

The Dutch television program Netwerk shows a documentary about the sinking of the French fishing trawler Bugaled Breizh. In the documentary the allegation is made that she was sunk after a submarine caught one of the lines of the trawler and dragged her under. Main suspect is the Dutch submarine Dolfijn (4).

2 June
6 June
16 June
19 June
24 June
26 June
17 - 30 June

Arrival
Departure
Arrival
Departure
Arrival
Departure
Sorbet Royal exercise
Arrival
Departure

The Dutch Ministry Of Defence has given the business man Joep van den Nieuwenhuyzen till April 24 to come up with a plan to scrap the two ex-Royal Netherlands Navy submarines, Zwaardvis (2) and Tijgerhaai (2). If he does not come up with a plan the MOD will go to court.

On 20 Apr 2005 the annual meeting of the "Reunistenvereniging Onderzeedienst" will be held at Kumpulan Bronbeek (Arnhem).