HNLMS K XV

K XV was one of five K XIV class submarines built for the Royal Netherlands Navy. She served during World War II.

K XV in the Dutch East Indies, 1935
History
Netherlands
Name	K XV
Builder	Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij
Laid down	31 May 1930
Launched	10 December 1932
Commissioned	30 December 1933
Decommissioned	23 April 1946
Fate	Sold for scrap December 1950
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	K XIV class submarine
Displacement	865 tons surfaced 1045 tons submerged
Length	73.64 m (241 ft 7 in)
Beam	6.51 m (21 ft 4 in)
Draught	3.93 m (12 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	2 × 1,600 bhp (1,193 kW) diesel engines 2 × 430 bhp (321 kW) electric motors
Speed	17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) surfaced 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) submerged
Range	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) on the surface 26 nmi (48 km; 30 mi) at 8.5 kn (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) submerged
Complement	38
Armament	4 × 21 inch bow torpedo tubes 2 × 21 inch stern torpedo tubes 2 × 21 inch external-traversing torpedo tubes forward of the conning tower 1 x 88 mm gun 2 x 40 mm guns (replaced with 1 x 20 mm gun during WWII)

Service history

Sister ships K XVI and K XV photographed together at sea

The submarine was laid down in Rotterdam at the shipyard of Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij on 31 May 1930. The launch took place on 10 December 1932. On 30 December 1933 the boat was commissioned in the Dutch navy.^[2]

On 7 February 1934 K XV and K XIV left the Netherlands for the Dutch East Indies. The route they took led through the Suez Canal.^[2] On 6 September 1938 she participated in a fleet show at Surabaya. The show was held in honor of the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands who was than 40 years the head of state. More than twenty navy ships participate in the show.^[2]

In the war K XV sank several Japanese ships. She was part of DOZ-3 (Dutch: Divisie Onderzeeboten 3) together with K XIV and K XVI.^[3] She survived the war and was decommissioned on 23 April 1946. 1 June 1946 she was stricken and sold for scrap in December 1950.^[2]

Summary of raiding history

Ships sunk and damaged by K XV.^[2]

Date	Ship name	Nationality/Type	Tonnage (GRT)	Fate
1 March 1942	Tsurumi	Japanese Navy tanker	8000	Damaged
23 April 1944	?	Proa	10	Sunk
23 April 1944	?	Japanese coastal motor ship	50	Sunk