Johan Willem Ort, RNN

Born  10 Sep 1902Meester Cornelis, Batavia Netherlands East Indies (now Jatinegara, Jakarta, Indonesia)
Died  19 Nov 1940(38)HrMs O 22


If you can help with photo or any information on this Officer please
use our comment form
.

Ranks

13 Aug 1925 luitenant ter zee 3e klasse (S.Lt.)
13 Aug 1927 luitenant ter zee 2e klasse (Lt.)
1 Apr 1936 luitenant ter zee 1e klasse (Lt.Cdr.)

Decorations

Warship Commands listed for Johan Willem Ort, RNN


ShipRankTypeFromTo
HNMS O 12luitenant ter zee 1e klasse (Lt.Cdr.)Submarine23 Aug 193922 Sep 1939
HNMS O 22 (P 22)luitenant ter zee 1e klasse (Lt.Cdr.)Submarine18 May 194019 Nov 1940 (+)

Career information

We currently have no career / biographical information on this officer.

Events related to this officer

Submarine HNMS O 22 (P 22)


8 Jun 1940
After completing the outfitting of both brand new submarines, HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) and HrMs O 21 (Lt.Cdr. J.F. van Dulm, RNN) both depart from Portsmouth for Portland.

They arrive at Portland later the same day. At Portland both submarine conduct trials and exercises. (1)

13 Jun 1940
O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort) was docked at Portland. (2)

15 Jun 1940
O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort) was undocked. (2)

17 Jun 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) and HrMs O 21 (Lt.Cdr. J.F. van Dulm, RNN) both depart from Portland for Dundee.

They are escorted by Dutch torpedo boat HrMs Z 5 (Lt.Cdr. W. van Lier, RNN) (1)

22 Jun 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) and HrMs O 21 (Lt.Cdr. J.F. van Dulm, RNN) and their escort HrMs Z 5 (Lt.Cdr. W. van Lier, RNN) arrive Dundee. (1)

28 Jun 1940
O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort) conducted exercises off Dundee. (2)

6 Jul 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HrMs O 21 (Lt.Cdr. J.F. van Dulm, RNN) and HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) are both docked in No.2 Dock at the Rosyth Dockyard. (3)

28 Jul 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HrMs O 21 (Lt.Cdr. J.F. van Dulm, RNN) and HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) are both undocked from No.2 Dock at the Rosyth Dockyard. (3)

29 Jul 1940
After being modified at the Rosyth Naval Dockyard HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) and HrMs O 21 (Lt.Cdr. J.F. van Dulm, RNN) both conduct exercises off Rosyth. (1)

30 Jul 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) and HrMs O 21 (Lt.Cdr. J.F. van Dulm, RNN) both depart from Rosyth for their 1st war patrols.

They are to patrol in the North Sea.

It is not possible to display a map for O 22. The patrol report holds no daily positions and the ships log is not available. (4)

2 Aug 1940 (position 56.15, 2.35)
O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) fires two torpedoes against a submarine in the North Sea in position 56°15'N, 02°35'E. The submarine in question was either the German U-37 or more likely U-38.

1620 hours - In position 56°15'N, 02°35'E attacked a German U-boat with two torpedoes. Range was 5000 yards. No explosions were heard but the enemy submarine was seen to alter course to Starboard and to increase speed. [Neither of these two uboats reported the encounter though.] (4)

9 Aug 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) and HrMs O 21 (Lt.Cdr. J.F. van Dulm, RNN) both end their 1st war patrols at Dundee. (4)

19 Aug 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) departed from Dundee for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Norwegian Coast near Bergen.

It is not possible to display a map for O 22. The patrol report holds no daily positions and the ships log is not available. (4)

1 Sep 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) ended her 2nd war patrol at Dundee. (4)

8 Sep 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) departed from Dundee for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the North Sea.

It is not possible to display a map for O 22. The patrol report holds no daily positions and the ships log is not available. (4)

22 Sep 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) ended her 3rd war patrol at Dundee. (4)

6 Oct 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) departed from Dundee for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Norwegian Coast near Bergen.

It is not possible to display a map for O 22. The patrol report holds no daily positions and the ships log is not available. (4)

21 Oct 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) ended her 4th war patrol at Dundee. (4)

5 Nov 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) departed from Dundee for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Norwegian Coast near Stavanger.

6 Nov 1940
HrMs O 22 (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Ort, RNN) was ordered to take up a patrol position further South, off Lindesnes, 18 nautical miles from the coast. (4)

13 Nov 1940
At 2030 hours (zone -1, Berlin time) the German submarine U-28, which was on the return trip to Germany after her last operational war patrol (she was to be used as a training boat after her return), reported a torpedo attack on her in German naval grid AN 3438.

The logbook of U 28 gives the following; ' In a timespan of 30 seconds heard two heavy explosions very near to the boat. Most likely we were attacked by a submarine. The torpedoes must have passed behind the boat and most likely exploded at the end of their run or on hitting the bottom. '

If this was indeed a torpedo attack by a submarine, and given the double explosion this seems very likely to us, the attacker can only have been HrMs O 22. No other Allied submarine was operating in this area. No other Allied submarine failed to return to base around this time and finally no other Allied submarine reported this attack. Also the position where the wreck of O 22 was found in 1993 is only a few miles from the centre of German naval grid AN 3438.

Given the above we (Mr. Alexiades and uboat.net crew) consider it very likely that O 22 made this attack and was therefore still operational on the evening of 13 November 1940. It is even possible that something went wrong during this attack and that this resulted in the loss of O 22, although this is just an hypothesis on our part.

We would like to thank Mr. Platon Alexiades for informing us on the entry in the logbook of U-28.
We have informed the Dutch Navy of this find.

Sources

  1. File 2.12.03.6402 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)
  2. File 2.12.27.215 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)
  3. Rosyth Dockyard docking register
  4. ADM 199/1856

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


You can help improve officers Johan Willem Ort's page
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this officer.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve his page.

Allied Commanders main page