Allied Warships

HNMS O 20

Submarine of the O 19 class

NavyThe Royal Dutch Navy
TypeSubmarine
ClassO 19 
Pennant 
Built byWilton-Feijenoord (Schiedam, Holland) 
Ordered 
Laid down15 Jun 1936 
Launched31 Jan 1939 
Commissioned28 Aug 1939 
Lost19 Dec 1941 
History

HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. Pieter Gerardus Johan Snippe, RNN) was scuttled by her own crew, about 25 miles east of Kota Baru, to prevent her capture by Japanese destroyers. The Commanding Officer and 6 others died, the remainder of the crew were saved by the Japanese destroyer Uranami and made prisoners of war. She had been damaged by depth charges from the Japanese destroyers Ayanami and Yugiri (both offsite links) earlier that day. O 20 then surfaced after dark but was spotted and engaged with gunfire by Uranami (All links are offsite links). 

Former nameK XX

Commands listed for HNMS O 20

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1luitenant ter zee 1e klasse (Lt.Cdr.) Antonie Jacobus Bussemaker, RNN28 Aug 19399 Nov 1940
2luitenant ter zee 1e klasse (Lt.Cdr.) Frederik Johan Adolf Knoops, RNN9 Nov 19401 May 1941
3luitenant ter zee 1e klasse (Lt.Cdr.) Pieter Gerardus Johan Snippe, RNN1 May 194119 Dec 1941 (+)

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Notable events involving O 20 include:


This page was last updated in July 2016.

2 Oct 1939
HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. A.J. Bussemaker, RNN) and HrMs O 15 (Lt. H.M.L.F.E. van Oostrom Soede, RNN) departed Den Helder, Netherlands for the Dutch West Indies. They were escorted by the gunboat HrMs Van Kinsbergen (Cdr. J.L.K. Hoeke, RNN).

14 Oct 1939
HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. A.J. Bussemaker, RNN) and HrMs O 15 (Lt. H.M.L.F.E. van Oostrom Soede, RNN) and their escort HrMs Van Kinsbergen (Cdr. J.L.K. Hoeke, RNN) arrived at Ponta Delgada, Azores.

18 Oct 1939
HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. A.J. Bussemaker, RNN) and HrMs O 15 (Lt. H.M.L.F.E. van Oostrom Soede, RNN) and their escort HrMs Van Kinsbergen (Cdr. J.L.K. Hoeke, RNN) departed Ponta Delgada, Azores to continue their passage to the Dutch West Indies (Curacao).

31 Oct 1939
HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. A.J. Bussemaker, RNN) and HrMs O 15 (Lt. H.M.L.F.E. van Oostrom Soede, RNN) and their escort HrMs Van Kinsbergen (Cdr. J.L.K. Hoeke, RNN) arrived at Willemstad, Curacao, Dutch West Indies.

2 Nov 1939
HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. A.J. Bussemaker, RNN) departed Curacao for the Dutch East Indies, via Honolulu, Hawai.

2 Dec 1939
HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. A.J. Bussemaker, RNN) departed Honolulu, Hawai for the Dutch East Indies.

19 Dec 1939
HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. A.J. Bussemaker, RNN) arrived at Ambon, Netherlands East Indies.

23 Dec 1939
HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. A.J. Bussemaker, RNN) arrived at Surabaya, Java, Netherlands East Indies.

7 Dec 1941
Before the war with Japan started the submarines of the 4th submarine division, HrMs O 19 (Lt.Cdr. F.J.A. Knoops, RNN) and HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. P.G.J. Snippe, RNN), were ordered to patrol in the eastern part of the Java Sea.

8 Dec 1941
The submarines of the 4th submarine division, HrMs O 19 (Lt.Cdr. F.J.A. Knoops, RNN) and HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. P.G.J. Snippe, RNN), were ordered to patrol off Strait Karimata.

11 Dec 1941
The submarines of the 4th submarine division, HrMs O 19 (Lt.Cdr. F.J.A. Knoops, RNN) and HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. P.G.J. Snippe, RNN), were ordered to patrol to the north of Strait Karimata.

12 Dec 1941
The submarines of the 4th submarine division, HrMs O 19 (Lt.Cdr. F.J.A. Knoops, RNN) and HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. P.G.J. Snippe, RNN), were placed under the command of the British Commander in Chief Eastern Fleet. The boats were ordered to proceed to Singapore.

13 Dec 1941
The submarines of the 4th submarine division, HrMs O 19 (Lt.Cdr. F.J.A. Knoops, RNN) and HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. P.G.J. Snippe, RNN), both arrived at Singapore. (1)

14 Dec 1941
The submarines of the 4th submarine division, HrMs O 19 (Lt.Cdr. F.J.A. Knoops, RNN) and HrMs O 20 (Lt.Cdr. P.G.J. Snippe, RNN), both departed Singapore for their 1st war patrols. They were ordered to patrol off the west coast of Malaya.

Sources

  1. De Nederlandse onderzeedienst in de Tweede Wereldoorlog (The Dutch submarine service during the Second World War), by Gerard Horneman (ISBN 9789059119574)

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