HNLMS O 22

O 22 in 1940
History
Netherlands
Name	O 22
Builder	Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, Vlissingen
Laid down	20 November 1937
Launched	20 January 1940
Commissioned	10 May 1940
Fate	Lost in 1940
General characteristics
Class and type	O 21-class submarine
Displacement	990 tons surfaced 1205 tons submerged
Length	77.7 m (254 ft 11 in)
Beam	6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
Draught	3.95 m (13 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	2 × 2,500 bhp (1,864 kW) diesel engines 2 × 500 bhp (373 kW) electric motors
Speed	19.5 kn (36.1 km/h; 22.4 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) surfaced 28 nmi (52 km; 32 mi) at 8.5 kn (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) submerged
Complement	39
Armament	4 × 21 in (533 mm) bow torpedo tubes 2 × 21 in stern torpedo tubes 2 × 21 in (1×2) external-traversing TT amidships

O 22, laid down K XXII was an O 21-class submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy that saw service during World War II.

Ship history

O 22 in dock in April 1940 after a trial run.

The submarine was ordered on 12 April 1937 and laid down on 20 November 1937 as K XXII at the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, Vlissingen. During construction she was renamed O 22, and was finally launched on 20 January 1940. Following the German invasion of 10 May 1940, O 22 was hastily commissioned, still incomplete, and sailed for England on 12 May together with her sister O 21 and the tugboat B.V. 37, to be finally completed at the Navy yard in Rosyth.

During the war she operated in the North Sea and made five patrols. During her last patrol O 22 was lost with her entire crew, 42 Dutch and 3 British sailors. Her wreck was discovered in 1993 by a ship of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. On 2 November 1996 a ceremony at the wreck site was held to commemorate the loss.

Further reading

• "Oorlogsgraf O-22" (PDF). Klaar Voor Onderwater (in Dutch). No. 48. Den Helder: Onderzeedienst Reünistenvereniging. May 1994. pp. 2–16.