DUTCH SUBMARINE Hr.Ms. O13

 

Commemoration of all lost Dutch submariners in WW II.

Her Majesty the Queen "Wilhelmina" inaugurated on the 20-th of June 1947 a memorial monument to commemorate all submariners lost at sea. Several plaquettes are attached to the wall of the monument. For each lost submarine there is a plaquette with date and place of the loss and all names of the lost submarine service personnel. The name of my uncle F.H. Rienstra is written on the plaquette of the O13.

The monument was built at the "Waalhaven" in Rotterdam, but in 1962 it was moved (Because the Submarine Service moved) to Den Helder, after the move the plaques were also re-arranged. Some plaques at the left and right of the main 'wall' were added later and list the names of submariners that were lost while not being at sea. Most of those died in Japanese captivity. Dutch relatives and other involved persons commemorate the fallen submarines each year at the memorial.

Commemoration of the British submariners on the O13.

The royal Navy wanted to be sure there would not be any miscommunication with the submarines of the Dundee based 9th submarine flotilla. Therefore all subs of foreign nations had special Royal Navy liaison teams of 3 British sailors on board mainly for telegraphic and signalling duties.
Also the Dutch submarine Hr. Ms. O13 (onderzeeboot 13) had three British sailors on board when it vanished near the south west coast of Norway. These three men not only left their homes to serve their country in the least comfortable boat the Navy used, but also as part of a foreign crew of 31 dutch sailors they hardly knew.

These three brave British sailors were:
□ Lieutenant Brian Ernest Greswell (age 22)
□ Leading Telegraphist Hugh Phimster McDonald (age 26)
□ Signalman James Henry Spettigue (age 29)

All three men are remembered with Honour on Naval Memorials in Den Helder (the Netherlands) and Dundee as well as Plymouth or Portsmouth. The panels of the last two Memorials with the engraved names of the sailors are shown below.

Read HERE for more about the British Liaison Team members ...

Commemoration of all lost submariners of the 9th flottilla from Dundee in WWII.

In the year 2009 a new memorial commemorating the war time submariners who operated from the River Tay has been unveiled at Victoria Dock in Dundee Harbour. The new memorial is dedicated to the six British, Dutch, Norwegian and Russian submarines lost while on patrol from Dundee.
It also commemorates the 296 sailors and commandos who are "Still on Patrol" - and honour the extraordinary gallantry of all the British, French, Polish, Norwegian, Dutch and Russian submariners who went on patrol from the River Tay.

More information to be found on the Dundee-International-Submarine-Memorial page on Facebook.