HNLMS O 14

HNLMS O 12 and O 14 in the harbor of San Juan, Puerto Rico (1937
History
Netherlands
Name:	O 14
Builder:	Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, Vlissingen
Laid down:	29 December 1928
Launched:	3 October 1931
Commissioned:	4 March 1932
Decommissioned:	26 June 1943
General characteristics
Class and type:	O 12-class submarine
Displacement:	610 tons surfaced 754 tons submerged
Length:	60.4 m (198 ft 2 in)
Beam:	6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
Draught:	3.6 m (11 ft 10 in)
Propulsion:	2 × 900 bhp (671 kW) diesel engines 2 × 310 bhp (231 kW) electric motors
Speed:	16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph) surfaced 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged
Range:	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) on the surface 28 nmi (52 km; 32 mi) at 8.5 kn (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) submerged
Complement:	29-31
Armament:	5 × 53 cm torpedo tubes 2 × 44 mm cannon 1 × 12.7 mm machine gun

O 14 was a O 12-class submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy that saw service during World War II. It was built by the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde of Vlissingen and entered active duty on 4 March 1934.

Just before the start of World War II O 14 was in Curaçao. Because there was no need on the Allied side for a Dutch submarine to be stationed there, O 14 returned to Europe. Based in England, it did patrol duty off the coast of Norway, with convoy Convoy HX 79, and was decommissioned in 1943 due to a lack of replacement engines.

Just after entering service O 14 received a visit from Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Defence Minister on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Royal Netherlands Navy Submarine Service. In 1937, O 14 travelled to Curaçao with sister ship O 12, and again in 1939, this time with sister ship O 13.

During the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, O 14 was stationed in Curaçao with sister ship O 15, where both were receiving maintenance.

Consultations between the Dutch and British Navy resulted in the decision to move O 14 and O 15 to Europe, since there was no need for Dutch submarines in the Caribbean. Both ships went via Kingston, Bermuda, and Halifax to England. O 14 underwent repairs at Halifax Shipyard on its armament. Since there was a lack of distilled water for the ship's batteries, O 14 could not join Convoy HX 78, but had to wait until October 1940, for Convoy HX 79. On 19 October a German wolfpack attacked the convoy, which sank 12 of the 45 ships and damaged another. O 14 was attacked as well, but all three torpedoes fired at the ship missed their target.