Scholte, Elke (Oral history)

Dutch petty officer served aboard submarines K16 and K14 in Far East and US, 1939-1943; served aboard submarine O19 in GB coastal waters and Far East, 1943-1945 including sinking 9/7/1945

REEL 1 Background in Netherlands, 1919-1936: family; education. Aspects of training and service with Royal Netherlands Navy in Netherlands and Mediterranean, 1936- 1939: reasons for enlistment in Royal Netherlands Navy; character of early training; non-intervention patrols during Spanish Civil War aboard Hette Hendrik; fire control system aboard German ship Deutschland; transfer from Hette Hendrik to Gelderland. Recollections of operations as petty officer aboard submarines K16 and K14 in Far East, 1939-1942: background to joining submarine service; joining K16 at Batavia; duties on board; story of starting to learn English in Singapore, Malaya, 1939; reasons for belief that Netherlands would be involved in Second World War; transfer to K14; unpreparedness of US Navy for war, 1941; German equipment on board Dutch K boats; lack of supply problems in Dutch East Indies after occupation of Netherlands; in Balikpapan, 12/1941. REEL 2 Continues: attempt to intercept Japanese invasion fleet to north west of Borneo, 23/12/1941; torpedo hit on merchant vessel; training on Dutch submarines; second patrol to Pulau Laut area of Macassar Strait; attack by Japanese aircraft; failure to intercept Japanese in Macassar Strait, early 1942; third patrol in Java Sea; superiority of Japanese in Battle of the Java Sea, 2/1942; shortage of oil for submarine; problems negotiating Sunda Strait; voyage along Sumatra to Columbo, Ceylon, 3/1942; question of German Japanese contact in Madagascar; voyage from India to South Africa, late 1942; accidental clash between K14 and Dutch ship in North Atlantic on route to US. REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of period as petty officer with submarine K14 in US, 1942-1943: free victualling by US Navy; story of Vichy French submarine which sank Allied shipping; ashore in Philadelphia; repairs and alterations to submarine; how he lost stripes for going absent without leave in US, 1943; move to Dundee, GB, summer 1943. Recollections of operations as petty officer aboard submarine O19 in GB coastal waters and Far East, 1943-1945: transfer to submarine at Grangemouth, GB; 7/1943; character of submarine; provisioning in Rosyth; social life ashore; move to Ceylon; patrols off west coast of Sumatra, summer 1944; problems of negotiating Japanese defences in Lombok Strait; patrolling from Freemantle, Australia, autumn 1944; use of Bathy Thermograph in Lombok Strait; success of second patrol; question of Japanese survivors unwillingness to be picked up; effect of having female survivor on board. REEL 4 Continues: character of third patrol and depth charging by Japanese ships, 1/1945; report by Tokyo Rose that O19 had been sunk during attack; damage sustained by submarine; unorthodox use of red wine issue; ashore in Port Darwin, Australia, 1945; running aground in South China Sea and rescue by submarine USS Cod; fate of O19, 9/7/1945; transfer to submarine O23, c8/1945. Story of mission to rescue Dutch internees in Dutch East Indies, 1945. REEL 5 Continues: Opposition from Indonesian insurgents during rescue mission.