View source for HMAS K9

{{short description|Submarine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:HMAS K9 (AWM P04979002).jpg|300px|upright|HMAS ''K9'' in 1943]]
|Ship caption=HMAS ''K9'' in 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=Netherlands
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Netherlands|naval}}
|Ship name=''K IX''
|Ship ordered=27 June 1917
|Ship builder=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=23 December 1922
|Ship commissioned=21 June 1923
|Ship decommissioned=25 July 1942
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=transferred to RAN
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=Australia
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Australia|naval-1913}}
|Ship name=''K9''
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=22 June 1943
|Ship decommissioned=31 March 1944
|Ship reclassified=*Training vessel (1942)
*Oil carrier (1944)
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Stranded on Fiona Beach, NSW
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class=
|Ship type=[[Submarine]]
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|210|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|18|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|12|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 shaft diesel electric
*Sulzer diesels 1500 hp
*electric motor 630 hp
|Ship speed=*{{convert|15|kn|km/h}} surfaced
*{{convert|8|kn|km/h}} submerged
|Ship range=*{{convert|3500|nmi|km}} at {{convert|11|kn|km/h}} surfaced
*{{convert|25|nmi|km}} at {{convert|8|kn|km/h}} submerged
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship complement=31
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*4 × {{convert|450|mm|in|adj=on|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes (2 bow, 2 stern)
*1 × {{convert|88|mm|in|adj=on|abbr=on}} gun
*1 × {{convert|12.7|mm|in|adj=on}}machine gun
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''HMAS ''K9''''' (formerly Dutch submarine '''''K IX''''') was a submarine that served with the [[Royal Netherlands Navy]] and the [[Royal Australian Navy]].

==Construction==
''K IX'' was ordered on 27 June 1917, launched on 23 December 1922 and commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy on 21 June 1923.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats/boat_kix.htm|title=Dutch Submarines: The Submarine K IX |year=2006|publisher=Dutchsubmarines.com|access-date=7 December 2013}}</ref>

==Operational history==

===Royal Netherlands Navy===
''K IX'' was based in the [[Netherlands East Indies]] from 13 May 1924. By the outbreak of the [[Pacific War]] in 1941, ''K IX'' was out of commission but was returned to active service in March 1942. Following the fall of the Netherlands East Indies ''K IX'' escaped to [[Fremantle, Western Australia]], arriving on 13 March 1942.{{sfn|Carruthers|2006|p=151}}

===Transfer to Australia===
In May 1942 the Dutch government offered ''K IX'' to the [[Royal Australian Navy]] for use in [[anti-submarine warfare]] training. This offer was accepted and ''K IX'' arrived in Sydney for repairs on 12 May. On 1 June ''K IX'' was damaged by a torpedo explosion during the [[attack on Sydney Harbour]].{{sfn|Carruthers|2006|p=151}} ''K IX'' was decommissioned from the Royal Netherlands Navy on 25 July 1942 and following extensive repairs was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS ''K9'' on 22 June 1943.{{sfn|Straczek|1996|p=103}}

Due to the boat's poor mechanical condition HMAS ''K9'' saw little service with the RAN and spent most of her time in commission under repair.{{sfn|Carruthers|2006|p=151}} ''K9'' was badly damaged by a battery explosion on 22 January 1944. Due to a lack of spare parts the submarine was decommissioned on 31 March 1944,{{sfn|Carruthers|2006|p=151}} having spent only 31 days at sea.{{sfn|Stevens|2001|p=132}} Following her decommissioning ''K9'' re-entered Dutch service as an oil lighter. ''K9'' was washed ashore near [[Seal Rocks, New South Wales]] on 8 June 1945 while under tow to [[Merauke]] in [[Dutch New Guinea]] and subsequently stripped for scrap.{{sfn|Carruthers|2006|p=151}}

The remnants of K9 were located on 20 July 1999 by the New South Wales Government's Heritage Office. The beach on which it grounded and its remnants remain is known as Submarine Beach.<ref>{{cite news|title=Historic war submarine found buried under sand of NSW beach|url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s40419.htm|access-date=30 May 2017|work=7:30 Report|date=30 July 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Submarine K-IX (1922–1945)|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/MaritimeHeritage/researchcentre/wreckkix.htm|publisher=NSW Government Office of Environment & Heritage|access-date=30 May 2017}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Carruthers|first=Steven|title=Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942: A Maritime Mystery|orig-year=1982|edition=Revised |year=2006|publisher=Casper Publications|location=Narrabeen|isbn=978-0-9775063-0-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Stevens|first=David|year=2001|title=The Royal Australian Navy|series=The Australian Centenary History of Defence |volume=III|location=London|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-554116-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Straczek|first=J.H.|year=1996|title=Royal Australian Navy: A-Z Ships, Aircraft and Shore Establishments|publisher=Navy Public Affairs|location=Sydney|isbn=978-1876043780}}

==External links==
* Submarines Association of Australia [https://web.archive.org/web/20061209223753/http://www.submarinesaustralia.com/history/SM_the_pioneers.htm The Pioneers]
* Dutchsubmarines.com [http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats/boat_kix.htm The Submarine K IX]

{{K VIII class submarines}}
{{Australian submarines}}
{{Navbox shipwrecks of New South Wales}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:K9}}
[[Category:K VIII-class submarines]]
[[Category:1922 ships]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Submarines of the Royal Australian Navy]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Solomon Sea]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of Australia]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Mid North Coast Region]]
[[Category:Submarines built by Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde]]