K VIII-class submarine

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The K VIII class was a trio of Dutch Navy submarines built after World War I. Constructed between 1917 and 1923 by Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde in Vlissingen, they entered service from 1922 to 1944. The class followed the K V design but removed two external torpedo tubes to reduce vulnerability to depth charges.

Each submarine was about 64 meters long, 5.6 meters wide, and could dive to about 50 meters. They displaced around 520 tons surfaced (up to 583 tons full load) and about 715 tons submerged (up to 810 tons full load). Top speeds were roughly 16 knots on the surface and 8 knots submerged. Range was about 3,500 nautical miles on the surface at 11 knots, with a submerged range of about 25 nautical miles at 8 knots.

Armament included four 450 mm torpedo tubes (two at the bow and two at the stern) with 10 torpedoes, one 88 mm deck gun, and one 12.7 mm machine gun. The crew numbered 31.

All three boats were in service at the start of World War II. During the war, K IX was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy and renamed K9.