O 16 was a capable long-range Dutch boat closely related to the designs built for Poland. Between the opening of the Pacific war and 15 December 1941, she sank three Japanese ships and damaged another before hitting a mine near Tioman Island. Only the quartermaster survived, swimming ashore and eventually returning to Dutch control through Singapore. A crane vessel was later photographed dredging the wreck for valuable pre-nuclear steel. The episode explains why researchers sometimes withhold wreck locations and why commercial salvage at a war grave is condemned.
Notable Point · 2:02:53-2:06:29
O 16's eight-day Pacific war and the destruction of her war grave
O 16 sank or damaged several Japanese ships in the first days of the Pacific war, then struck a mine before later commercial salvage disturbed the wreck.