On the 15th of December 1941 at about 02:30 hrs: Hr. Ms. Onderzeeboot16. is struck by a mine while she is exiting the Gulf of Siam during her homebound voyage to Singapore. The submarine is nearly broken in half and 41 men are lost. Only one crewmember, Boatswain Cornelis de Wolf, survived.

Cornelis de Wolf would be the Sole Survivor of Hr Ms O16
On the 22nd December 1941 a bedraggled Dutch sailor was found by an Australian patrol, trudging toward Singapore in the hapless procession of native refugees fleeing the advancing Japanese. Brought to naval headquarters Cornelis de Wolf had an incredible story to tell.

A boatswain on O 16, he had been on watch on the rainy night of 14-15 December when at about 02.30 hrs. A huge explosion rent the deck forward and sent a wave of water and diesel oil over the men on the bridge. In less than a minute the boat was gone and he was gasping for breath in the lukewarm water of the South China Sea. Nearby a few other survivors called to each other and in the distance the voice of their commander was heard in reply. The swimmers clustered together, but Lieutenant Commander Bussemaker failed to appear and was heard no more.

De Wolf asked the only officer present , Ltz. II  C.A. Jeekel, what had happened and was told that they must have hit a mine.

Knowing that Tioman Island was a few miles west of them, the men - Jeekel, de Wolf, seaman first class F.X. van Tol, seaman second class F. Kruijdenhof, and machinist A.F. Bos decided to strike out for its shore, but van Tol and Jeekel soon succumbed to exhaustion and drowned.
In the morning a Dutch aircraft passed overhead but failed to spot the swimmers, and Kruijdenhof disappeared soon afterwards.
Toward evening, after 17 hours of struggling against the current that kept sweeping the men southward away from the island, Bos could go on no longer. Asking de Wolf, if he survived, to remember him to his wife and two children, he gave up and sank from sight.
Alone in the tepid sea, the sole survivor pressed on until at about noon on the 17th he was washed up on the rocky shore of uninhabited Dayang Island. Exhausted and bleeding, he fell asleep.

Waking after a few hours, he was found by a lone native in a small prau and taken to a larger island (presumably Aur) where impoverished but hospitable natives nursed him as best they could. After three days, de Wolf, clad only in shorts, rigged up a sailing prau and crossed over to the mainland, then walked for nine hours on raw feet before encountering an Australian patrol.

Boatswain Cornelis de Wolf was never believed and Lieutenant Commander Bussemaker would wrongfully be accused of navigating into a known British Minefield and their unblemished characters would not be fully restored until the 1990's. It was also proven from the location of the wreck, that Cornelius de Wolf's detailed account of what happened. Was accurate!

The photograph is from the personal papers and service history of Hugh Boyle LAC 1796858 WoPGd RAF 1943-1947

Shortly after His Death.
Hr. Ms. O16 Was Found
A WW2 mystery solved shortly after Hugh Boyle died.

A wreck well known to local fishermen was finally identified as that of the Hr. Ms. O16. Discovered by a Swedish diver, Sten Sjöstrand in 1995 off Pulau Tioman, East of Malaysia. The hulk was located at a depth of 53 meters some nine miles east of Hr. Ms.K XVII in the same Japanese mine line, draped in fish nets and with a gaping hole forward of the bridge.
In 1998 divers from Technical Diving International (TDI) supported by the Dutch multinational Unilever Lever Brothers, Hugh Boyle's post war employer, compiled photographs and video of the wreck area, a designated war grave.
Before its wanton desecration, the approximate position of the wreck: 3º10'N-104º19'E

War Grave Desecrated

It was reported in 2013 that several salvage barges had been spotted in the area where Hr. Ms. O 16 lies. One of these salvage barges was photographed in October dredging up the carcass of a Dutch submarine. It was that of Hr. Ms. O 16.
Also in this area lies the wreck of HMAS Perth originally commissioned by the Royal Navy in 1936 as HMS Amphion.
HMAS Perth was sunk by the Japanese in 1942. A designated War Grave, it was also desecrated by scavenging Yahoo.

HMAS Perth lost 350 officers and men including her commander, Captain H.M.L Waller, DSO.

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Further information: Dutch Submarines Link]

Source. Hr.Ms. K XVII en Hr.Ms. O 16
Author: Dr. P.C. van Royen et al of the Instituut voor Maritime Historie, 's-Gravenhage