HNLMS Zwaardvisch (P322) was the lead ship

Lead ship

The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...

 of the Royal Netherlands Navy

Royal Netherlands Navy

The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

's , which was based on the British T class

British T class submarine

The Royal Navy's T class of diesel-electric submarines was designed in the 1930s to replace the O, P and R classes. Fifty-three members of the class were built just before and during the Second World War, where they played a major role in the Royal Navy's submarine operations...

. The submarine was originally ordered as HMS Talent (P322) and built by Vickers Armstrong

Vickers Armstrong

Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927...

, Barrow

Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...

, and John Brown & Company

John Brown & Company

John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a pre-eminent Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm, responsible for building many notable and world-famous ships, such as the , the , the , the , the , and the...

, Clydebank

Clydebank

Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...

. In 1950, the vessel was renamed HNLMS Zwaardvis.

As HMS Talent

The submarine was laid down on the 13th of October 1942, and launched on 17 July 1943. She was not commissioned into the Royal Navy, instead being transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy

Royal Netherlands Navy

The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

 on 23 March 1943, and commissioned into service on 23 November 1943. She was renamed Zwaardvisch, Dutch for 'Swordfish

Swordfish

Swordfish , also known as broadbill in some countries, are large, highly migratory, predatory fish characterized by a long, flat bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfish are elongated, round-bodied, and lose all teeth and scales by adulthood...

'. She went on to lead a distinguished career.

As HNLMS Zwaardvisch

Zwaardvisch served for much of the war in the Pacific Far East, operating against the Japanese. She sank six sailing vessels, including the Kim Hup Soen and two Malaysian sailing vessels. She also sank the Japanese guardboat Koei Maru, the Japanese oceanographic research vessel Kaiyo Maru No.2 and the Japanese minelayer Itsukushima

Japanese minelayer Itsukushima

was a medium-sized minelayer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was in service during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. She was named after the First Sino-Japanese War-era cruiser , which in turn was named after Itsukushima, a sacred island in Hiroshima Prefecture of Japan...

. She also damaged the Japanese minelayer Wakataka

Japanese minelayer Wakataka

was the third and final vessel in the of medium-sized minelayers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was in service during World War II. She was designed as an improved version of Shirataka netlayer...

. On 6 October 1944

Action of 6 October 1944

The Action of 6 October 1944 was an incident of World War II in which a German U-boat was sunk by a Dutch submarine while operating in the Java Sea. The sinking was part of the German U-boat campaign in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.-Action:...

, she sank the German submarine U-168

German submarine U-168

German submarine U-168 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II.Her keel was laid down on March 15, 1941 by the Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG in Bremen...

.

She had a relatively quiet post war career, being renamed Zwaardvis in 1950. She was decommissioned on 11 December 1962, and was sold to be broken up for scrap on 12 July 1963.