K XV was one of five patrol submarines built for the Royal Netherlands Navy during the 1930s for colonial service. Completed in 1933, the boat spent the bulk of her career in the Dutch East Indies. During the Pacific War, K XV made 13 war patrols, many of which were intelligence operations. The boat was taken out of service in 1946.
The K XIV-class submarines were designed to patrol the waters of the Dutch East Indies. They had a length of overall, a beam of and a draft of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The submarines had a crew of 38.
For surface running, the boats were powered by two MAN diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the boats had a range of at and at submerged. The submarines had a diving depth of .
The K XIV class was armed with eight torpedo tubes, four in the bow, two in the stern, and a pair on a rotating mount amidships. The boats carried a 14 torpedoes. They were also armed with a deck gun and two single Bofors AA guns.
K XV was ordered on 30 May 1929 and laid down on 31 May 1930 at the shipyard of Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij in Rotterdam. The boat was launched on 10 December 1932 and commissioned on 30 December 1933.
During the Pacific War, K XV damaged a Japanese oil tanker in 1942 and sank a small patrol ship in 1944. Most of her war patrols were in the service of Allied intelligence agencies. She survived the war, and was decommissioned on 23 April 1946.