[2] K XVII had a similar design as her sister submarines in the K XIV class, she was fully riveted and her pressure hull was made of 14 mm (0.55 in) thick steel.

The fourth compartment was the nerve center of K XVII, since this was the place where all control panels, instruments, and command tower were located.

However, before she left for the Dutch East Indies she first became part of the Royal Netherlands Navy escadre Oostzee between 20 June and 1 August 1934.

[8] As part of the navy escadre Oostzee, the K XVII made a trip to several ports and harbors connected to the Baltic Sea, such as Gdynia, Königsberg, Riga and Copenhagen.

[8] At every port which they visited more than two days meetings were organised and included showing the Dutch national flag as part of promoting the Netherlands.

Immediately after the maintenance periods were completed on all boats of submarine division I, they were ordered to be part of a navy escadre.

[11] The trip would last till mid-March, after which the escadre would change course to the Makassar Strait and spent the remainder of March practicing there.

[9] When Germany declared war on the Netherlands and also started its war against other West-European nations, the Dutch navy gave the order for all submarines in the Dutch East Indies to protect the colony against possible attacks or raids by German or Italian auxiliary cruisers.

[13] At the same time, the Dutch navy also observed Japanese activity closely, especially after Japan had signed the Tripartite Pact with Italy and Germany.

For example, on 15 September 1940 K XVII together with O 16 shadowed the steamship Lematang and the tanker Olivia on their trip to Durban and Lourenço Marques.

[15] At the end of September 1940 K XVII also protected the steamship Salando of the Rotterdam company Lloyd when it made its way through the Soenda Strait to reach its destination, Durban.

The Dutch navy believed, based on their intel, that Admiral Scheer was planning to enter the Indian Ocean with as goal to sink allied merchant ships and head towards Surabaya.

[13] The Dutch navy therefore made preparations to possibly face the Admiral Scheer and eventually sink the cruiser.

[18] There are several conspiracy theories involving K XVII and how the submarine allegedly sighted the Japanese fleet prior to attacking Pearl Harbor.