Holland-class destroyer

HNLMS Holland
Class overview
Name	Holland class
Builders	Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij Wilton-Fijenoord Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde
Operators	Royal Netherlands Navy Peruvian Navy
Preceded by	Template:Sclass-
Succeeded by	Template:Sclass-
Built	1950-1955
In commission	1954–1986
Planned	6
Completed	4
Cancelled	2
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	2,150 long tons (2,185 t) standard 2,600 long tons (2,642 t) full load
Length	113.1 m (371 ft 1 in)
Beam	11.4 m (37 ft 5 in)
Draught	5.1 m (16 ft 9 in)
Propulsion	2 shaft geared turbines, 2 boilers, 45,000 hp (33,556 kW)
Speed	32 knots (37 mph; 59 km/h)
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 18 kn (33 km/h)
Complement	247
Armament	4 × Bofors 120 mm guns (2×2) 1 × 40 mm Bofors AA gun 2 × quad 357 mm (14.1 in) anti-submarine mortars 2 × depth charge racks

The Holland-class destroyers were built for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the 1950s. They were the first major ships designed and built by the Dutch after World War II. In contrast to previous Dutch Navy practice the ships were named after provinces rather than admirals.

History

After the end of the Second World War, there was not much left of the Dutch fleet. Many ships had sunk or were not able to leave their construction site at the outbreak of the war. The three great pre-war Dutch cruisers, HNLMS Java, Sumatra and De Ruyter had not survived the war. The equipment that survived the war, such as the light cruisers HNLMS Tromp and HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck were worn out by the intensive use during the war. Thus when the Admiralty Council was able to meet for the first time in The Hague in September 1945, they were faced with a huge challenge. The Royal Netherlands Navy had to be completely rebuilt. Although the navy leadership had made plans for the future composition of the fleet during the war, the new situation required a considerable adjustment. The fleet had to be rebuilt quickly and with limited resources.

The design and preparatory work on the destroyers was started immediately after the Second World War. Already in November 1945 a first plan came to the table for the new fleet, in which destroyers played an important role. Gradually, however, the thoughts about destroyers changed. The atomic bomb turned out to be no suitable weapon against ships, and if naval ships were to arm themselves against radioactivity and could flee at high speed from contaminated areas, the nuclear danger could be overseen. More important, however, was that during the Second World War the submarine had shown its effectiveness, power and danger once again, so the destroyers had to focus more on submarines. This was expressly the wish of the then Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army Conrad Helfrich. Besides the focus on submarine control, protection against radioactivity and speed, another requirement was added; the ability to perform coastal bombardments. The navy was considered torpedo attacks on other surface ships to be outdated and the torpedo requirement was therefore not included in the design of the destroyers. The Holland-class was first mentioned in public documents in 1946, that were part of the Dutch national budget of 1947. The destroyers were at this stage known as Submarine dsestroyer 1947. Later, however, the class of destroyers would become known as A-class destroyers, and Holland-class submarine destroyers. In 1948, six hunters of the twelve planned destroyers were ordered.

The four A-class destroyers were built by three different shipyards. The HNLMS Holland was built by the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij and the HNLMS Gelderland by Wilton-Fijenoord. The Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde built the HNLMS Noord-Brabant and the HNLMS Zeeland. The construction of these modern naval ships took much longer than before. This was part due to the use of very complicated instruments which required more time for preparation and study. There was also serious doubts about the stability of the new vessels, which resulted in extra measures such as building the mast construction with aluminum instead of steel. Another reason why the construction of the destroyers were delayed was due to financial problems of the Dutch navy. The price of materials had risen and there were also errors in cabling that lead to extra costs. The four submarine hunters were therefore provided with equipment that was built during the Second World War for the German Navy. Nonetheless, the submarine destroyers became more expensive than planned and construction was delayed by a year and a half. In addition to these four submarine destroyers, two more other destroyers were planned to be built, but due to cost savings the construction of these ships was postponed.

Design

These ships were unusual as they were the first destroyers built without large calibre anti-ship torpedoes. Their primary role was anti-submarine warfare and convoy defence. The specification was issued in 1947 and construction was approved in 1948.

Armament

The armament comprised two twin Bofors 120 mm guns which were capable of 45 rounds per minute. The mountings were automated and stabilised with radar control and 720 rounds were stored per mounting. Initially British 4.5 inch twin Mk 6 mountings were considered but rejected due to complexity, man power requirements (19 men per mounting) and dependence on hydraulics for operation. The close range anti aircraft armament was reduced to a single Bofors 40 mm gun due to the heavy top weight of the 120 mm mountings. Anti-submarine weaponry consisted of two quadruple Bofors 357mm anti-submarine mortars sited in B position forward of the bridge.

Machinery

The turbine machinery was ordered before the war for the Template:Sclass-s and hidden during the German occupation. The turbines were built by Werkspoor and four boilers were used. The ships had a unit machinery layout with alternating boiler rooms and turbine rooms.

Sensors

The radars were designed by Hollandse Signaal Apparaten; The ZW-01 provided surface warning, the DA-01 provided medium range surveillance and the LW-02 long range surveillance. Fire control was provided by the GA-03 and KA-01 radars. Sonars PAE-1N and \\cwe-10 were also fitted.

The superstructure was built of aluminium alloy in order to reduce weight and electric welding was used throughout.

The Netherlands navy considered replacing the after 120 mm turret with a guided missile system in the late 1950s but this project was cancelled.

Ships

Ship	Pennant number	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Holland	D808	RDM, Rotterdam	21 April 1950	11 April 1953	31 December 1954	Sold to the Peruvian Navy in 1978, as the BAP García y García, struck 1986
Zeeland	D809	KM de Schelde, Vlissingen	21 January 1951	27 June 1953	1 March 1955	Decommissioned 1979
Noord-Brabant	D810	KM de Schelde	1 March 1951	28 November 1953	1 June 1955	Decommissioned 1974, following damage in collision
Gelderland	D811	Wilton-Fijenoord, Schiedam	10 March 1951	19 September 1953	17 August 1955	Decommissioned 1973

References

Notes

Sources

• Gardiner, Robert (ed.) (1995). Conway's all the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. London: Conway Maritime. ISBN 0-85177-605-1. OCLC 34284130. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help) Also published as Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's all the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7. OCLC 34267261.
• Amstel, W.H.E. van (1991). De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine vanaf 1945. Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 9060139976.
• Brobbel, Henk (2008). Hr. Ms. Holland: de parel van het eskader. Soest: Boekscout VOF. ISBN 9789088342820.
• Moens, J.; Muller, W.; Bernhard, R. (1970). D810: Hr. Ms. Noord-Brabant.
• Mark, Chris (2005). Onderzeebootjagers van de Holland- en Friesland-klasse. Amsterdam: Stichting Vrienden van de Koninklijke Marine. ISBN 9051230044.