- Yes.
- No.
- In a future Dutch/BeNeLux techtree.
- In the French BeNeLux sub-tree
- Other (Please explain in the comments).
- I said “No” in the first question.
Today I want to suggest an armoured cruiser of the Evertsen-class.
This is the “Pantserschip” HNLMS Piet Hein (1894)
What is a “Pantserschip” you ask?
It’s a Dutch term that litterally translates to “Armour Ship”.
Online sources refer to these ships as Coastal Defence Ships, but I highly disagree with that since Dutch Pantserschip’s are fully ocean going and would go from the Netherlands to the East Indies (Nowadays Indonesia) all the time. So saying they are a Coastal ship is just wrong.
So what are they then? Their speed, weaponry and armour make them more closely related to Armoured Cruisers, so the best term would be to use that, or even better a Small Armoured Cruiser.
HNLMS Piet Hein. Note the beautifull detail on the bow of the ship
Source: Foto's
History
Spoiler
A nice edited photo of HNLMS Piet Hein
Source: Foto'sThe period around the 1900’s is a very interesting time in Naval history, where each nation was trying out different designs for increasingly larger vessels. The Dutch ofcourse didn’t want to be left behind and so they to starting designing larger more powerfull vessels.
Starting in 1893 the Dutch Navy started constructing of a new type of ship, a so called “Pantserschip”. This is a Dutch term for a small heavily armored cruiser. The Netherlands had a lot of colonies all around the world, so these new “Pantserschepen” had to be fully ocean going vessels and would travel the world to these various colonies.
These first “Pantserschepen” were the three Evertsen-class ships. And compared to other Dutch ships of that era, they were quite big and heavily armoured. The three ships of the Evertsen-class were: HNLMS Kortenaer, HNLMS Evertsen and HNLMS Piet Hein.
HNLMS Piet Hein in Den Helder
Source: Foto'sHNLMS Piet Hein was launched on the 16th of August 1894, and would be put into service on the 3rd of January 1896.
Her carreer was not super eventfull. In May of 1986 there was a strike in Rotterdam Harbor and so Piet Hein together with her two sister ships were send there to patrol the area and assist whereever it was needed.In 1899 the Boxer Rebellion broke out in North China, and so Piet Hein together with two more ships were send out to China to save guard European Citizens and Dutch Interests. After the Rebellion she stayed in the Dutch East Indies for awhile.
She would be decommissioned in 1914, most likely just before the First World War broke out.
HNLMS Piet Hein in Sognefjord, 1909
Source: Foto's
Design
Spoiler
HNLMS Piet Hein after a mistake was made during maintanence. Half the engine room got flooded with water and the ship started to list to one side
Source: Foto'sThe Dutch “Pantserschip” classification is pretty much the same as an Armoured Cruiser, only maybe a little bit smaller then most Armoured Cruisers other nations were making.
HNLMS Piet Hein was 86,2 metres long, had a beam of 14,3 metres and a draft of 5,23 metres, and displaced 3,464 tons. She had a crew of 263 men and was able to reach a top speed of 16 knots.
A blueprint of HNLMS Piet Hien
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefThe main weaponry of the ship was three 21cm A No. 2 guns. These were guns made by Krupp, and the ship had two of the guns mounted in a forward twin turret, and the last gun in a rear single gun mount.
The exact rate of fire is not known, but by looking at other German 21cm guns of the time it was most likely around 4 rounds per minute.
Ammunition for the 21cm guns consisted of AP, Common and Canister rounds.The secondairy weapons seen on HNLMS Piet Hein were two 15cm and six 7,5cm guns.
The 15cm guns were located on the sides, with one turret on each side of the sihp. And the 7,5cm guns were spread around the superstructure of the ship, with three located on each side.The final guns onboard the ship were eight 37mm Hotchkiss guns. Four of them were located inbetween the 7,5cm turrets on the main superstructure, with there being two 37mm guns per side. And the final four guns were mounted on the two main masts of the ship. Two guns were mounted per mast, with the weapons being put in these sort of crow nests.
A cross section blueprint of HNLMS Piet Hein. Note the 37mm Hotchkiss guns in the top of the main mast
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefThe final bit of weaponry onboard the ship was three 45cm torpedo tubes. One torpedo tube was mounted at the stern of the ship. It was located above the waterline, and the tube was fixed in position.
The last two torpedo tubes were mounted on the sides of the ship, with one tube per side. The tubes were placed on a swivel mount so they could fire at various angles.The torpedoes used were Whitehead Type Xa. This torpedo had a 90 kg warhead, and a range of 900 meters at 27,2 knots.
A top down view of the crew deck, note the three torpedo tubes. One on a fixed rear firing tube, and two on each side on a swivel mount
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefThe armour of the ship was 150 mm armored belt, which would lower to 100mm at the ship ends. The upper deck was 12,5 mm thick, with the main armored lower deck being 50 mm thick.
The citadel of the ship was protected by a 105 mm armored plate that was at an 45 degree angle. This plate connected up to the 50 mm armored deck, which was also part of the citadel.
Finally the forward turret had a barbette of 240 mm thick, while the rear turret was 150mm.
A blueprint of the inside of the ship, showing the internal armour layout
Source: | Nationaal Archief
Ingame
Spoiler
We currently don’t have any armoured cruisers, or similar older style vessels ingame. But I do strongly believe that ships like these can work really well ingame.
When we look at the future of Naval in War Thunder, not all nations have a large number of battleships/battlecruisers that can be added. And going from a cruiser to a battleship is a huge step. That’s why I think ships like these can work nicely to fill that gap. They might not have the most amount weapons, or the best AA weapons, but their armour alone will allow them to take a lot of punches!
BR wise I this ship would work best at around 4.3 - 5.0. Maybe if Naval get’s more un-compressed these BR’s can change.
My first choice would be to have this ship be added into a independent BeNeLux techtree. But ofcourse the BeNeLux has been added to France, so this is now the only option where Dutch vehicles will go to. But it must be said that the Netherlands and France have nothing in common, and do not make sense to combine together ingame.
In the French Naval tree this ship would feel right at home. France certainly liked to make some weird Armored Cruiser type ships around the 1900’s, so gameplay wise HNLMS Piet Hein would fit right in! Also if the BeNeLux ships were to get a dedicated line in the French tree then this ship would serve nicely as one of the top ships you can get for the Dutch (Since neither the Netherlands nor Belgium had any battleships, so after these Armored Cruisers there wouldn’t be anything bigger)
Specifications
Spoiler
A side view cutaway of the ship
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefDisplacement: 3,464 tons
Length: 86,2 m
Beam: 14,3 m
Draft: 5,23 m
Installed powerplant: 2 x vertical tripple expansion steamturbines, 6 x Yarrow boilers (4,700 hp)
Propulsion: 2 x shafts
Maximum speed: 16 knots
Crew: 263 menArmor:
Belt: 100 - 150 mm
Upper Deck: 12,5 mm
Lower Deck: 50 mm
Citadel sides: 105 mm at 45°
Forward Barbette: 240 mm
Rear Barbette: 150 mmArmament:
1 x 2 21cm A No. 2 guns
1 x 1 21cm A No. 2 gun
2 x 1 15cm No. 1 guns
6 x 1 7,5cm No.1 guns
8 x 1 3,7cm Hotchkiss guns
2 x broadside 45cm torpedo tubes firing Whitehead Type Xa torpedoes
1 x stern 45cm torpedo tube firing Whitehead Type Xa torpedoes
A top-down view of the ship
Source: | Nationaal Archief
A nice painting of HNLMS Piet Hein
Source: Foto's
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading about this amazing machine.
See you on the battlefield!
Sources
Spoiler
Main sources:
- Evertsen class coast defence ships
- Evertsen-class coastal defence ship - Wikipedia
- HNLMS Piet Hein (1894) - Wikipedia
Extra sources:
- “Marine-torpedodienst 1875-2000” book, by J.M. Mohrmann
- Nederlandse pantser- en pantserdekschepen - TracesOfWar.nl
Photos:
Blueprints:
