- 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’m going to suggest a destroyer of the Netherlands Navy Gerard Callenburgh-class.
This is the HNLMS Philips van Almonde (1940)
A blueprint of the Gerard Callenburgh-class
Source: | Nationaal Archief
HNLMS Philips van Almonde whilst being under construction. 15th of August 1939
Source: Foto's
History
Spoiler
HNLMS Philips van Almonde in the early stages of constuction
Source: Foto's
HNLMS Philips van Almonde in the early stages of constuction. 19th of June 1939
Source: Foto'sThe origins of the Gerard Callenburgh-class starts in the 1930’s. The Navy had started a re-equipment program to strengthen the Navy again, and in this plan twelve new destroyers were planned. In 1931 eight new destroyers of the Admiralen-class were finished, so another four ships had to be made. But it would take another few years before actual progress was made for this.
In 1937 the first design blueprints would be made for this new class of ships, at the time it was simply known as the Torpedobootjager 1937 (Destroyer 1937). Work continued on the design till 1938, and around 1938 the new ship class was given a name, the Gerard Callenburgh-class. In October of 1938 the first two ships were laid down. Shortly after this in November the third ship would be laid down, and finally on the 2nd of March 1939 the fourth ship, HNLMS Philips van Almonde, would be laid down too.
HNLMS Philips van Almonde in the early stages of constuction. 19th of June 1939
Source: Foto's
HNLMS Philips van Almonde in the early stages of constuction. 19th of June 1939
Source: Foto'sHNLMS Philips van Almonde was the last ship of the class to be laid down, and unlike her three sister ships she did not manage to get launched before the German invasion of the Netherlands on the 10th of May 1940. This was very unfortunate because she was planned to be launched just a week later.
HNLMS Philips van Almonde in the early stages of constuction. 19th of June 1939
Source: Foto's
HNLMS Philips van Almonde in the early stages of constuction. 19th of June 1939
Source: Foto'sWith there being no way to finish or launch the ship it was decided to destroy her to avoid it being captured by the Germans. By the time the Germans arrived there was no way to repair the ship and so it was scrapped for good.
HNLMS Philips van Almonde after being destroyed to avoid capture. 17th of May 1940
Source: Foto's
Design
Spoiler
A cross section blueprint of the Gerard Callenburgh-class
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefThe Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyer was a class of four ships made in the Netherlands. Two ships were made by “Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij” (RDM for short), and the other two ships were made by “Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde”. The ship in this suggestion, HNLMS Philips van Almonde, was being made by De Schelde.
HNLMS Philips van Almonde was 106,3 metres long, had a beam of 10,3 metres and a draft of 3,2 metres, and displaced 1.628 tons at standard displacement, and 2.240 tons at full. She was planned to have a crew of 180 men. The ship was able to reach 36 knots.
The main weaponry of the ship was five 12cm guns. These gun were made in the Netherlands by “Wilton-Fijenoord”. Four of these guns were mounted in two twin turrets, and the last gun was in a single gun turret. The exact layout of the guns changed a little bit during development, but the final setup was a single twin turret at the front and rear, and the final single gun turret superfiring over the rear twin turret.
The guns had a firerate of 10 rounds per minute.
Ammunition for the 12cm guns consisted of just an HE shell, and also a Starshell could be fired.The secondairy guns consisted of four 40mm No. 4 autocannons in two Hazemeijer twin turrets. These twin mounts were very advanced triaxial mountings with built-in tachymetric director and automatic stabilisation. One twin turret was put in a superifiring position over the front 12cm turret, and the other 40mm turret was mounted behind the rear smoke funnel.
Furthermore HNLMS Philips van Almonde was planned with two twin 12,7mm Colt-Browing machine gun turrets. The exact position of the guns changed a lot during development. At first the two twin turrets were planned on top of the main bridge. Then later I’ve seen just four single machine gun mounts on blueprints, only to then see it pop up in a twin mount again, but now located on the main deck of the ship just forward of the torpedo tubes.
You can see what I mean on the Torpedo launcher blueprint just below this text, to the right of the blueprint you see some circles drawn with the text “Dubb. Mitr.” next to it, this is short of “Dubbel Mitrailleur”, which means Twin Machine Gun.The ship was also planned with two quad 533mm torpedo tube launchers. These were mounted behind the smoke funnels, with the rear 40mm No. 4 turret being placed in between the two launchers. The torpedoes planned for the Gerard Callenburgh-class are not specifically stated, but they would most likely have been the Whitehead Type V 53 torpedoes. These had a 350 kg TNT warhead, and a range of 4.000 meters at 45 knots, or a range of 12.000 meters at 28 knots.
A blueprint of the torpedo launchers of the Gerard Callenburgh-class
Source:| Nationaal ArchiefThe ship was also planned with four depth charge launchers and two naval mine rails. The mines used would have been the Dutch Model 1921 onces, and the ship would have carried 24 of these, 12 per rail. These mines had a charge of 200 kg of Trotyl.
Finally there was also an Aircraft Crane. The Crane was mounted in the middle of the ship, in between the two smoke funnels. There was room for one Fokker C.11w floatplane. The ship did not have any kind of catapult system however, the aircraft would have to be lowered into the water with the crane and then take of on it’s own.
A blueprint of the floatplane setup on the Gerard Callenburgh-class
Source: | Nationaal Archief
Ingame
Spoiler
HNLMS Philips van Almonde would be a nice addition for a Dutch/BeNeLux (Sub)tree. Unlike her sister ships, HNLMS Philips van Almonde was never launched, making her lack behind compared to her sister ships. So personally I think HNLMS Philips van Almonde would be nice to see ingame as an event ship. Her sister ships can fill the role of techtree ships, and HNLMS Philips van Almonde has a pretty unique name so that would make her stand out even more.
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 tree HNLMS Philips van Almonde would be a pretty normal destroyer, it doesn’t exact stand out in any special way, the only thing HNLMS Philips van Almonde has that most French destroyers do not is good anti-aircraft weapons. Most French destroyers use the 37mm Model 1925, and this gun simply doesn’t compare to the 40mm Bofors that HNLMS Philips van Almonde has.
Specifications
Spoiler
A rigging plan blueprint of the Gerard Callenburgh-class. Dispite it being a rigging plan blueprint it does show us an excellet outside view of the ship. Note that the rear superfiring turret has just a single gun instead of the other twin turrets
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefStandard Displacement: 1.628 tons
Full Displacement: 2.240 tons
Length: 106,3 m
Beam: 10,3 m
Draft: 3,2 m
Installed powerplant: 2 x Werkspoor-Parsons steamturbines, 3 x Yarrow boilers (45.000 hp)
Propulsion: 2 x shafts, three bladed propellors
Maximum speed: 36 knots
Crew: 180 menArmament:
2 x 2 12cm No. 8 guns
1 x 1 12cm No. 6 guns
2 x 2 40mm No. 4 autocannons
2 x 2 12,7mm Colt-Browning machine guns
2 x 4 533 mm torpedo tubes firing (most likely) Type V 53 torpedoes
2 x 1 Mine rails with 12 Model 1921 mines per rail
4 x 1 Depth Charge launchers1 x Aircraft crane, with a Fokker C.11w floatplane carried. (Max speed 280 km/h, 2 x 7.9 mm FN-Browning machine guns, one firing forwards, and one for the gunner)
A cool early design blueprint of the Gerard Callenburgh-class. Note that the ship does not have superfiring rear turrets here, instead the single gun turret is located between the two smoke funnels
Source: | Nationaal Archief
HNLMS Philips van Almonde after being destroyed to avoid capture. 17th of May 1940
Source: Foto's
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading about this amazing machine.
See you on the battlefield!
Sources
Spoiler
Dutch sources:
- “Nederlandse marineschepen 1939-1945” book, by Peter Kimenai
- Tjerk Hiddes class Destroyers (1939)
Secondairy sources:
- Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyers (1938)
- Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyer - Wikipedia
- HNMS Gerard Callenburgh of the Royal Dutch Navy - Dutch Destroyer of the Gerard Callenburgh class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net
Photos:
Blueprints: