- 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 a cool ship for the Netherlands.
This is the Holland-class protected cruiser HNLMS Friesland (1896)
The Holland-class name is referencing the province of Holland, not the “country” name Holland. That’s because Holland is not a country, it’s called the Netherlands.
HNLMS Friesland
Source: Foto's
History
Spoiler
HNLMS Friesland in Den Helder, Netherlands
Source: Foto'sThe period around the 1900’s is a very interesting time in Naval history in my opinion One such class of interesting ships are the Protected Cruisers. The last Protected Cruisers the Netherlands Navy built were the Holland-class. In Dutch the term Protected Cruiser is called “Pantserdekschip”, which when translated litterally says “Armour Deck Ship”. Which is exactly what Protected Cruisers are, they usually don’t have an armoured belt, but instead they have an internal armoured deck.
The Holland-class were constructed in two batches of three ships. Something interesting about this is that the second batch is actually bigger then the first batch.
HNLMS Friesland was launched on the 4th of Novemebr 1896, and would be put into service on the 16th of January 1898.
The rest of her carreer was sadly quite uneventfull. She didn’t even stay in service long enough to see World War 1.She would be decommissioned in 1913 and scrapped soon after.
HNLMS Friesland in Den Helder, Netherlands
Source: Foto's
Design
Spoiler
A blueprint of the HNLMS Friesland
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefHNLMS Friesland was part of the first batch of three Holland-class protected cruisers. This is important to mention because there are some differences between the first and second batch of ships.
HNLMS Zeeland was 93,3 metres long, had a beam of 14,8 metres and a draft of 5,41 metres, and displaced 3.900 tons. She had a crew of 324 men and was able to reach a top speed of 20 knots.The main weaponry of the ship consisted of two different caliber guns. The ship had two 15cm No. 2 guns, and six 12cm No. 1 guns. The 15cm guns were placed with one fore and one aft. And the 12cm guns were spread around the ship with three on either side.
A photo taken of the rear 15cm No. 2 turret onboard HNLMS Zeeland, a sister ship of HNLMS Friesland
Source: Foto'sThe secondairy weapons consisted of four 7,5cm No. 1 guns. These were placed with two on either side of the ship.
The final guns onboard the ship were ten 37mm Hotchkiss guns. Out of these ten, four of them were the five barrel revolving guns. But these were taken out of service very early on, they might not have even been fitted to the ship, but they do show up on blueprints.
The four five barrel revolving guns were located around the bridge and rear conning tower. The guns near the bridge were placed on top of a platform above the bridge. And the guns near the rear conning tower were put with one on either side.
A cross section blueprint of two sections of HNLMS Zeeland, a sister ship of HNLMS Friesland. Note the 37mm Hotchkiss revolving guns
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefThe final bit of weaponry onboard the ship was two 45cm torpedo tubes. One torpedo tube was mounted in the bow of the ship, and the other in the stern.
The torpedoes used were Whitehead Type Xa. The torpedoes had a 90 kg wet guncotton warhead, and a range of 900 meters at 27,2 knots.
A top down view of two decks of HNLMS Zeeland, a sister ship of HNLMS Friesland. On the bottom one you can see the bow and stern torpedo tubes
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefHNLMS Friesland being a protected cruiser means that she does not have any kind of armoured belt. Instead the ship has an armoured deck inside of the ship that tapers down to the lower sides of the ship, kind of creating an internal turtleback belt.
This armoured deck was 50 mm thick. The ship also has a sort of armourec citadel in the center of the ship, this is connected to the armoured deck. This citadel is 125mm thick and it at a slight angle of around 20 degrees.
Finally the main gun turrets were protected by 150 mm of armour.
A cross section blueprint of the inside of the HNLMS Zeeland, a sister ship of HNLMS Friesland, showing the internal armour layout
Source: | Nationaal Archief
Ingame
Spoiler
Protected Cruisers would be quite fun to have ingame if you ask me. They have lots of guns and a little bit of armour, but nothing that would make them super powerfull. This HNLMS Friesland is a good example of a very normal protected cruiser. It’s main guns are more then enough to fight allong side other large destroyers of early light cruisers, and it’s speed and armour are also enough for those battles.
When we look at the future of Naval in War Thunder, not all nations have a large number of light cruisers that can be added. But this is a very important area in the naval tree to fill up. So that’s why I think ships like these can work nicely to fill that gap. They might not be as good as most light cruisers, but it’s better then nothing.
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 Protected Cruiser type ships around the 1900’s, so gameplay wise HNLMS Friesland would fit right in!
Specifications
Spoiler
A side view cross section of the HNLMS Friesland
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefDisplacement: 3.900 tons
Length: 93,3 m
Beam: 14,8 m
Draft: 5,41 m
Installed powerplant: 2 x tripple expansion steamturbines, 12 x Yarrow boilers (7.500 hp)
Propulsion: 2 x shafts
Maximum speed: 20 knots
Crew: 324 menArmor:
Armoured Deck: 50 mm
Citadel sides: 125 mm at 20°
Conning tower: 100 mm
Main turrets: 150 mmArmament:
2 x 1 15cm No. 2 guns
6 x 1 12cm No. 1 guns
4 x 1 7,5cm No. 1 guns
4 x 5 3,7cm Hotchkiss revolving guns
6 x 1 3,7cm Hotchkiss guns
1 x 45cm bow torpedo tube firing Whitehead Type Xa torpedoes
1 x 45cm stern torpedo tubes firing Whitehead Type Xa torpedoes
A top down view of HNLMS Zeeland, a sister ship of HNLMS Friesland, showing all the main and secondairy gun placements
Source: | Nationaal Archief
HNLMS Friesland in Alicante, Spain, 1906
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:
- Holland class cruisers (1895)
- Nederlandse pantser- en pantserdekschepen - TracesOfWar.nl
- Holland-class cruiser - Wikipedia
- HNLMS Friesland (1896) - Wikipedia
Extra sources:
- “Marine-torpedodienst 1875-2000” book, by J.M. Mohrmann
Photos:
Blueprints: