- 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.
- As laid down (1 x 75mm, 4 x 12,7mm, 40 x mines)
- WW2 refit (1 x 75mm, 2 x 20mm, depth charges)
- 1946 refit (1 x 40mm, , 1 x 37mm, 3 x 20mm)
- I said “No” in the first question.
Today I’m going to suggest one of the more famous class of Dutch minesweepers.
This is the Jan van Amstel-class minesweeper!
(From front to back) HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst (H), HNLMS Pieter Florisz (F), HNLMS Jan van Gelder (G) & HNLMS Willem van Ewijck (E) sailing in formation. These were the four ships that served in the homewaters of the Netherlands
Source: Foto's
History
Spoiler
HNLMS Jan van Amstel (A) sailing into the Koningshaven, Rotterdam, with the iconic “De Hef” bridge in the background
Source: Foto'sThe design for what would become the Jan van Amstel-class minesweeper was started in 1935. At this time it was simply known as the “Mijnenvegers 1935-1936”. The overall look of the class would become a little bit iconic as time went on. The class didn’t have any kind of weapons on the bow of the ships, all that was present on the front was a machine gun turret. Towards the back however the ships looked a lot more “busy”. A 75mm deck gun, another machine gun turret, cranes, minesweeping gear and a sloop and lifeboats.
One interesting feature the ships had is that they were also capable of carrying and laying mines. But this was not done very often, they were made for minesweeping after all.
At first eight ships would be made of the Jan van Amstel-class, all of which would be laid down in 1936, and would be commissioned in 1937. The plan was to send four of them to the Dutch East Indies, and have the other four stay in the Netherlands to be used in the homewaters. A cool little detail about the ships is their callsign that was clearly visible on the sides of the ships. The ships would be named after old Admirals and Officers, and the first letter of the last names of these Admirals and Officers would be used as the callsign, which would be written on the sides of the ships.
The four ships in the Dutch East Indies would have their callsigns increased to two letters later on. Amstel become AM, Bitter became BT, Crijnssen became CR and Dubois became DB.
The first eight ships of the Jan van Amstel-class minesweeper were as follows:
After these eight ships were finished, another four would be ordered. Their estimated completion time was somewhere in 1939.
The first four ships, Jan van Amstel, Pieter de Bitter, Abraham Crijnssen and Eland Dubois, were send to the Dutch East Indies where they would form the 2nd Minesweeper division.
The four ships that would stay in the Netherlands were the Willem van Ewijck, Pieter Florisz, Jan van Gelder and Abraham van der Hulst. These ships would form the 1st Minesweeper division.
On the 8th of September 1939 the HNLMS Willem van Ewijck would hit one of her own mines that she laid earlier. The resulting explosion sank the ship and killed 33 men. One of the four planned ships that was still under construction was then ordered to become her replacement and given the same name. Now known as HNLMS Willem van Ewijck (II).
HNLMS Jan van Gelder would also hit one of her own mines on the 8th of October 1939, killing three men. But thankfully her damage could still be repaired.
When Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940 the HNLMS Willem van Ewijck (II) was still under construction. The HNLMS Pieter Florisz and HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst would be sank by their own crews to avoid capture. And the HNLMS Jan van Gelder would manage to flee to Britain and would continue to fight throughout all of the second world war in British service. She would be returned to the Dutch Navy after the war.
The two ships that were sunk by their own crews would be refloated by the Germans and taken into their service. As for the HNLMS Willem van Ewijck (II) that was still under construction, she would be finished and also taken into German service.
The ships in the Dutch East Indies did do much better when Japan invaded in 1924. HNLMS Jan van Amstel was attacked by Japanese aircraft on the 6th of March 1942, killing 23 men. She then tried to flee to Australia, but would be sank before she could get there. Most of her crew did not survive.
HNLMS Pieter de Bitter and HNLMS Eland Dubois would both be scuttled by their own crews.HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen however would become famous for disguising herself with bushes and tree branches that made her look like an small island. She would only move during nighttime to avoid detection from the Japanese. Slowly she managed to flee to Australia, and would continue to have a very active carreer for the rest of the second world war.
HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen (CR) during the second world war. Note all the additional depth charge equipment and the 20mm autocannon that replaced the twin 12,7mm machine gun turret
Source: Foto'sAfter the second world war the two surviving ships, HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen and HNLMS Jan van Gelder, would return to the Netherlands. And two of the three ships Germany had captured had survived the war too. These were HNLMS Pieter Florisz and HNLMS Willem van Ewijck (II).
Both of them would return to Dutch service aswell, although a small mistake would be made. The HNLMS Willem van Ewijck (II) was mistaken for the HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst, which Germany had captured too and would be destroyed during the war. And so when HNLMS Willem van Ewijck (II) was returned to Dutch service she was incorrectly given the name HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst.This mistake has lead to some sites saying that the original HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst survived the war, but this is not true. It was the HNLMS Willem van Ewijck (II) that did. In order to avoid confusion some sources use HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst (II) for the ships name in order to properly show that it is the second ship with that name, not the original one.
HNLMS Pieter Florisz (MV2) & HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst (II) (MV4) in Rotterdam, 1947
Source: Foto'sAfter the war the four remaining ships were send to the Dutch East Indies to serve as patrol vessels. At this point the original weaponry was not onboard anymore. Instead they had 40mm, 37mm and 20mm weapons onboard.
Once the ships returned to the Netherlands in 1950 they were refitted once again and turned into Netlaying/support ships. In 1961 all four ships were taken out of service. Three of them would be scrapped soon after, but HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen was thankfully spared and would remain to become a Museum Piece in the Den Helder Naval Museum.
HNLMS Jan van Gelder (MV3) arriving in Batavia, 1950
Source: Foto's
Design
Spoiler
A blueprint of the Jan van Amstel-class
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefThe Jan van Amstel-class minesweepers were 55,8 metres long, had a beam of 7,8 metres and a draft of 2,2 metres, and had a standard displacement of 460 tons, and a full displacament of 620 tons. They had a crew of 45 men and were able to reach a top speed of 15 knots.
A cross sections blueprint of the Jan van Amstel-class
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefThe Jan van Amstel-class ships were armed with a single 7,5cm Semi-Automatisch No. 2 gun towards the rear of the ship. This gun had a max rate of fire of 26,2 rounds per minute. But pratical fire rate was around 14 rounds per minute.
The boats were also armed with two twin 12,7mm Colt-Browning machine gun turrets. One was in front of the bridge, and another just behind the rear 7,5cm gun.
A photo taken of the 7,5cm Semi-Automatisch No. 2 gun of the HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst (H), with HNLMS Jan van Gelder (G) in the background which also gives us a good view of one of the 12,7mm machine gun turrets
Source: Foto'sDespite the Jan van Amstel-class beind minesweepers, the ships were also able to carry and launch mines. For this the ships had two mine rails, each carrying 20 mines. Giving the ships a total of 40 mines. The mines used are most likely the Model 1921 mines with an Trotyl warhead of 200 kg.
A mine getting loaded onto HNLMS Eland Dubois (DB)
Source: Foto's
During the second world war the HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen would have it’s 7,5cm Semi-Automatisch No. 2 gun was replaced with a 7,6cm 12-pdr 12cwt gun. The two twin 12,7mm machine guns would also be replaced with two 20mm Oerlikon autocannons in Mark I mounts. The other ship still in Allied service (Jan van Gelder) would also have her guns changed around, but at this time she was in British service so there is no need to talk about it in this Dutch oriented suggestion.
After the war the four surviving ships would be turned into patrol boats to be used in the Dutch East Indies. At the front a 3,7cm Semi-automatic AAC cannon was added.
A head on view of the forward 3,7cm gun onboard HNLMS Pieter Florisz (M804)
Source: Foto'sA 40mm Bofors autocannon was put on the rear where the old 75/76mm used to be. Something interesting to mention is that this 40mm Bofors was in a German Flak 28 mount.
The 40mm Bofors autocannon onboard HNLMS Pieter Florisz (P2) or HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst (II) (P4)
Source: Vertrek Pieter Florisz en Abraham van der Hulst | Nationaal ArchiefLastly on the rear three 20mm Oerlikon autocannons were also placed.
A blueprint of HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst (II) (MV 4) after the 1946 refit
Source: | Nationaal Archief
Ingame
Spoiler
The Jan van Amstel-class would be a fun addition to the game I think. They are simply quite normal gunboats. I saw gunboats because that’s what they would be classed as ingame. The 7,5cm gun has a nice high firerate.
Now where should these boats go to? As usualy with my Dutch vehicle suggestions, I ofcourse want to see this ingame in a Dutch or BeNeLux techtree. Ofcourse the BeNeLux has been added to France, so this is now the only option where Dutch vessels 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 the Jan van Amstel-class would actually be a nice addition. It will be a nice low BR gunboat that is still pretty big. Right now Gaijin mostly has small boats for the French coastal tree Rank 1 and 2, so adding the Jan van Amstel-class would give a nice bigger gunboat to the French.
Specifications
Spoiler
A blueprint of the Jan van Amstel-class
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefStandard displacement: 460 tons
Max displacement: 620 tons
Length: 55,8 m
Beam: 7,8 m
Draft: 2,2 m
Powerplant: 2 x tripple expansion engines, 2 x Yarrow boilers
Power output: 2 x 800 hp
Maximum speed: 15 knots (27,78 km/h)
Crew: 45 menArmament: (As laid down)
1 x 1 7,5cm Semi-Automatisch No. 2 gun
2 x 2 12,7mm Colt-Browning machine guns
40 x Model 1921 naval minesWW2 refit: (Only for HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen)
1 x 1 7,6cm 12-pdr 12cwt gun
2 x 1 20mm Oerlikon autocannons in a Mark I mount
2 x Depth charge racks at the rear
2 x Depth thrower1946 refit: (Only for the four surviving ships after the war)
1 x 1 40mm Bofors autocannon in a Flak 28 mount
1 x 1 3,7cm Semi-automatic AAC cannon
3 x 1 20mm Oerlikon autocannons in a Mark I mount
A blueprint of the Jan van Amstel-class
Source: | Nationaal Archief
(From front to back) HNLMS Pieter de Bitter (BT), HNLMS Eland Dubois (DB), HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen (CR) and HNLMS Jan van Amstel (AM). These were the four ships that served in the Dutch East Indies, now sporting their two letter callsigns
Source: Vier mijnenvegers van de Jan van Amstelklasse van de Koninklijke Marine in Nederlands-Indië. Vlnr. Hr. Ms. "Jan van Amstel", Hr. Ms. "Eland Dubois" en Hr. Ms. "Pieter de Bitter". Van de mijnenveger achter de Eland Dubois is het naamsein niet te zien | Nationaal Archief
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading about this little boat.
See you on the battlefield!
Sources
Spoiler
History and information:
- https://www.tracesofwar.nl/articles/1887/Stalen-mijnenvegers-van-de-Jan-van-Amstel-klasse.htm
- Jan van Amstel-class minesweepers
Ship sources:
- Hr.Ms. Jan van Amstel. - ONZE MARINE VLOOT
- Hr.Ms. Pieter de Bitter. - ONZE MARINE VLOOT
- Hr.Ms. Abraham Crijnssen. - ONZE MARINE VLOOT
- Hr.Ms. Eland Dubois. - ONZE MARINE VLOOT
- Hr.Ms. Willem van Ewijck 1. - ONZE MARINE VLOOT
- Hr.Ms. Pieter Florisz. - ONZE MARINE VLOOT
- Hr.Ms. Jan van Gelder. - ONZE MARINE VLOOT
- Hr.Ms. Abraham van der Hulst. - ONZE MARINE VLOOT
Extra sources:
- Jan van Amstel-class minesweeper - Wikipedia
- Stalen Mijnenvegers van de Jan van Amstel klasse - ONZE MARINE VLOOT
Photos:
Blueprints: