- 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
- 1936 refit (40mm pom-poms added)
- 1942 refit (WW2 refit with 20mm Oerlikons)
- I said “No” in the first question.
Today I’m going to suggest a very nice light cruiser of the Netherlands Navy.
This is the light cruiser HNLMS Sumatra (1920)
HNLMS Sumatra sailing at sea
Source: Foto's
History
Spoiler
HNLMS Sumatra on her way to San Francisco in 1926
Source: Foto'sDuring the first world war the Dutch Navy started making big plans for the Navy. Among these was a plan for three new light cruisers. These would take shape as the Java-class cruisers. These ships were designed and built by Krupp-Germania at the request of the Dutch Navy after the first world war. The ships of the Java-class were: HNLMS Java, HNLMS Sumatra and HNLMS Celebes (Celebes was canceled before construction properly started).
HNLMS Sumatra was launched on the 29th of December 1920, and would be put into service on the 26th of May 1926. Unlike her sister ship HNLMS Java, Sumatra was not used as much to show the Dutch flag at colonies and allies. This was because she was having consitand problems with her powerplant. In 1929 a fire even broke out in the engine room, but thankfully this was stopped before anybody got hurt.
In 1931 the ship ran aground on a reef and had to be dragged out and brought back to a dock for repairs.
HNLMS Sumatra after her 1936 refit
Source: Foto'sAround 1934 HNLMS Sumatra and her sister ship HNLMS Javawere in need of a refit, and so they were taken out of service for some time. The biggest change at this time was that the anti-aircraft weaponry was improved. Also the mine rails on the ship were removed now since the Dutch Navy now had a proper fleet of dedicated mine laying ships.
HNLMS Sumatra in 1937
Source: Foto'sIn 1938 HNLMS Sumatra came back to the Netherlands, and would remain there for the next year. However, war was lurking around the corner, and HNLMS Sumatra was put on patrolling duties around the Dutch waters.
However when Germany invaded the Netherlands on the 10th of May 1939, HNLMS Sumatra was put on high alert. German aircraft were spotted and fired upon, but at this point Sumatra still only had her old 40mm pom-poms for anti-air defence, and so was not well equiped to deal with aircraft of that time.
HNLMS Sumatra somewhere around 1938
Source: Foto'sWhen Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, the Netherlands was now dragged into the second world war. And so the Navy present in the Dutch East Indies was put under command of “Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman”, or “Karel Doorman” for short. During the early days of the war the East Indies Navy primarily protected allied convoys. But this would soon change when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.
HNLMS Sumatra would end up fleeing to Britain like many other Dutch Naval vessels.
HNLMS Sumatra would have a very active carreer during the war, not so much fighting enemy ships, but instead doing all kinds of other duties. But this is something which I’m not going to detail in this suggestion. My suggestions are always about giving you the needed information about the Aircraft, Ground Vehicle or Naval Vessel I’m suggesting. So if you want to know more about what HNLMS Sumatra did during the war I recommend you look it up online or in books.
HNLMS Sumatra during firing excercises
Source: Foto's
Fate
Spoiler
HNLMS Sumatra in 1942, now with a camouflage scheme
Source: Foto'sIn 1942 HNLMS Sumatra was active in the Mediterranean Sea. But it was decided that such an old cruiser like her shouldn’t stay in such an active war zone. So she headed back to Britain and arrived in Portsmouth on the 31st of October 1942. For the next year she would remain there, being taken care of by her ever decreasing crew. This is because her crew was starting to be assigned to other naval vessels.
During the planning stage for the D-Day attack it was decided that two artificial docks would have to be made. And in order to protect these docks from rough weather and waves they would have to be surounded by objects that would break up the waves. And sadly HNLMS Sumatra was chosen as one of many ships that would be sunk and used as Blockships.
On the 9th of June 1944 HNLMS Sumatra sailed to her final resting place with her own steam, and at 5 in the afternoon the explosive charges onboard were set of and she sunk.
In 1950 the many ships used as blockships were recovered and sold for scrap. Half the money that was paid for HNLMS Sumatra went back to the Dutch Government.
HNLMS Sumatra shortly before her carreer would come to an end, this photo is taken in Portsmouth 1944
Source: Foto's
Design
Spoiler
HNLMS Sumatra in a dock
Source: Foto'sThe Java-class light cruisers were made by Krupp-Germania at the request of the Netherlands Navy. The design of the cruiser looks very similar to the German Cruiser Emden, only the Java-class is bigger.
HNLMS Sumatra was 155,3 metres long, had a beam of 16 metres and a draft of 6,1 metres, and displaced 6,776 tons at standard displacement, and 8,339 tons at full. She had a crew of 525 men and was able to reach 31 knots.
The main weaponry of the ship was ten 15cm No. 6 guns. These were Bofors 15cm/50 guns, which were made for the Dutch Navy by both Krupp and Bofors. The guns were spread all around the ship. A superfiring pair at the front, another superfiring pair at the rear, and the remaining six guns were placed at the sides of the ships, with three guns per side. Giving the ship at maximum broadside of seven guns.
The guns had a firerate of around 8 rounds per minute.
Ammunition for the 15cm guns consisted of an AP, two types of HE and a Starshell round.
A photo of the forward 15cm No. 6 turrets
Source: Foto'sThe secondairy guns consisted of four 7,5cm Semi-Automatisch No. 4 guns. As the name suggests, these were Semi-Automatic guns mounted in four single mounts, two at the front just above the bridge, and two at the rear just behind the rear turrets.
Sources mention, and blueprints show, four more smaller machine guns on the ship. One at the front on the bridge deck, one machine gun on each side of the ship, mounted on top of one of the 15cm turrets, and the last machine gun is mounted on top of the superfiring rear turret. One source mentions that these machine guns are 12,7mm No. 6 Vickers machine guns. However the 12,7mm Vickers only came around in 1933, and the blueprints that show the machine guns on the ship is dated 1927 so that is not possible.
Thankfully there is another machine gun the Dutch used that fits the description. It’s a 6,5mm No. 6 Vickers machine gun that went into Dutch service in 1924. Assuming the source only got the caliber of the gun wrong then this No. 6 machine gun fits the profile, and also looks the same as the machine guns drawn on the blueprints.
At the time the Java-class was made the Dutch Navy didn’t have a large minelaying fleet yet, and so the Java-class was given access to mine rails too. In total 36 Vickers model 1921 mines could be carried.
The ship was also fitted with two Aircraft Cranes. The Cranes was mounted in between the two smoke funnels, with one on each side of the ship. There was room for two floatplanes, one plane per crane. Originally the Fairey IIID was used on the ship, but these were deemed to fragile by the Navy soon after. So from 1926 onwards the Fokker C.7w was used.
A Fairey IIID getting prepared to be lifted onto HNLMS Sumatra in 1926
Source: Foto'sIn 1935 HNLMS Sumatra came in for a refit. During this refit the four 7,5cm guns were removed, and in their place six 40mm No. 1 autocannons (Vickers pom-poms) were added to the rear of the ship. All six guns were located on an anti-aircraft deck. The 40mm autocannons didn’t make enough noise for ceremonial/saluting duties, so another four 47mm 3-pounder saluting guns were added where the two forward 7,5cm guns used to be. The exact gun model of these 47mm guns is not known, but I’m guessing it’s the Hotchkiss 3-pdr QF.
The rear anti-aircraft deck, with six 40mm No. 1 autocannons, after the 1935 refit
Source: Foto'sDuring this refit the four 6,5mm machine guns were removed and replaced with six 12,7mm Colt-Browning machine guns. These were now located next to the forward smoke funnel. A new machine gun deck was created, with three machine guns on each side of the funnel.
In 1940 HNLMS Sumatra was brought in for an extensive overhaul. But sadly by the time the war with Japan broke out in 1942, she was still not finished. The exact plans for this refit are not known, but she was put back into service and we have photos of the small changes made to the outside of the ship.
The biggest visual change is the bridge. The entire superstructre has been beefed up, the main bridge is wider, and it also goes further back towards the forward smoke funnel.
As for the weaponry changes we see the addition of six 20mm Oerlikon autocannons in Mark II single mounts. Two of these were mounted on the anti-aircraft deck, they replaced the forward most 40mm autocannons. The last four 20mm autocannons are located near the middle of the ship, with two per side mounted in these small protected housings.
The two 40mm autocannons that were replaced with the 20mm autocannons seem to have been moved forwards to the bridge of the ship. Just below the machine guns deck we can spot one of these 40mm autocannons just next to the bridge.
And lastly on that same photo where we see the 40mm autocannon next to the bridge, we also see a new searchlight on the machine gun deck. The searchlight is located right where a machine gun used to be, so I’m very certain this machine gun has been removed. Also the remaining machine guns seem to have been given a little custom made gunshield.
A side view of the bridge of HNLMS Sumatra after her 1942 refit. Here we clearly see the custom gunshields around the 12,7mm machine guns, but also note the 40mm No. 1 autocannon just in front of the smoke funnel
Source: Navy 466 De brug van Hr. Ms. kruiser 'Sumatra'. _ Navy 140 Oefening met luchtafweergeschut op Hr. Ms. kruiser 'Sumatra'. _ Gezicht op het bovendek van Hr. Ms. kruiser 'Sumatra'. | Nationaal Archief
A nice photo taken of the side of the anti-aircraft deck in 1942, here we clearly see that one of the 40mm No. 1’s on this side is missing and has been replaced with a 20mm Oerlikon
Source: Foto's
Two 20mm Oerlikon autocannons onboard HNLMS Sumatra after her 1942 refit
Source: Foto's
A closeup of one of the 20mm Oerlikons onboard HNLMS Sumatra after her 1942 refit
Source: Foto'sProtection of the ship was very good at the time she was designed. The belt armour of the ship was a 75 mm thick The upper deck was 10 mm thick, with the deck just below that being 7 mm thick. The actual armoured deck, and also the roof of the armoured citadel was 25 mm thick.
Going from the bottom of the belt armour up to the armoured deck was a 50mm thick turtleback armour plate And finally the turrets were protected by 100 mm of armour.
A blueprint of the inside of HNLMS Java, the sister ship of HNLMS Sumatra, showing the internal armour layout
Source: | Nationaal Archief
Ingame
Spoiler
HNLMS Sumatra is a very solid light cruiser, it’s got good armour and lot’s of guns The ship is pretty much a larger German cruiser Emden, which we already have ingame.
Sumatra in her final 1942 refit would be a perfect premium light cruiser in my opinion The refit is a real one-off, and I know how Gaijin likes to add later refits of existing ships as premiums, so this would be a perfect WW2 refit of the Java-class to use as a premium.
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 Java serves a cool light cruiser design that the French currently don’t have ingame. I remember playing the Emden back in the day and the turret layout was a lot of fun to play with, and HNLMS Java would do exactly the same.
Specifications
Spoiler
A side view cutaway of HNLMS Java, the sister ship of HNLMS Sumatra
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefStandard Displacement: 6,776 tons
Full Displacement: 8,339 tons
Length: 155,3 m
Beam: 16 m
Draft: 6,1 m
Installed powerplant: 3 x Germania steamturbines, 8 x Schultz-Thornycroft boilers (73.000 hp)
Propulsion: 3 x shafts, 4,1 meter three bladed propellors
Maximum speed: 31 knots
Crew: 525 menArmor:
Belt: 75 mm
Upper Deck: 10 mm
Lower Deck: 7 mm
Armoured deck / Roof of the Citadel: 25 mm
Angled turtleback armour: 50 mm
Conning tower: 125 mm
Turrets: 100 mmArmament: (As laid down)
10 x 1 15cm No. 6 guns
4 x 1 7,5cm Semi-Automatisch No. 4 guns
4 x 1 6,5mm No. 6 machine guns (Vickers M.23)
36 x Vickers model 1921 mines2 x Aircraft cranes, with two Fairey IIID floatplanes carried. (Max speed 190 km/h, 2 x 7.7 mm machine guns, one firing forwards, and one for the gunner)
1936 refit:
10 x 1 15cm No. 6 guns
6 x 1 40mm No. 1 autocannons (Vickers Pom-Poms)
6 x 1 12,7mm Colt-Browning machine guns
4 x 1 47mm 3-pounder saluting guns2 x Aircraft cranes, with two Fokker C.7w floatplanes carried. (Max speed 160 km/h, 2 x 7.7 mm machine guns, one firing forwards, and one for the gunner)
1942 refit:
10 x 1 15cm No. 6 guns
6 x 1 40mm No. 1 autocannons (Vickers Pom-Poms)
6 x 1 20mm Oerlikon autocannons
4 x 1 12,7mm Colt-Browning machine guns2 x Aircraft cranes, with two Fokker C.7w floatplanes carried. (Max speed 160 km/h, 2 x 7.7 mm machine guns, one firing forwards, and one for the gunner)
A top-down view of HNLMS Java, the sister ship of HNLMS Sumatra
Source: | Nationaal Archief
HNLMS Sumatra in 1939, now with a big Dutch flag painted all over her bow
Source: Foto's
HNLMS Sumatra in her final refit, 1942
Source: Navy 139 Aflossing van de wacht op Hr. Ms. 'Sumatra'. _ Navy 138 De commandant van Hr. Ms. kruiser 'Sumatra' in zijn hut. Aangezien geen datum van foto bekend is, ergens tussen 1940 en 1943, is het niet zeker wie deze officier is. In aanmerking komen C.H. Brouwer, H.J. Buenink of J.J.L. Willingen. _ Navy 148 De bootsman fluit terwijl Nederlandse vlag wordt gehesen op Hr. Ms. kruiser 'Sumatra' bij een bezoek aan een Engelse haven. _ Navy 136 Hr. Ms. kruiser 'Sumatra' tijdens een bezoek aan een Engelse haven. Het schip is gecamoufleerd. | Nationaal Archief
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
- https://www.tracesofwar.nl/articles/1924/Nederlandse-Lichte-kruisers-van-de-Java-klasse-1920.htm
Secondairy sources:
Fokker C.7w floatplane:
Photos:
Blueprints: