Ram Monitor 1st-class, HNLMS Draak (1877)

Suggestions Naval
1
Would you like to see the HNLMS Draak ingame?
  • Yes.
  • No.
0 voters
In what techtree would you like to see this ship be added in?
  • 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.
0 voters

Today I’m going to suggest a real old ship of the Dutch Navy.

This is the “Rammonitor 1ste klasse” HNLMS Draak (1877)!

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A nice photo of HNLMS Draak
Source: File:Draak (1877).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

About the “Rammonitor 1ste klasse” classification

As the name suggests, what this simply means is ram monitor 1st-class. And there is something interesting about this. Back in the day when ships like these were being built, the Dutch Navy didn’t quite use “proper” class names for their ships.

Nowadays we all know ships by their class names, Yamato-class battleship, Admiral Hipper-class cruiser, etc etc.
What the Dutch Navy had back in the day was a more simple system using 1st and 2nd-class names to group certain ships together. HNLMS Draak (1877) was not the only ram monitor 1st-class, there were another one. The two ships were build in different shipyards, and so the ships were slightly different in design. But both ships had a primary gun turret, and both ships fulfilled the same role they were designed for. Therefor the two ships were put under the same classification of “Rammonitor 1ste klasse”.

If we wanted to be super specific about the classification of the HNLMS Buffel (1868), and it’s “sister ships”, then this is how we would do it:

  • Ram Monitor 1st-class
    • Draak-type
      • HNLMS Draak (1877)
    • Matador-type
      • HNLMS Matador (1878)

History

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HNLMS Draak was launched on the 22nd of August 1877, and would be accepted into service in 1879. Design wise the ship was a continuation of the older Turret Ram Ships and Ram Monitors that preceded it.

HNLMS Draak was designed during the period where the Dutch navy started to switch from 23cm Muzzle loading guns, to 28cm Breach loading onces. All the older Turret ships and Monitors that came before the HNLMS Draak were just a little to small to replace their twin 23cm guns with two of the new 28cm onces. So instead they only recieved a single 28cm gun. Still an improvement over the older muzzle loading guns, but more was desired.

Draak would instead be designed to house two of the 28cm guns right from the start, and thus would mount the two of them in a single turret. She would be larger, and more powerfull then her predecessors, and still have a smaller draft then them. Meaning she could enter shallower waters.

When she entered service she was used as a Coastal Defence ship. Monitors were mostly used for Defensive duties after all. Her most common mission was protecting Dutch fishing vessels. The occasional training mission happend too. But overall her carreer was sadly quite uneventfull.

She would be taken out of service in 1914, and sold for scrap soon after.

Design

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A really nice cutaway blueprint of HNLMS Draak
Source: | Nationaal Archief

HNLMS Draak was 65,10 metres long, had a beam of 15,14 metres and a draft of 3,30 meters, and had a displacement of 2.234 tons. She had a crew of 137 men and was able to reach a top speed of 8,5 knots.

For her main weaponry she was armed with two 28 cm A No. 1 breachloading gun in a single twin turret.
These guns were capable of firing Common, AP and Canister rounds.

Secondairy weapons consisted of four 37mm Hotchkiss guns. Two of these were the five barrel revolving guns, and these were added to each side of the rear superstructure. The other two Hotchkiss guns were the single barrel onces. And these were added to the ends of the ship. One was at the front in a crows nest, and the other at the very rear.
Some sources keep mentioning that an additional 75 mm gun was present on the ship too, but I can find no hard proof of this.

HNLMS Draak was protected by simple Iron armour. The belt was 204 - 140 mm thick. The deck was 23 - 16 mm thick, and the command tower was 140 mm.
The gun turret was 305 - 230 mm thick.

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A blueprint of the “Tusschendek” of HNLMS Draak. This deck held all the ammunition for the main guns, note all the grenades all around the turret
Source: | Nationaal Archief

Ingame

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The HNLMS Draak would be really cool to have ingame. Now yes, the current Naval gamemode is not really made for these very old ships. This ship would be best added in some sort of Pre-WW1 Naval gamemode for it to be really good to play ingame. But HNLMS Draak is one of the most powerfull Monitors the Dutch Navy made, so it would be very nice to see ingame. If Draak had to be added somewhere ingame right now, I would say put her in the Coastal Fleet. I think a ship like her is best added there.

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.

I’m not very well versed with early French Naval stuff, so I don’t know if France has many ships like HNLMS Draak. But in the French tree the HNLMS Draak would most likely fit right in with other older French vessels.

Specifications

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A blueprint of HNLMS Draak, note the little 37 mm Hotchkiss in the crows nest all the way at the front
Source: | Nationaal Archief

Displacement: 2.234 tons
Length: 65,10 m
Beam: 15,14 m
Draft: 3,30 m
Powerplant: 2 x steam engines, 3 x boilers
Power output: 807 hp
Maximum speed: 8,4 knots (15,55 km/h)
Crew: 137 men

Armor: (Iron)
Belt: 204 - 140 mm
Deck: 23 - 16 mm
Command tower: 140 mm
Turret: 305 - 230 mm

Armament:
1 x 2 28 cm A No. 1 breachloading gun
2 x 5 37 mm Hotchkiss revolving guns
2 x 1 37 mm Hotchkiss guns
Some sources say a 75mm gun was on the ship too, but I can find no hard proof of this anywhere

Ammunition:
28 cm A No. 1 breachloading gun

  • [Common] Gewone granaat v/ 28cm A L2,8
    –Projectile: 206,7 kg round with a 9,3 kg filling, for a total weight of 216 kg
    –Charge: 60 kg prismatic gunpowder No. 2
    –Velocity: 510 mps
  • [AP] Glasharde Puntgranaat v/ 28cm A L2,8
    –Projectile: 251 kg round with a 2,7 kg filling, for a total weight of 253,7 kg
    –Charge: 58,5 kg prismatic gunpowder No. 2
    –Velocity: 475 mps (453,5 mps when fired with 50 kg prismatic gunpowder No. 1)
    –Penetration: 454 mm of iron at 0 meters
  • [AP] Stalen Puntgranaat v/ 28cm A L2,8 (1ste model)
    –Projectile: 247,25 kg round with a 4,95 kg filling, for a total weight of 252,2 kg
    –Charge: 58,5 kg prismatic gunpowder No. 2
    –Velocity: 475 mps (453,5 mps when fired with 50 kg prismatic gunpowder No. 1)
    –Penetration: 454 mm of iron at 0 meters
  • [AP] Stalen Puntgranaat v/ 28cm A L2,8 (2de & 3de model)
    –Projectile: 250 kg round with a 3,7 kg filling, for a total weight of 253,7 kg
    –Charge: 58,5 kg prismatic gunpowder No. 2
    –Velocity: 475 mps (453,5 mps when fired with 50 kg prismatic gunpowder No. 1)
    –Penetration: 454 mm of iron at 0 meters
  • [Canister] Kartetsgranaat v/ 28cm A
    –Projectile: 124 kg round filled with 251 zinc balls of 0,368 kg each.
    –Charge: Unknown
    –Velocity: Unknown

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading about interesting ship of the Dutch Navy.

See you on the battlefield!

Sources

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History and information:

Extra sources:

Blueprints: