Holland-class offshore patrol
vessels
The Holland-class offshore patrol
vessels are new offshore patrol vessels for the Royal Netherlands Navy. They
are designed to fulfill patrol and intervention tasks against lightly armed
opponents, such as pirates and smugglers.
The vessels are planned to be
deployed to the Caribbean region, the South China Sea and the North
Sea. They have the
capability to carry out missions such as anti-piracy and blockade duties, and
also can be used for emergency transport.
The Holland class' main armament is a 76mm Oto
Melara Super Rapid gun with a firing rate of 120 rounds per minute and an
effective range of 16 km. Secondary
armament is provided by a 30mm Oto Melara Marlin WS rapid cannon, two 12.7mm Oto
Melara Hitrole NT's and two 12.7mm M2HB machine guns. All can be remotely operated.
Holland-class ships have a
tonnage of 3,750 tons, are 108.4 metres (356 ft) in length, 16 metres
(52 ft) in beam and have a draft of 4.55 metres (14.9 ft). The ships have a speed of 21.5 knots and a
range of 5000 nautical miles at 15 knots.
The ship's complement is 50 crew, as well as up to 40 people for duties
such as helicopter or medical crew.
The ships are built to a design
that is intended to reduce the ability of radar to detect them, as well
improving seakeeping by locating the superstructure unusually far aft. The ships are painted a new light blue-gray
color, which supposedly has a better camouflage-effect than the standard
light-grey paint used by other RNLN-ships. The ships have a hangar and
flightdeck for an NH-90 helicopter and also carry two Fast Raiding Interception
Special forces Craft (FRISC), with a speed of more than 40 knots.
The projected number of ships for
the class is four; they are planned to be commissioned between 2011 and 2013.
On December 20, 2007 the contract was signed for four ships at a cost of around
€467.8 million. The ships will be named
after Dutch provinces of historical maritime importance.
This is Holland’s debut to Edinburgh, her sister Friesland made her debut to Leith a couple of years ago when she didn’t
have her main mast.
Ships of the class:
Holland (P840) entered service on
the 6th July 2012
Zeeland (P841) entered service on
the 23rd August 2013
Friesland (P842) began sea trials
on 27th September 2011
Groningen (P843) began sea trials
on 21st April 2011
Holland
is seen below arriving at Leith on Friday 11th
April 2014.
