HrMs Amsterdam

HrMs Amsterdam (A836) is one of two replenishment ships serving with the Royal Netherlands Navy. The Amsterdam entered service in 1995.

HrMs Amsterdam deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Enduring Freedom during 2005/2006 and provided assistance to two American naval vessels after a battle they had fought with pirates on March 18, 2006.

The ships have a helicopter deck and a hangar for several helicopters. The cargo capacity is 10,300 tonnes, including 9,000 tonnes of fuel. Resupply at sea is done by shooting a line from the supply ship to the client ship. When the supply ship is hooked up to the frigate by the line, supplies can be hoisted from one ship to the other, or a fuel line can be run.

The task of a supply ship is primarily resupplying Dutch or Allied fleets at sea. Supply ships are, first and foremost, tankers and can therefore transport diesel oil and aviation fuel.

All kinds of food can also be stored in the ship. One supply ship can service 3 other ships at the same time. The helicopters from the supply ships can also be used for vertical replenishment, in addition to search-and-rescue operations and anti-submarine warfare.

The 2 supply ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy are not identical. HrMs Zuiderkruis was built in Rotterdam by Verolme Scheepswerven and went into service in 1975. The Zuiderkruis is scheduled to be replaced by a Joint Support Ship in approximately 2014.

HrMs Amsterdam is a ship of a more recent date. It was built by the Schelde Group in Flushing, and went into service in 1995.

She is seen here arriving in Leith

HrMs Van Speijk

HrMs Van Speijk (F828) is the eighth and last ship in the Karel Doorman Class of multi-purpose frigates.

Van Speijk was laid down 1 October 1991, launched 26 March 1994, and commissioned 7 September 1995.

The Karel Doorman class wss made up of eight multi purpose frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy.  The class is also know as the "Multi-Purpose" or M Class.

The ships are named after famous Dutch Naval officers, the first of the class was called Karel Doorman

 

She is the seventh ship in the Royal Netherlands Navy to be named after Jan van Speijk, who, during the Belgian Revolution, blew up his ship rather than let it fall into Belgian hands.

See here for her sister Van Amstel arriving Leith.

HrMs Van Speijk is seen here alongside in Leith

HrMs Dolfijn

The Walrus Class Submarine is the only submarine class currently in operation in the Royal Netherlands Navy.  They have been in use since 1990 and are all named after sea mammals.

The Walrus class submarines are unusual in that instead of a cross-shaped assembly of stern diving planes and rudders, they mount four combined rudders and diving planes in an "X" configuration. This tail configuration was first tested in 1960 on the United States Navy's Uss Albacore (AGSS 569), but has since been used only by the Walrus class, all Swedish Navy submarines since the Sjöormen class, the Royal Austrialian Navy's Collins class nad the German Type 212A.  

The submarines were in high demand by NATO during the Cold War since they combined a highly skilled crew with a very silent boat. At that time the majority of NATO submarines were either Nuclear or Brown water subs. After the cold war, the subs have been tasked for many intelligence gathering operations (still classified) in the Yugoslavian region, Iraq and Caribbean.

In 2007, the cabinet approved an upgrade of the four operational subs and recruitment of additional crew to improve overall operational availability. The upgrades are focussed on near-shore operations and integration with new weapons. These include the US migration from the current MK 48 mod-4 torpedo to the mod-7 version.

In June 2010, Netherlands agreed to deploy one submarine to help combat piracy in the waters off Somalia. Possible missions could include, signals intelligence; going close to shore and intercepting pirates' radio signals, and the tracking of Pirate Vessels.

She is seen here departing Faslane

She is seen here arriving in the Port of Leith (Edinburgh) after a major NATO excercise in the North Sea.

A close up of her conning tower

A close up of her hull sonar

HrMs De Ruyter

HrMs De Ruyter (F804) is a De Zeven Provinciën class frigate.

The De Zeven Provinciën class frigate are highly advanced air-defense frigates in service with the Koninklijke Marine (Royal Netherlands Navy). This class of ships is also known as LCF (Luchtverdedigings- en commandofregat, air defense and command frigate). The ships are very similar to the German Sachsen class frigates.

The ships are classified as frigates by the Netherlands Navy but internationally are classified as destroyers as this better fits their armament and role.

She was commissioned into service on the 22nd April 2004, she has a complement of 174 (227 including command staff), is 144.24 m long, with a beam of 18.80 m and a draft of 5.18m.  She displaces 6.050 tonnes (full load) and her top speed is 30 knots.

HrMs De Ruyter (F804) was previously commanded by Commander Jeanette Morang.  She was the first woman to command a Netherlands Navy frigate.

She is seen here alongside in Leith on Friday 18 June 2010

Her sister HrMs De Zeven Provinciën is seen here arriving Leith on the 10th April 2010

And again arriving Leith 7th February 2003

HrMs De Zeven Provinciën

HrMs De Zeven Provinciën is the first of the De Zeven Provinciën class of air defence and command frigates in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy.  There are three more in the class- Tromp, De Ruyter and Evertsen.  The class was designed in co-operation with Germany and Spain.

De Zeven Proviciën is the eith ship in the Royal Netherlands Navy to carry that name.  The name refers to the original seven Dutch provinces which together formed the Union of Utrecht.

HrMs De Zeven Provinciën is seen here arriving Leith 7 February 2003

HrMs De Zeven Provinciën is seen here arriving Leith 10 April 2010

HrMs Van Amstel

The Karel Doorman class wss made up of eight multi purpose frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy.  The class is also know as the "Multi-Purpose" or M Class.

The ships are named after famous Dutch Naval officers, the first of the class was called Karel Doorman

Karel Doorman and Willem Van der Zaan were sold to Belgium in 2005

Tjerk Hiddes and Abraham van der Hulst were sold to Chile in 2004     

Van Nes and Van Speijk were sold to Portugal in 2006

Only Van Amstel  and Van Speijk remain in service.

HrMs Van Amstel is seen here arriving Leith 10 April 2010

Her bow is seen here in a reflective shot

HrMs Luymes

HrMs Luymes is one of two recently built Hydrographic Survey Vessel of the Royal Netherlands Navy.  They have both civilian and military tasks, gathering data for nautical charts and additional military Layers (WECDIS).  Ships can operate in a single crew mode or dual crew mode.  In total there are three crews for two ships.

She is seen here arriving in Leith today.

HrMs Zierikzee

The Tripartite class minehunter is a type of minesweeper used by the navies of Belgium, France and the Netherlands, as well as Pakistan, Indonesia, Latvia, and Bulgaria.

HrMs Zierikzee is number 13 in a class of 15 Triparte Class Minehunter.

The Netherlands fleet consist of the following vessels:

M850 Alkmaar         (sold to Latvia and renamed Rusins M-08)

M851 Delfzijl           (sold to Latvia and renamed Visvaldis M-07)

M852 Dordrecht       (sold to Latvia and renamed Talivaldis M-06)

M853 Haarlem

M854 Harlingen       (sold to Latvia and renamed Imanta M-04)

M855 Scheveningen (sold to Latvia and renamed Viesturs M-05)

M856 Maasluis

M857 Makkum

M858 Middelburg

M859 Hellevoetsluis

M860 Schiedam

M861 Urk

M862 Zierikzee

M863 Vlaardingen

M864 Willemstad

Zierikzee is seen here leaving Leith today 21 February 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

HrMs Zuiderkruis

HNLMS Zuiderkruis is a replenishment ship serving with the Royal Netherlands Navy. The Zuiderkruis entered service in 1975.

She is seen here heading to Crombie Pier for fuel in 2004.

Seen here departing Crombie Pier

Departing Faslane