Tromp-class cruiser

Development

During the Interwar period, the Dutch Navy was split between defending the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, particularly the island of Java. While the European fleet focused around minelaying, the flotilla in Asia relied on a combination of aircraft, destroyers, and submarines to identify and destroy an invading force near the coastline. Cruisers were vital in this doctrine, as they had the capability to sail out to sea and attack enemy convoys outside the Indonesian archipelago and serve as powerful escorts for allied vessels.

By 1927, the Great Depression had sapped the budget and strength of the Dutch military. Recognizing the need for post-depression rebuilding, the Navy proposed the Vlootplan Deckers (Deckers Fleet Plan) in 1930 to expand the East Indies fleet to a satisfactory size. The plan included two additional light cruisers, described as torpedo cruisers and scout cruisers, intended to operate as flotilla leaders. The two ships were envisioned as a fiscally efficient response to the Japanese Fubuki-class destroyers that outmatched comparable Dutch destroyers. doctrine called for the two ships to be fast enough to lead destroyers in combat while being armed well enough to overpower Japanese cruisers and destroyers.

Design

After the design was enlarged to the size of a cruiser for service in the East Indies, the ships displaced 3,787 LT and measured 131.9 m in length, with a beam of 12.4 m and a draft of 4.6 m. Four oil-fired boilers turned two turbines and two propellers, which produced 56,000 shp and a design speed of 33.5 kn, although Tromp reached 34.5 kn during her sea trials.

Their hulls were longitudinally subdivided into 17 torpedo bulkheads between 20-30 mm thick that was reinforced by a double hull which extended for about 60% of the ships' length. The main deck was 15-25 mm thick and was joined by a lower deck 25 mm thick above the forward magazine and 16 mm over the steering gear and aft magazine. The turrets and barbettes were also 16 mm thick, and the conning tower was protected by 13 mm of armor.

Tromp was the only ship built to the initial design. She was fitted with three twin 5.9 in turretstwo mounted on the bow and one sternand an anti-air compliment that consisted of two twin 40 mm Bofors at the back of her forecastle deck and two twin .5 in machine guns. She was also equipped with two triple 21 in torpedo tubes located midship on either side, a Fokker C.VIX floatplane, and a crane that lowered the aircraft into the water. Jacob van Heemskerck was uncompleted when she fled the Netherlands during the German Invasion, and was instead fitted out by the Royal Navy who envisioned her as an anti-air cruiser. As such, she was fitted with five twin 4 in Mk XVI turrets: three in the same location as Tromp, and a turret on each side where the torpedo tubes and aircraft were planned. She was also given an additional mast to carry a British air-search radar, two depth charge racks, six 20 mm guns, and a quad 2-pounder naval gun, although the exact armament of both ships changed over time.

Ships

''Tromp''

After she entered service in 1938, Tromp initially operated in the Mediterranean and off the European coast. In 1939, she was sent to reinforce the East Indies, where the Dutch government believed a war against Japan was inevitable. Following the outbreak of World War II and Dutch capitulation, the cruiser operated under Royal Navy command and escorted vital convoys throughout the region. By February 1942, the Dutch East Indies was invaded from multiple sides by Japan as allied forces were overwhelmed. In an effort to coordinate resistance, elements of the British, Dutch, and American navies formed the Combined Striking Force. Tromp sailed with the fleet and withstood several air attacks before she was badly damaged by Japanese destroyers during the Battle of Badung Strait. She was repaired in Australia and attached to the US 7th Fleet for anti-submarine patrols in the western Pacific throughout 1943. In January of the next year, she joined the British Eastern Fleet for a series of aircraft carrier raids against the occupied Indonesian islands. During Operation Cockpit, Crimson, and Transom, she shelled enemy land instillations before she supported the invasions of Rangoon and Borneo in 1945. At the end of the war, she accepted the surrender of Belitung and returned to Europe. For the rest of her career, she joined allied forces in the North Atlantic before she was demoted to a training ship.

''Jacob van Heemskerck''

Notes

References

References

1. van Oosten, F. C.. (1 January 1974). "Warship Profile 40: Her Netherlands Majesty's Ship De Ruyter". Profile Publications.
2. Noppen, Ryan K.. (2020). "The Royal Netherlands Navy of World War II". Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
3. Schedel, Charles W.. (2001). "Ask Infoser". Warship International.
4. Whitley, M. J. (Michael J. ). (1995). "Cruisers of World War Two : an international encyclopedia". London : Arms and Armour Press.
5. Mulder, Jantinus. (2012). "Cruiser HNLMS Tromp". Uitgeverij Lanasta.