The Royal Netherlands Navy.
The Royal Netherlands Navy (Dutch: Koninklijke Marine) is the navy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands It is the oldest and one of the four armed forces in the Netherlands. Its motto is: “worldwide safety at and from the sea“.
Wars, privateering and piracy have been a threat to trading and fishing since ancient times. In the Middle Ages, Dutch traders and fishermen took measures to protect themselves against threats. A convoy was often set up to provide protection and accompanied by an armed ship. One of the skippers became leader of the convoy and was given the title of “Admiral”. The term ‘Admiral’ probably arose during the period of the Crusades. It is a corruption of the Arabic amir al-bah, which literally means ‘commander of the sea’.
On January 8, 1488, Maximilian issued the ‘Ordination on the Admiralty’. Here the admiral’s duties were clearly defined and he became official head of the fleet. By establishing this Admiralty, the organization of Dutch defense at sea was permanently established and centralized. Only in 1815, when the Netherlands became a kingdom, was the term ‘Royal’ added to the navy by King Willem I and we call it the Royal Netherlands Navy.
Around 1860 the transition from wood to iron and steel as construction material for ships took place. A list of iron ships before 1900 is listed here.
Royal Netherlands Navy ship prefix and naming
The ships in the Royal Netherlands Navy are called fleet units. The ships in the Dutch navy are devided into 3 categories of fleet units: large overwater units, small overwater units and underwater units.
In Dutch, ships are given the prefix “Zijner Majesteits” (“his majesty’s”, abbreviated “Zr.Ms.”) or “Hare Majesteits” (“her majesty’s”, abbreviated as “Hr.Ms.”). In English, the Dutch prefix is translated as “HNLMS” for “His/Her Netherlands Majesty’s Ship”. Some authors translate Hr./Zr.Ms. as “HNMS” but that abbreviation is ambiguous: the “N” might stand for “Netherlands” or “Norway”. The most common way to avoid this ambiguity is to use “HNLMS” and “HNoMS” respectively.
Ships from NATO countries are identified by a letter, followed by a number combination so are the Dutch navy ships. The letter:
- F stands for frigate;
- M stands for mine countermeasures vessel;
- L stands for landing craft;
- P stands for patrol ship;
- A stands for auxiliary or auxiliary ship, such as the supply ships;
- Y stands for yard. Vessels with a Y are work boats in a harbor or at a shipyard.
In the Netherlands navy ships are named after historical persons, naval heroes and cities or provinces. The submarines are named after sea animals. For example:
- The frigates Van Speijk, Tromp and De Ruyter bear the name of a Dutch naval hero. The Joint Logistic Support Ship has the name Karel Doorman and naval hero Johan de Witt sees his name on an amphibious transport ship.
- The air defense and command frigate De Zeven Provinciën is named after the flagship of Admiral De Ruyter (1607-1676).
- The mine hunters are named after small and medium-sized cities in the Netherlands.
- The patrol ships bear the name of Dutch provinces.
- The submarines are named after a sea animal.
Dutch navy fleet units
The Dutch navy fleet is devided into three main units:
Dutch large overwater or surface units
The Dutch Navy has the following major surface units:
- Frigates, including multipurpose frigates and air defense and command frigates;
- Amphibious transport ships, also called landing platform docks (LPDs);
- Logistics support ships;
- Patrol vessels, also called Ocean-going Patrol Vessels (OPVs).
Dutch small overwater or surface units
The Dutch Navy has the following small surface units:
- Mine countermeasures vessels;
- Hydrographic survey vessels;
- Torpedo work ships;
- Support vessels in the Caribbean;
- Sailing training ship;
- Naval training vessel;
- Diving vessels.
- Underwater units
Dutch Underwater units
The Navy has the following underwater units:
- Walrus class submarines.
References:
www.zeeuwsarchief.nl/onderzoek-het-zelf/archief/
www.netherlandsnavy.nl
www.marineschepen.nl