HNLMS De Ruyter (1935)
5°58′55″S 112°3′57″E / 5.98194°S 112.06583°E
_(2158_007556).jpg) HNLMS De Ruyter
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | Wilton-Fijenoord, Schiedam |
| Operators |  Royal Netherlands Navy |
| Preceded by | Java class |
| Succeeded by | De Zeven Provinciën class |
| Planned | 1 |
| Completed | 1 |
| Lost | 1 |
| History | |
 Netherlands | |
| Name | De Ruyter |
| Laid down | 16 September 1933 |
| Launched | 11 March 1935 |
| Commissioned | 3 October 1936 |
| Fate | Sunk by heavy cruiser Haguro at battle of the Java Sea, February 27–28, 1942. Later illegally salvaged. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Light cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 170.9 m (560 ft 8 in) |
| Beam | 15.7 m (51 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | 5.1 m (16 ft 9 in) |
| Installed power | 66,000 shp (49,000 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 32 kn (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
| Range | 6,800 nmi (12,600 km; 7,800 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 435 max |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | |
| Aircraft carried | 2 × Fokker C-11W floatplanes |
| Aviation facilities | 1 × catapult |
| Notes | All of the above are from this references:[1][2] |
HNLMS De Ruyter (Dutch: Harer Majesteits De Ruyter, lit. 'Her Majesty's Ship De Ruyter') was a light cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy. She was the seventh ship of the Dutch Navy to be named after Admiral Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter.
De Ruyter was originally designed as a 5,000 long tons (5,080 t) ship with a lighter armament due to the financial problems of the Great Depression and a pacifist movement in the Netherlands. Later on in the design stage, an extra gun turret was added and the armor was improved.
De Ruyter was laid down on 16 September 1933 at the Wilton-Fijenoord dockyard in Schiedam and commissioned on 3 October 1936, commanded by Captain A. C. van der Sande Lacoste. De Ruyter spent her early war career taking part in peacetime patrol and escorting duties, mostly in the waters surrounding the Dutch East Indies. When the Netherlands was invaded by Nazi Germany in May 1940, she retreated to the Dutch East Indies, where she eventually served as flagship for ABDA Force.
De Ruyter survived the air attacks at the Battle of Makassar Strait undamaged, before attempting to intercept a Japanese troop convoy at the battle of Badung Strait, but missing her shots and retreated from the battle after her escorting destroyers were either sunk or incapacitated. She saw her last action attempting to intercept another Japanese troop convoy at the battle of the Java Sea, but failed to make a single hit while being damaged herself and retreating. Later that night, Japanese cruisers caught the force in an ambush; De Ruyter was hit by a torpedo fired from the heavy cruiser Haguro, causing her to capsize and sink over three hours with the loss of the majority of her crew.
Her wreck was discovered in 2002, but later completely destroyed by illegal salvagers.
Development
[edit]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.[3]: 73–74
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 called for a force of three cruisers. While two Java-class cruisers were already in service, regular maintenance meant that both could not always be available for combat. To ensure that two cruisers could be operational simultaneously, the plan called for the construction of a new cruiser to join the Java-class in the East Indies.[3]: 73–74 [4]: 16–17, [14]
Budgetary constraints
[edit]The Dutch economy was recovering when design work on the new cruiser began, which limited how much theTweede Kamer was willing to budget. The ship's design was based on the earlier Java-class and replicated many of its features, including similar armor protection, range, and the caliber of the main guns. However, budgetary constraints required a lighter hull than the Javas, restricting the main battery to just three twin 15 cm (5.9 in) turrets. This reduction in firepower drew considerable criticism. Some advocated for a fourth turret, the addition of torpedo tubes, or argued that the funds would be better spent on aircraft or submarines.[5]: 75 [6]: 10, 20
Further objections emerged through an essay contest, in which several winning entries proposed building a treaty cruiser armed with 8 in (20 cm) guns and displacing 8,500 long tons (8,636 t). However, the proposal was rejected, as it would have nearly doubled the projected cost. Some of the criticisms were addressed through political maneuvering: by classifying the ship as a flottieljeleider (flotilla leader), the Navy justified a modest increase in displacement, which allowed for the addition of a single 15 cm gun mounted forward of the bridge.[5]: 75 [6]: 20
Design
[edit]
Her final design displaced 7,822 long tons (7,948 t) and measured 170.8 m (560 ft) in length, with a beam of 15.6 m (51 ft) and a draft of 4.9 m (16 ft). Her main armament consisted of three 15 cm (5.9 in) Wilton-Fijenoord Mk 9 twin turrets - two mounted aft and one forward - along with the aformentioned single 15 cm Mk 10 turret. For anti-aircraft defense, she was equipped with five twin 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors L/60 guns mounted on a platform at the stern. She was the first vessel to be outfitted with the immensely popular L/60, and combined with her advanced anti-aircraft fire control, she was a capable warship for air defense. The platform was separated from the funnel by the Navy’s first catapult and a aircraft stowage area, which supported two Fokker C.XI-W floatplanes used for reconnaissance and artillery spotting. Powered by six boilers and three geared turbines, the cruiser produced 68,000 shaft horsepower (51,000 kilowatts), which drove two propellers and reached a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph). Her armor was light, consisting of an armored belt and turret protection that was between 30–50 mm (1–2 in) mm thick along with 30 mm (1 in) around the conning tower and a 33 mm (1 in) thick deck. [6]: 18–19
Her designer was N.V. Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (IsV), a clandestine front for several German naval companies used for Nazi rearmament and illegal submarine development. As a result, the ship reflected a strong German influence, seen in features such as the tall, bulky bridge tower, single large funnel, and straight bow shared with Germany’s Deutschland-class cruisers and other characteristics that paralleled those of the Königsberg-class light cruisers. The reliance on German experience constrained the design as the German warships were limited by the Treaty of Versailles, thereby indirectly applying the treaty's limitations to the Dutch ship.[6]: 20–21, [12, 18]
Due to this German influence and tight fiscal limitations, the cruiser has drawn criticism from both contemporary and modern analysts. Compared to other light cruisers built during the same decade, she lacked in armament, armor, and had no torpedo tubes.[6]: 18–19 Her anti-air weapons, while formidable, were grouped together on the aft platform which prevented them from firing forward and provided an opportunity for a lucky shot to destroy them all. In addition, she was designed to serve as a flagship yet lacked a flagship bridge. Her use of two propellers - instead of four, which was the norm - meant she had no redundancies in case the rudder or propeller was damaged; if this did occur, she would have been left uncontrollable.[7]: 181
History
[edit]
Construction
[edit]The cruiser was ordered on 1 August 1932, and her keel was laid on 16 September, 1933 at the Wilton-Fijenoord shipyard. Despite continued financial issues, she was launched on 11 May 1936. On 3 October, she was completed and commissioned as De Ruyter, named after 17th-century admiral Michiel de Ruyter.[8]: 192 [5]: 77, 86
Peace time
[edit]For her first several months in service, De Ruyter worked up off the Netherlands before she sailed for the East Indies in Janurary 1937.[8]: 192 In October, she became the flagship of the Dutch East Indies squadron under the command of Admiral Karel Doorman.[5]: 87 Over the next several years, she trained with other ships in the squadron and prepared defenses throughout the colony. Her work in Asia was uninterrupted by the invasion and capitulation of the Netherlands in 1940.[5]: 86-87
War in the Pacific
[edit]Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Japanese attacks on British Malaya, the Dutch government-in-exile declared war on Japan on 8 December 1941.[4]: 37 Now in a warzone, De Ruyter patrolled nearby waters aiming to intercept enemy merchants, contain Japanese cruisers, and escort British reinforcements to Singapore.[8]: 192 Over the next two months, Japan’s rapid advances across Southeast Asia overwhelmed the region’s Allied naval forces. In an effort to coordinate resistance, elements of the Australian, British, Dutch, and American navies formed ABDACOM: an ad hoc command that brought together each nation’s available ships under a (nominally) unified structure. One of ABDACOM’s first steps was the formation of an offensive fleet - the Combined Striking Force - that comprised a mix of American and Dutch cruisers and destroyers. After some debate, command of the fleet was given to Doorman, due to Dutch jurisdiction over the region, his leadership of the Dutch squadron, and his reputation as an uncontroversial figure.[7]: 176–178
Battle of Makassar Strait
[edit]The Striking Force’s first offensive action was on 4 February 1942. Doorman aimed to intercept the invasion of Makassar City and deny the Japanese control of the Makassar Strait. Without air cover, the fleet was detected by Japanese reconnaissance aircraft.[9] [7]: 182-183 While off the Kangean Islands, more than 50 Nells and Betty bombers attacked the fleet. de Ruyter was unscathed, although the American cruiser Marblehead was crippled and one of Houston’s turrets was disabled. The air attack forced Doorman to call off the mission.[7]: 183-184, 188-189 After the battle, de Ruyter escorted Marblehead to port and out of the fleet.[7]: 194
Several days later, the fleet attempted to intercept the invasion of Sumatra.[7]: 206-207 A floatplane from de Ruyter found the Japanese invasion fleet, and the Allies were likewise detected. Without air support, the fleet was molested by Japanese bombers throughout Valentine's Day; a wave of torpedo bombers attacked de Ruyter, mistaking her for a battleship. Miraculously, no ships in the fleet were hit. Nevertheless, Doorman again ordered a retreat.[7]: 209–211
Battle of Badung Strait
[edit].jpg)
On February 18, De Ruyter departed the Java coast alongside the light cruiser HNLMS Java and the destroyers USS Pope, USS John D. Ford, and HNLMS Piet Hein in another attempt to disrupt Japanese troop convoys destined to Bali Indonesia consisting of two troop transports escorted by four destroyers of the Asashio class which was spotted by allied submarines. It was on the night of the 19th that the allied ships intercepted the Japanese ships. For the first time, De Ruyter fired her 15 cm (5.9 in) guns in anger, but her gunfire proved to be ineffective as she missed her shots.
In the following exchange, the lone Japanese destroyer Asashio closed to point blank range without damage and fired eight torpedoes. One of these torpedoes hit Piet Hein, which was blown in half and sank nearly instantly. Asashio, joined by her sistership Ōshio, then turned away John D. Ford and Pope; with her escorts out of the fight, De Ruyter retreated from the battle without hitting an enemy ship even once, let alone sinking the Japanese transport ships.
Another failed attempt by Allied warships to sink the transport ships failed; instead, Asashio won a gunfight with the light cruiser HNLMS Tromp, followed by both Asashio and Ōshio damaging the destroyer USS Stewart so badly that she could not be repaired before Japanese capture of Soerabaia, and was scuttled in the harbor.[10]
Battle of the Java Sea
[edit].jpg)
On February 24, De Ruyter departed as flagship for Admiral Doorman and his flag captain Eugène Lacomblé (who had previously served on board the ship as a lieutenant) for much of what was left of the ABDA fleet, consisting of three light cruisers, De Ruyter, Java and HMAS Perth, the heavy cruisers Houston and HMS Exeter, and nine destroyers, as ABDA fleet's largest effort yet to destroy Japanese troop convoys after a series of blunders and failed attempts. However, this plan immediately had its troubles as on the 26th the force was spotted by a floatplane launched from the heavy cruiser Nachi, joined by the heavy cruiser Haguro, the light cruisers Naka and Jintsū, and eleven destroyers.[11]
Engagment
[edit]The force made contact by 18:00 on the 27th, and fired away. De Ruyter, along with the other cruisers targeted Jintsū at 16,000 yards but failed to hit her with even a single shell. Haguro and Nachi then opened fire at 28,000 yards as they continued to close the range at maximum speed, with Haguro focusing her fire on De Ruyter. Houston, Exeter, and Perth fired on Haguro which was reported to had burst into flames and sank, but Haguro had not been hit once and in turn drew the actual first blood of the engagement when she hit De Ruyter with two 20.3 cm (8 in) shells. The first hit the auxiliary motor room and started a small fire, killing one crewman and injuring six others, while the second over penetrated unarmored portions of the ship without exploding. Even when they didn't hit, Haguro's shells still straddled De Ruyter several times.[12][11]
Around this time, seven Japanese destroyers fired their torpedoes at the Allied warships, and while no hits were scored De Ruyter and the other cruisers rapidly maneuvered to evade them, prompting Haguro to switch fire to Exeter and score a pair of hits. One was a dud, but the other exploded below the waterline and destroyed six of her eight boilers, cutting her speed to 5 knots and forcing her to withdraw from the battle. From 22,000 yards, Haguro then launched a salvo of torpedoes which some 10 minutes later hit the destroyer Kortenaer, which blew in half and sank instantly, followed by the destroyer Asagumo (possibly joined by Jintsū) winning a gunfight with the destroyer HMS Electra and sinking her.[10][11]
Allied Withdrawal
[edit]With two destroyers sunk and a heavy cruiser crippled, faced by superior ships, and only a single of his ships, the Electra (which had just been sunk) making any hits on an enemy ship whatsoever (hits on both Asagumo and the destroyer Tokitsukaze that had caused little critical damage), Admiral Doorman ordered his ships to disengage from the battle and withdraw back to Surabaya. De Ruyter turned away from the action as some of Doorman's destroyers picked up survivors from Kortenaer. With the battle over for the time being, around 20:00, four American destroyers, having expended their torpedoes and most of their ammo, withdrew from the battle. To top things off, tragedy struck when at 21:25, the destroyer HMS Jupiter hit a mine that was laid by Dutch forces and sank in a friendly fire incident.[12][13]
Sinking
[edit]Unknown to Admiral Doorman, Haguro's floatplane had been trailing the allied force, and the Japanese had been planning an ambush. Just before midnight, Haguro and Nachi closed to 16,000 yards undetected by De Ruyter and the other ships and prepared a stealth attack by firing torpedoes only. Nachi fired first, putting out eight torpedoes, followed by Haguro sending out four. Several minutes later, De Ruyter noticed Nachi's torpedo spread, and quickly turned to evade and was not damaged. The same could not be said for Java, which was hit by one of Nachi's torpedoes that ignited her aft main battery magazines, blowing the cruiser in two and sinking Java in under two minutes.[12][11][13]
Unfortunately, four minutes after Java received her fatal hit, De Ruyter was hit by one of Haguro's four torpedoes, the last time she was damaged by the Haguro. Haguro and Nachi then retreated from the area, depending on the source they were either undetected, or spotted but allied gunfire was ineffective.[13] It was clear that fatal damage had been dealt; while De Ruyter didn't immediately explode and sink like Java, flooding was beginning to overwhelm damage control. Eventually, the abandon ship order was issued, and both Karel Doorman and Captain Lacomblé chose to go down with De Ruyter, even allegedly (according to some accounts) retreating to Doorman's cabin and together committing suicide for their failure to save the ship.
De Ruyter stayed afloat for some three hours, but eventually sank the next morning at about 02:30, with the loss of 367 men. She did not make a single hit during the course of the battle, and not a single Japanese ship was sunk.[11][14]
Wreck
[edit]The wreck of De Ruyter was discovered by specialist wreck divers on 1 December 2002 and declared a war grave, with the ship's two bells—one now in the Kloosterkerk in the Hague—being recovered. The wreck of HNLMS Java was also found on the same day by the same divers, which then found HNLMS Kortenaer on 12 August 2004.[15]
In 2016, the whole wrecks of De Ruyter and Java, as well much of Kortenaer, were found to have disappeared from the seabed, although their imprints on the ocean floor remained. Over 100 ships and submarines of various countries sank during the war in the seas around Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia; many are designated as war graves. There is known to be illegal scavenging of these wrecks, often using explosives; the Netherlands Defence Ministry suggested that De Ruyter, Java, and Kortenaer may have been illegally salvaged.[16] In February 2017, a report was issued confirming the illegal salvaging of the three wrecks.[14][17]
According to Indonesian journalist Aqwam Hanifan, the remains of Dutch sailors on De Ruyter and the other illegally salvaged ships were dumped in a mass grave in East Java.[18]
Further reading
[edit]- Legemaate, H J (1999). Hr. Ms. Kruiser 'De Ruyter' 1933-1942 [Her Majesty's Cruiser 'De Ruyter' 1933-1942] (in Dutch). Asia Maior. ISBN 9789074861151.
References
[edit]- ^ "Technische gegevens Hr.Ms. De Ruyter". TracesOfWar.com.
- ^ "Lichte kruiser Hr.Ms. De Ruyter". Jaime Karreman.
- ^ a b van Oosten, F. C. (1 January 1974). Warship Profile 40: Her Netherlands Majesty's Ship De Ruyter. Profile Publications. ASIN B0007C1ABY. ISBN 9780853830627.
- ^ a b Noppen, Ryan K. (2020). The Royal Netherlands Navy of World War II. New Vanguard Series. Paul Wright (1st ed.). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 978-1-4728-4191-9.
- ^ a b c d e van Oosten, F. C. (1 January 1974). Warship Profile 40: Her Netherlands Majesty's Ship De Ruyter. Profile Publications. ASIN B0007C1ABY. ISBN 9780853830627.
- ^ a b c d e Noppen, Ryan K. (2020). The Royal Netherlands Navy of World War II. New Vanguard Series. Paul Wright (1st ed.). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 978-1-4728-4191-9.
- ^ a b c d e f g Cox, Jeffrey (2014). Rising Sun, Falling Skies: The Disastrous Java Sea Campaign of World War II. General Military. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 978-1-4728-1060-1.
- ^ a b c Whitley, M. J. (Michael J. ) (1995). Cruisers of World War Two : an international encyclopedia. London : Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 978-1-85409-225-0.
- ^ "1942: February 4: Battle of Makassar Strait". National Museum of the U.S. Navy. Retrieved 2025-04-10.
- ^ a b "HNLMS De Ruyter (1935)".
- ^ a b c d e "IJN HAGURO: Tabular Record of Movement".
- ^ a b c "HNMS De Ruyter of the Royal Dutch Navy - uboat.net".
- ^ a b c Hara (1961) Chapter 15
- ^ a b "Report verification mission" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-04-15. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
- ^ PacificWrecks.com. "Kevin Denlay - Shipwreck Explorer and SCUBA Diver". Pacific Wrecks. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
- ^ Oliver Holmes and agencies (16 November 2016). "Mystery as wrecks of three Dutch WWII ships vanish from Java seabed". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ Hoare, James (23 November 2016). "Java Sea Shipwrecks of World War 2: One of the men who found them reflects on their loss | All About History". Historyanswers.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
- ^ Boffey, Daniel (January 22, 2018). "Bodies of second world war sailors in Java sea 'dumped in mass grave'". theguardian.com. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
External links
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