Alkmaar-class minehunter

The Alkmaar class is a ship class of fifteen minehunters that were built in the Netherlands for the Royal Netherlands Navy.^[3][4] They are based on the design of the Tripartite class, which was developed by a collaborative effort between the Netherlands, Belgium and France, and replaced the minesweepers and minehunters of the Dokkum class.^[5][6][7]

Haarlem
Class overview
Name	Alkmaar class
Builders	Van der Giessen-De Noord, Alblasserdam
Operators	Initial  Royal Netherlands Navy Export  Bulgarian Navy  Latvian Naval Forces  Pakistan Navy  Ukrainian Navy (Planned)
Preceded by	Dokkum class
Succeeded by	Vlissingen class
Cost	1.3 billion Dutch guilders
Built	1979–1989
In commission	1983–present
Planned	15
Completed	15
Active	14
Laid up	1
General characteristics [1][2]
Type	Minehunter
Displacement	510 t (500 long tons)
Length	49.10 m (161 ft 1 in)
Beam	8.90 m (29 ft 2 in)
Draft	2.45 metres (8 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	2 screws 1,400 kW (1,900 hp) Brons-Werkspoor A-RUB 215 V12 diesel engine Bow thruster
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Range	3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 x PAP 104
Crew	22-34
Sensors and processing systems	1 x DUBM 21B sonar 1 x Racal Decca 1229 radar EVEC plotting system
Armament	1 x 20 mm machine gun

Design and construction

In 1975 the Netherlands, Belgium and France signed an agreement to develop a new mine countermeasures vessel together.^[8] At the same time it was also decided that each country would contribute to the construction by being responsible for certain components and systems.^[6][9] As a result, the Netherlands was responsible for the main propulsion, the gearboxes and propellers.^[9] France delivered the mine countermeasure and electronics systems, while Belgium build the remaining electronics and mechanic installations.^[8]

The construction of the Alkmaar class started in 1979 at the shipyard of Van der Giessen-De Noord in Alblasserdam.^[10] The ships were made from polyester, which required new construction methods in comparison to the previous mine countermeasure vessels that were built at the shipyard.^[1][11] As a result, Van der Giessen-De Noord invested 42 million Dutch guilders to build a new dedicated production hall that had a specific climate indoors and allowed serial construction in the same way as for aircraft production.^[9][11][12] Inside the production hall there was an assembly line that contained four stations, with each ship staying around 21 weeks at a station before moving to the next.^[13] Besides a new hall and tools, the shipyard also had to train personnel to be able to handle fiberglass and fiberglass sheets, which were used to construct the polyester ships.^[13] The construction of the 15 minehunters are estimated to have cost a total of 1.3 billion Dutch guilders.^[10]

Mine countermeasure systems

To hunt mines the Alkmaar class was equipped with the French DUBM 21B sonar, which was used to detect and classify mines, a Racal Decca 1229 radar and an EVEC plotting system.^[14][10] The sonar had a range of almost one kilometer and allowed the ship to search for mines up to a depth of 80 meters underwater.^[15][16] In addition, each ship was equipped with two Poisson Auto-Propulsé (PAP) type 104 submarine drones that were used for mine disposal.^[17][10] This PAP 104 wire guided drone had a television camera aboard for observation and could be fitted out with explosives to destroy mines from a safe distance.^[17][18]

Armament

The Alkmaar class had as armament a single 20 mm machine gun.^[1][2]

Propulsion

The minehunters of the Alkmaar class are equipped with a Brons-Werkspoor A-RUB 215 V12 diesel engine that can produce 1900 bhp.^[19][20] This non magnetic diesel engine was produced by Brons-Industrie and a development of the earlier Werkspoor RUB 215 diesel engine.^[21][22] The Brons-Werkspoor A-RUB 215 V12 diesel engine can drive the two active screws of the minehunters to a maximum speed of 15 knots.^[19] Besides the two screws, the minehunters also have a bow thruster.^[19]

Service history

Between 1987 and 1989 Maassluis, Hellevoetsluis and Urk were active in the Persian Gulf as part of a Western European Union (WEU) mine clearing operation and placed under Belgian command.^[23]

In 1990 Alkmaar and Zierikzee took part in the exercise Safe Pass at the west coast of America.^[24]

In 2024 Willemstad, Makkum and Zierikzee took part in BALTOPS alongside other naval ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy.^[25]

Ships in class

The ships of the Alkmaar class are named after medium-sized Dutch municipalities that played a role in the Eighty Years' War and can also be accessed by these ships.^[2][26]

Alkmaar class construction data^[27][4]

Pennant no.	Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Fate
M 850	Alkmaar	Van der Giessen-De Noord Alblasserdam, Netherlands	30 January 1979	2 May 1982	28 May 1983	2000	Sold to Latvia in 2007
M 851	Delfzijl		29 May 1980	30 October 1982	17 August 1983	2000	Sold to Latvia in 2007
M 852	Dordrecht		5 January 1981	18 February 1983	16 November 1983	2000	Sold to Latvia in 2007
M 853	Haarlem		16 June 1981	6 May 1983	12 January 1984	2011	Sold to Pakistan in June 2021[28]
M 854	Harlingen		30 November 1981	1 July 1983	12 April 1984	2000	Sold to Latvia in 2007
M 855	Scheveningen		24 May 1982	2 December 1983	18 July 1984	2002	Sold to Latvia in 2007
M 856	Maassluis		7 November 1982	27 April 1984	12 December 1984	2011	Sold to Bulgaria in 2019[29][30]
M 857	Makkum		28 February 1983	27 September 1984	8 May 1985	25 November 2024[31]	Pledged to Ukraine[32]
M 858	Middelburg		11 July 1983	18 February 1985	10 December 1986	2011	Sold to Pakistan in June 2021[28]
M 859	Hellevoetsluis		12 December 1983	18 July 1985	20 February 1987	2011	Sold to Bulgaria in 2019[33][30]
M 860	Schiedam		7 May 1984	12 December 1985	9 July 1986
M 861	Urk		1 October 1984	2 May 1986	10 December 1986	22 June 2022[34]
M 862	Zierikzee		25 February 1985	1 October 1986	7 May 1987
M 863	Vlaardingen		5 May 1986	6 August 1988	15 March 1989	27 March 2024[35]	Pledged to Ukraine[36]
M 864	Willemstad		6 October 1986	27 January 1989	20 September 1989

Export

Ukraine

In March 2023 it was reported that the Netherlands would donate two Alkmaar-class minehunters to Ukraine.^[37][38] The transfer of these ships would most likely start from 2025.^[39][40]