HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst (1937)

For other ships with the same name, see HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst.

HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst was a Jan van Amstel-class minesweeper built for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the 1930s. The German invasion of the Netherlands resulted in the ship being scuttled at Enkhuizen on 14 May 1940, but was raised by the Germans and entered service as the minesweeper M 553 with Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. The vessel was sunk by a mine off East Prussia on 21 April 1944. M 552 was raised on 20 July 1944 and towed to Stettin. There, the ship was bombed and burned out 20 August 1944. The wreck was captured by the Soviets. One source says she was returned to the Netherlands post war.^[3]

Abraham van der Hulst in 1939
History
Netherlands
Name	Abraham van der Hulst
Namesake	Abraham van der Hulst
Builder	Gusto, Schiedam
Laid down	13 November 1936[1]
Launched	31 May 1937[1][2]
Commissioned	11 October 1937[1]
Fate	Scuttled, 14 May 1940[2]
Germany
Name	M 552
Commissioned	1940
Decommissioned	April 1944
Fate	Destroyed in an air raid, 30 August 1944
General characteristics
Class & type	Jan van Amstel-class minesweeper
Displacement	450 long tons (457 t) standard 585 long tons (594 t)
Length	56.7 m (186 ft 0 in) oa 55.80 m (183 ft 1 in) pp
Beam	7.8 m (25 ft 7 in)
Draft	2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)
Installed power	2 × Yarrow boilers 1,600 ihp (1,193 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts, 2 × triple expansion engines
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	45
Armament	1 × single 3 in (76 mm) gun 2 × twin .50-calibre machine guns

Abraham van der Hulst after she had struck a mine on 8 October 1939

Description

The Jan van Amstel-class ships were 55.8 metres (183 ft 1 in) long, with a beam of 7.8 metres (25 ft 7 in) and a draught of 2.2 metres (7 ft 3 in) at deep load. They displaced was 450 long tons (460 t) at normal load, which increased to 585 long tons (594 t) at deep load. A pair of Yarrow boilers fed steam to two triple-expansion steam engines that each drove a single propeller shaft. The engines were rated at 1,690 indicated horsepower (1,260 kW) which gave the ships a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). They carried up to 110 long tons (110 t) of fuel oil and had a complement of 45 officers and ratings.^[4]