HNLMS Poolster (1939)

For other ships with the same name, see HNLMS Poolster.

HNLMS Poolster was a Royal Netherlands Navy auxiliary ship. Originally constructed for the Government Navy as a replacement for HNLMS Hoofdinspecteur Zeeman, she would instead be transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy while still under construction.^[1]

HNLMS Poolster (1939)
History
Netherlands
Name	Poolster
Namesake	Poolster
Builder	Droogdok Maatschappij, Tandjong Priok
Laid down	1938
Commissioned	1939
In service	1939
Out of service	2 March 1942
Renamed	Horei Maru (Imperial Japanese Navy serving as salvage ship)
Fate	Scuttled 2 March 1942 by RNN, raised by IJN on 1 September 1943 and sunk American aircraft 15 January 1945.
General characteristics
Type	Auxiliary, submarine tender, seaplane tender, salvage ship
Displacement	1,565 t (1,540 long tons) standard
Length	74.72 m (245 ft 2 in)
Beam	12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Draught	3 m (9 ft 10 in)
Installed power	1,250 hp (930 kW)
Propulsion	4-stroke Smit-MAN Diesel engine powering a single screw
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	90
Armament	1 × single 75 mm (3.0 in) British HA/LA guns 2 × single 12.7 mm (0.50 in) Vickers

Once completed in 1939, she was commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy as a seaplane tender and salvage ship. During the Second World War she would also serve as a submarine tender if the opportunity arose.^[2]

Service history

Poolster served throughout the Second World War. Initially in Dutch service until her scuttling in March 1942 as she was unable to escape after the fall of Java. She was raised by Japanese forces in 1943 and continued service there as a salvage ship until sunk by aircraft from USS Saratoga in 1945.^[1][2][3][4]