Jan van Amstel-class minesweeper

The Jan van Amstel class was a class of nine minesweepers of the Royal Netherlands Navy, built to serve in the Dutch East Indies and Dutch territorial waters in Europe. The class was originally planned to consist of 12 ships, but because of the German occupation of the Netherlands in the Second World War, three of the four ships that were still under construction were never completed.

HNLMS Jan van Amstel underway
Class overview
Name	Jan van Amstel class
Builders	Gusto, Schiedam P. Smit, Rotterdam
Operators	Royal Netherlands Navy  Kriegsmarine  Royal Navy  Royal Australian Navy
Built	1936–1940
In service	1937–1961
Planned	12
Completed	9
Lost	5
Preserved	1
General characteristics
Type	Minesweeper
Displacement	460 long tons (467 t)
Length	56.8 m (186 ft 4 in)
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 40 sea mines

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.^[1]

The ships could also be used as minelayers. The construction of the ships took place in two different shipyards, four by Gusto, Schiedam and five by P. Smit, Rotterdam.

Ships in class

• Jan van Amstel : Commissioned 1937. Sunk 8 March 1942.
• Pieter de Bitter : Commissioned 1937. Scuttled 6 March 1942.
• Abraham Crijnssen : Commissioned 1937. Royal Australian Navy 26 August 1942–5 May 1943. Decommissioned 1961. Museum ship July 1997.
• Eland Dubois : Commissioned 1937. Scuttled 8 March 1942.
• Willem van Ewijck : Commissioned 1937. Sunk 8 September 1939.
• Pieter Florisz : Commissioned 1937. Scuttled 14 May 1940. Kriegsmarine 1940–1945. Recommissioned 1946. Struck 1961. Sold for scrap.
• Jan van Gelder : Commissioned 1937. Royal Navy 26 March 1943–1946. Struck 1961. Scrapped.
• Abraham van der Hulst (1937) : Commissioned 1937. Scuttled 14 May 1940. Kriegsmarine 1940–1944. Destroyed 20 August 1944.
• Abraham van der Hulst (1946) : Captured before commissioning. Kriegsmarine 1940–1945. Commissioned 1946. Struck 1961. Scrapped.

See also

• List of minesweepers of the Royal Netherlands Navy