Van Speijk-class Frigate
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The ''Van Speijk''-class was a
ship class A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, is a nuclear aircraft carrier (ship type) of the (ship class). In the course o ...
of six frigates that were built in the Netherlands for the
Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...
. They were versions of the British s with Dutch radars. The British design was chosen in order to enable rapid construction in order to replace elderly destroyer escorts and take up part of the
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
patrol duties of the decommissioned
anti-submarine warfare carrier An anti-submarine warfare carrier (ASW carrier) (US hull classification symbol CVS) is a type of small aircraft carrier whose primary role is as the nucleus of an anti-submarine warfare hunter-killer group. This type of ship came into existence d ...
. The ships were modernised in the late 1970s. All six ships were sold to the
Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy (, TNI-AL) is the Navy, naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclus ...
in 1986–1989 and five are still in service as the s.


Dutch modifications

For the most part the Dutch limited their changes to the ''Leander'' design to a wholesale replacement of the original British electronics and electrical equipment by those from Dutch manufacturers.
Hollandse Signaalapparaten Thales Nederland B.V. (formerly Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V. or in short Signaal) is a subsidiary of the French multinational company Thales Group based in the Netherlands. The firm was founded as ''NV Hazemeyer's Fabriek van Signaalapparat ...
supplied the entire electronics suite. Specifically their LW-02 long-range air-surveillance
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
, the DA-02 medium-range air/surface search radar and the M45 combined radar and optical fire control system for the guns. The Dutch HSA M44 radar/visual director for the Seacat
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
missiles could automatically target in elevation and bearing and because of its much lighter weight, allowed the single Seacat launcher on the British ships to be increased to two launchers on the Dutch ships, each with their own director.Adams, p. 193


Mid-life modernization

Beginning in December 1976 each of the Dutch ships was given a mid-life modernization that took about two years to finish. The twin 4.5-inch turret was replaced by a single
OTO Melara 76 mm The OTO Melara 76 mm gun, marketed as the OTO 76/62 Gun Mount, is a naval autocannon built and designed by the Italian Defense contractor, defence company OTO Melara. It is based on the OTO Melara 76/62C and evolved toward 76/62 SR and 76/ ...
gun and two quadruple mounts for
Harpoon A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...
anti-ship missiles were fitted abaft of the funnel. The Mk 10
Limbo The unofficial term Limbo (, or , referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition in medieval Catholic theology, of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. However, it has become the gene ...
ASW mortar was replaced by a pair of triple Mk 32 torpedo launchers, one mount on each side of the hangar, and its mount plated over so the flight deck could be increased to allow the ship to carry the larger
Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to t ...
helicopter in lieu of the Wasp carried earlier. The removal of the variable-depth sonar from the quarterdeck to the interior of the stern also allowed more room for the flight deck.Adams, p. 194 The electronics were also upgraded, the LW-02 radar was exchanged for a LW-03 and the DA-02 was replaced by a DA-05 radar. Most importantly an automated combat management system, SEWACO V, was fitted to aid the ship's captain in decision making. Its power plant was also extensively automated. All told these changes allowed the crew to decrease in size from 254 to about 175 which allowed greatly increased standards of habitability.


Ships

All ships were named after Dutch naval officers. When sold to Indonesia, they were named after Indonesian National Armed Forces heroes.


Indonesian service

At least some, if not all, of the Indonesian ships have replaced their Seacat launchers with two twin
Simbad SIMBAD (the Set of Identifications, Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) is an astronomy, astronomical database of objects beyond the Solar System. It is maintained by the Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS), Fr ...
launchers. Recently, the two quadruple Harpoon launchers were also replaced by Yakhont missile (SS-N-26) launchers purchased from Russia, because the early version Harpoon missiles previously installed were nearing their obsolescence period. There are also some conflicting reports that the Harpoon missiles were replaced with Chinese-sourced
C-802 The YJ-83 (; NATO reporting name: CSS-N-8 Saccade) is a People's Republic of China, Chinese subsonic anti-ship missile, anti-ship cruise missile. It is manufactured by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Third Academy. Develo ...
rather than Russian Yakhont. There are some pictures circulating on the internet showing several vessels of the class carrying box launchers that look much too small to be Yakhont's launchers, but they are the right size for C-802. Pictures released in March 2011 show that modifications were made to KRI ''Oswald Siahaan'' with 4 SS-26 Yakhont VLS cells located in the quarterdeck beside the helicopter hangar.


Engine replacement

In Indonesian service, the ''Van Speijk'' class is known as the ''Ahmad Yani'' class after the lead ship. All were named after Indonesian Armed Forces heroes. Between 2003 and 2008, all vessels of the ''Ahmad Yani'' class had their existing
steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
engines replaced with diesel
propulsion Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...
.


Citations


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * * * {{Post1945DutchShips Frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy Frigate classes