HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'' ( nl, Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman) is a multi-function support ship for amphibious operations of the Royal Netherlands Navy, which is also used by the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

. The ship replaced both of the navy's replenishment oilers: HNLMS ''Zuiderkruis'' (scrapped in February 2014) and HNLMS ''Amsterdam'' (sold to Peru in December 2014). At she is the largest ship in service in the Netherlands navy. She was built at the Damen yard in Galati,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, being the largest warship ever built in Romania. On 16 August 2013 the ship arrived in

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label= Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, where final outfitting and installation of the weapon systems took place. In September, 2013, it was announced that as part of a series of Dutch defense budget cuts, the vessel wouldn't enter military service, but this decision was reversed by the Dutch government. The vessel cost 400 million Euros. On 4 February 2016, German minister

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding suc ...

, and Dutch minister

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert Jeanine Antoinette Hennis-Plasschaert (born 7 April 1973) is a Dutch politician and diplomat serving as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq since 1 November 2018. She is a member of t ...

signed the LOI on the Dutch Navy ship HNLMS Karel Doorman. The German Navy will now, in coordination with their Dutch counterparts, be able to use the biggest ship in the Dutch Navy.

Characteristics

JLSS Karel Doorman Starboard side construction

For maritime support the ship will have two

Replenishment-At-Sea Replenishment at sea (RAS) (North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Commonwealth of Nations) or underway replenishment (UNREP) (U.S. Navy) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way. First develope ...

masts, the holding capacity of approx 8000 m³ of fuel, more than 1000 m³ of helicopter fuel, approx 450 m³ of potable water and approx 400 tonnes of ammunition and other supplies. The JLSS has 2,000 lane metres for transport of material such as tracked & wheeled vehicles or containers. She has an elevator and crane for up to 40 tons, a roll on/roll off facility for vehicles, and a steel beach stern construction for accommodating cargo transfer via landing craft. The ship is equipped with two LCVP's landing craft. For sea-basing operations she will have large helicopter deck with landing spots for operating two Chinooks simultaneously, and a hangar with a storage capacity of up to 6 medium-sized helicopters, including NH-90, AS-532 Cougar, CH-47F and AH-64D Apache. The ship can accommodate up to 300 personnel, of which 159 are the ship's crew. She also has command rooms for war staffs and a large hospital facility with 20 treatment areas, and two surgery rooms. Modular flexibility allows configuration of temporary areas for evacuees or prisoners. Positioned off shore, the ship is designed to act as a Sea Based Operations Platform supporting (amphibious) land forces with logistic support providing supplies and helicopter support (transport and attack).

Armament

The armament of the JLSS is heavier than that of the LPDs and replenishment ships, but is still primarily for self-defence. In high-risk operations the ship will require additional protection from frigates or destroyers. Two

Goalkeeper CIWS The Goalkeeper CIWS is a Dutch close-in weapon system (''SEE-wiz'') introduced in 1979. It is an autonomous and completely automatic weapon system for short-range defence of ships against highly manoeuvrable missiles, aircraft and fast-manoeuve ...

systems protect the ship against incoming missiles and aircraft at short range, while two Oto Melara Marlin WS 30mm rapid cannons provide force-protection against small surface targets such as high speed boats. The ship is also equipped with 4 Oto Melara

Hitrole The Hitrole is a remote weapons station manufactured by Italian arms company Oto Melara (merged into Leonardo S.p.A., previously Finmeccanica since 2016). The ''"role"'' portion of the name is short for "''R''emotely ''O''perated, ''L''ight ''E' ...

NT 12.7mm guns. The same weaponry has been chosen for the s. All weapon systems of the JLSS are remote-controlled from the operations and command room.

Sensor suite

''Karel Doorman'' has the same sensor suite as the s. All sensor systems are housed in an integrated mast, provided by

Thales Nederland 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 Signaalapparate ...

, called the I-Mast 400, comprising a SeaMaster 400 SMILE air warning radar, a SeaWatcher 100 active phased-array surface detection and tracking radar and the GateKeeper infra-red/electro-optical (EO) warning system. With these systems the ship is able to monitor 140 nm using an Integrated Sensor and Communication Systems (ISCS), also by

Service history

Even though ''Karel Doorman'' had just finished sea trials and had not yet been commissioned, on 6 November she was sent on a three-month deployment to West Africa to deliver aid to Ebola-struck countries. She was loaded with different goods in 91 containers and 155 vehicles, including ambulances. On 18 November the ship arrived in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

for her first offload. After her third offload in Liberia and the replenishment of RFA ''Argus'' the ship returned to the Netherlands to pick up another load. On 24 April 2015 JLSS ''Karel Doorman'' was formally commissioned and hence forward HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'', pennant A833. Seen on 25 May on the St. Lawrence River, in front of Baie-St-Paul (QC), Canada, navigating upstream. She also stopped at Montreal's Old Port on 26 May 2015. At 10am on June 17, 2015, she docked at Phillipsburg in St. Maarten. On 19 June 2015 at 12pm, she docked at Oranjestad in Aruba. On February 3, 2016, ''Karel Doorman'' docked at Amsterdam in the Netherlands. In February it was decided that the Dutch navy would incidentally share the use of the ''Karel Doorman'' with the

. In the autumn of 2017 ''Karel Doorman'' was sent to the Caribbean for humanitarian aid after the region was struck by

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

. ''Karel Doorman'' participated in the NATO exercise ''Trident Juncture'' in 2018.

Mid-Life Upgrade

The ''Karel Doorman'' is planned to undergoing progressive updates to extend its service life from 2025 onwards. Major changes that are expected include the replacement of the

with

RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the German, Japanese, Greek, Turkish, South Korean, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, Mexican, UAE, and U.S. Navies. It was origin ...

and 76mm Sovraponte gun from Leonardo OTO.

References