The ''Holland'' class was a class of six

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...

s of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The class was built in two groups, each consisting of three ships.

Design

The design was based on the British , although it featured the more seaworthy form amidships of the . The first three ships of the class were long while the last three were long, had a beam of , a draught of , and had a displacement of 3,900 tons. The last three ships were slightly larger and displaced 133 tons more than the first three ships. The ships were equipped with two shaft

reciprocating engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common fea ...

s, which were rated at and produced a top speed of . The ships had deck armour. The main armament of the ships were two single guns. Secondary armament included six single guns and four single guns. In 1914-1915 refits, the 5.9 in guns were removed from each ship and replaced with an additional four 4.7 in single mounts.

Construction

The class was built in two groups each consisting of three ships. The ships were laid down at '' Rijkswerf'' in Amsterdam, '' Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde'' in Flushing and Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij in Rotterdam.

Service history

On 19 October 1900 ''Gelderland'' transported

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South African Republic, South Africa, and President of the So ...

to Europe during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. together with and the were sent to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

to defend Dutch interests during the Boxer Rebellion. ''Holland'' and ''Zeeland'' together with the coastal defence ships , and assisted the

KNIL The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The ...

during the

Aceh War The Aceh War ( id, Perang Aceh), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1913), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between represen ...

. In 1908 ''Friesland'', ''Gelderland'' and the coastal defence ship were sent to patrol the Venezuelan coast during the second Castro crisis. ''Friesland'' and ''Utrecht'' were decommissioned in 1913 with the remaining four being modernized. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

all remaining ships were stationed in Dutch home waters. ''Holland'' and ''Zeeland'' were decommissioned in 1920 and 1924 while ''Noordbrabant'' became an accommodation ship in 1920. A role she fulfilled until she was damaged during the German invasion in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. ''Gelderland'' became a training ship in 1920. She was captured by Germany in 1940, renamed ''Niobe'' and sunk during the war in

Kotka Kotka (; ; la, Aquilopolis) is a city in the southern part of the Kymenlaakso province on the Gulf of Finland. Kotka is a major port and industrial city and also a diverse school and cultural city, which was formerly part of the old Kymi parish ...

harbour in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on 16 July 1944.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Gelderland and Noord Brabant at netherlandsnavy.nl
{{1890-1920DutchShips Cruiser classes 19th-century naval ships of the Netherlands