The ''A'' class were four

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

of 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 the first purpose-built minesweepers of the Dutch Navy, as earlier minesweepers were converted

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

Design

The ''A'' class was based on the German FM-type of coastal minesweeper built during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

.Lenton 1967, p. 80

History

All ships of the ''A'' class were built between 1928 and 1930 at

Willemsoord, Den Helder Willemsoord is a large former naval base of the Royal Netherlands Navy in Den Helder. It is now connected to the city center of Den Helder, and focuses on entertainment and tourism. Nieuwediep harbor: Origin of the naval base In the seven ...

. All four ships were commissioned on 4 August 1930, and two days later, on 6 August 1930, all four sailed to the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, arriving at

Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...

on 30 October 1930. During the

Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces of the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Allied forces attempted unsuccessfully t ...

in March 1942 all four ships were scuttled by their crews. Three of the ships, ''A'', ''B'' and ''C'', were salvaged and put into service with the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

as auxiliary

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a type of small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. They encompass designs that are now largely obsolete, but which played an important role in the wars of the first half of th ...

s no. 113, 112 and 116, being rearmed with a single 47 mm gun, three 25 mm cannons, a 13.2 mm machine gun and eight depth charges. All three were sunk by US forces in 1944–1945.

Ships in class

* - Laid down 9/1928. Launched 19 April 1929 and completed on 4 August 1930. Scuttled at Surabaya, Java 1 March 1942, raised by Japan and commissioned as ''Cha.113'' on 17 January 1943. Sunk by US submarine USS ''Hardhead'' off Java on 23 June 1945.Jentschura et al 1986, p. 223. * - Laid down 9/1928. Launched 24 September 1929 and completed on 4 August 1930. Scuttled at Surabaya, Java 2 March 1942, raised by Japan, commissioned as ''Cha.112'' on 20 December 1942. Sunk by US aircraft in the Java Sea on 4 June 1945. * - Laid down 4/1929. Launched late 1929. Completed 4 August 1930. Scuttled at Surabaya, Java 6 March 1942, raised and commissioned as Japanese ''Cha.116'' on 8 April 1943. Sunk by US carrier-based aircraft 20 miles west of

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

on 13 November 1944. * - Laid down 1928. Launched 1929. Completed 8/1930. Scuttled at Surabaya, Java 2 March 1942 to prevent capture by Japanese forces.

References

Bibliography

* Gardiner, Robert and Chesneau, Roger (eds.) ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946''. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1980. . *Jentschura, Hansgeorg, Dieter Jung and Peter Mikel. ''Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1869–1945''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1986. . * Lenton, H. T. ''Navies of the Second World War: Royal Netherlands Navy''. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. *Mark, C. ''Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II'' Alkmaar: De Alk bv, 1997: 109-110.
Netherlandsnavy.nl: A class minesweepers
{{WWII Dutch ships Mine warfare vessel classes Minesweepers of the Royal Netherlands Navy