HNLMS ''Gelderland'' () was a

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of cruiser of the late 19th century, took their name from the armored deck, which protected vital machine-spaces from fragments released by explosive shells. Protected cruisers notably lacked a belt of armour alon ...

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 ...

. During its career in the Dutch Navy it was most notable for being the ship Queen Wilhelmina sent to

Portuguese East Africa Portuguese Mozambique () or Portuguese East Africa () were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas province. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a str ...

to transport

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

to Europe during the

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

. The ship was taken over by the Germans during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, rebuilt as an anti-aircraft cruiser and renamed ''Niobe''. Commissioned into the German navy on 1 March 1944, she was sunk in

Kotka Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the Kotka-Hamina sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is th ...

harbour in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

on 16 July 1944.

Service history

The ship was built at the ''Maatschappij voor Scheeps- en Werktuigbouw Fijenoord'' in Rotterdam and launched on 28 September 1898. The ship was commissioned on 15 July 1900. On 22 November that year she arrived in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

with

who she had picked up in

Lourenço Marques Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

by order of the Dutch Government. After dropping Kruger off she left for 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 ...

. During this trip while entering the harbor of

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

she collided with the British steamer ''Peterson''. The collision required the ship to be repaired at

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

. On 6 January 1901 she could resume her journey and arrived three days later on 9 January in

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 6 July 1904 ''Gelderland'' and both ran aground near Aroes Lampoejang, South

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

because of incomplete maps. The ships were repaired in

and Singapore respectively. On 17 June 1905 ''Gelderland'' and her sisters and ''Utrecht'' returned to the Netherlands. The journey involved stops in Tanjung Priok, Mahé, Perim,

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

and

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

arriving at

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

on 30 August that year. In 1908 ''Gelderland'', together with her sisters and , was sent to patrol the Venezuelan coast during the Second Castro crisis. On 12 December 1908, the Gelderland captured the Venezuelan gunboat ''Alix'' off Puerto Cabello. She and another ship the'' 23 de Mayo'' were interned in the harbor of Willemstad. With their overwhelming naval superiority, the Dutch Navy enforced a blockade on Venezuela's ports. On 17 June 1911 ''Gelderland'' left Rotterdam for England. On board was Prince Henry of the Netherlands who traveled to the United Kingdom to attend the coronation of

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

. For the last part of the journey ''Gelderland'' was escorted by four British

torpedo boats A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

. ''Gelderland'' was sent to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

on 11 November 1912 because of rising political tension and a direct war threat. A landing party of 100 men was put ashore and took position in the legations section of the city on 18 November 1912. She was relieved by on 30 May 1913. While patrolling along the Dutch coast an explosion occurred on 14 March 1917, killing one man and severely wounding nine others. After returning to port the ship was taken out of service for maintenance. After

World War I 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 ...

she served as an artillery training ship in the Dutch navy.

World War II

The ship was seized by the Germans during their invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, and remained laid up at Den Helder from 14 May 1940 until August 1941, when she was taken in hand at the Van der Giessen de Noord shipyard at Krimpen aan den IJssel to be rebuilt as an anti-aircraft cruiser ("Flakschiff"). Work was completed in December 1943, and ''Gelderland'' commissioned in the German ''Kriegsmarine'' under the new name of ''Niobe'' on 1 March 1944. German anti-aircraft cruiser Niobe

During the

Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive or Karelian offensive was a strategic operation by the Soviet Leningrad and Karelian Fronts against Finland on the Karelian Isthmus and East Karelia fronts of the Continuation War, on the Eastern Front of Wor ...

of 1944 the Soviets tried to finish the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

with the

Finns Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...

. The Germans came to the aid of the Finns, and, among the

materiel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...

brought with them was the anti-aircraft cruiser ''Niobe'', which was ordered to strengthen the air defences of Kotka, then one of the most bombed cities in Finland. At the same time, the Soviet Union had put much emphasis on finding and sinking the Finnish coastal defence ship . Soviet aerial reconnaissance identified a large ship in Kotka harbour and the decision was taken to attack, with 132 bombers and fighters (sent by, amongst others, the 51st Mine-Torpedo Aviation Regiment of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet), on 16 July 1944. The ship was, however, ''Niobe'', and the aircraft were met with fierce resistance. An

A-20 Havoc The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American light bomber, attack aircraft, Intruder (air combat), night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for ...

bomber was shot down, but the ship was hit and sank. The guns of the ''Niobe'' were still firing as she settled in the shallow water, after which much of her superstructure remained visible above sea level. Seventy of the crew of the ''Niobe'' died. ''Niobe'' was raised in June 1953 and scrapped.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Niobe sinking (in Russian)
* 02. Feb 2018
Maarjamäe väljakaevamistel selgus maetud meremeeste saladus
err.ee {{DEFAULTSORT:Gelderland (1898) Holland-class cruisers 1898 ships Maritime incidents in July 1944 Cruisers sunk by aircraft Naval ships of the Netherlands captured by Germany during World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea Shipwrecks of Finland Ships sunk by Soviet aircraft