HNLMS ''Abraham Crijnssen'' is a 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 ...

(RNN). Built during the 1930s, she was based in 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 ...

when Japan attacked at the end of 1941. Ordered to retreat to Australia, the ship was disguised as a tropical island to avoid detection, and was the last Dutch ship to escape from the region. On arriving in Australia in 1942, she was commissioned into the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

(RAN) as HMAS ''Abraham Crijnssen'' and operated as an anti-submarine escort. Although returned to RNN control in 1943, the ship remained in Australian waters for most of

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 ...

. After the war, ''Abraham Crijnssen'' operated on anti-

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

patrols in the East Indies, before returning to the Netherlands and being converted into a boom defence ship in 1956. Removed from service in 1960, the vessel was donated to the Netherlands Sea Cadet Corps for training purposes. In 1995, ''Abraham Crijnssen'' was acquired by the

Dutch Navy Museum The Dutch Navy Museum is a naval museum in Den Helder, Netherlands. The museum is dedicated to the history of the ''Koninklijke Marine'' (Royal Netherlands Navy). The most important ships the museum owns are: * (minesweeper) * ( ironclad ram) * ...

for preservation as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

Design and construction

''Abraham Crijnssen'' was the third of eight s constructed for the RNN during the late 1930s.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 221 Built by Werf Gusto at their yard in

Schiedam Schiedam () is a large town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of the city Rotterdam, east of the town Vlaardingen and south of the city Delft. In the south, Schi ...

, South Holland, the minesweeper was launched on 22 September 1936, and commissioned into the RNN on 26 May 1937. She was named after 17th century naval commander

Abraham Crijnssen Abraham Crijnssen (died 1 February 1669) was a Dutch naval commander, notable for capturing the English colony in Suriname in 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, resulting in the establishment of a long-term colony under Dutch control. T ...

. ''Abraham Crijnssen'' and her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

s were long, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of , a draught of , and a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 525 tons. The minesweepers were fitted with two Yarrow 3-drum boilers and two

Stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibise ...

triple expansion engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transf ...

s, which provided to two propeller shafts, allowing the ship to reach . ''Abraham Crijnssen'' was armed with a single 3-inch gun, and two

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models empl ...

, plus a payload of

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s.''HMAS Abraham Crijnssen'', Royal Australian Navy The standard ship's company was 45.

Operational history

HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen Covered In Branches

Early service

The ship was based 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 ...

in the

Netherlands 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 ...

when Japan invaded in 1941.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 211.''The Abraham Crijnssen'',

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

Following the Allied defeats at the Battles of the

Java Sea The Java Sea (, ) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its northwest links it to the South Ch ...

and

Sunda Strait The Sunda Strait () is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java island, Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean. Etymology The strait takes its name from the Sunda Kingdom, which ruled the western portion of Ja ...

in late February 1942, all Allied ships were ordered to withdraw to Australia. ''Abraham Crijnssen'' was meant to sail with three other warships, but found herself proceeding alone.Liem, ''That time a Dutch warship pretended to be an island to evade the enemy'' To escape detection by Japanese aircraft (which the minesweeper did not have the armament to defend effectively against), the ship was heavily camouflaged with jungle foliage, giving the impression of a small island. Personnel cut down trees and branches from nearby islands, and arranged the cuttings to form a jungle canopy covering as much of the ship as possible. Any hull still exposed was painted to resemble rocks and cliffs. To further the illusion, the ship would remain close to shore, anchored and immobile during daylight, and only sail at night. She headed for

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

, where she arrived on 20 March 1942; ''Abraham Crijnssen'' was the last vessel to successfully escape Java, and the only ship of her class in the region to survive.

RAN service

After arriving in Australian waters, the minesweeper underwent a refit, which included the installation of new

ASDIC Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

equipment. On 28 September, the minesweeper was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS ''Abraham Crijnssen''. She was reclassified as an anti-submarine convoy escort, and was also used as a

submarine tender A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of foo ...

for the Dutch submarines that relocated to Australia following the Japanese conquest. The ship's Dutch sailors were supplemented with survivors from the British

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

and Australian personnel, all under the command of an Australian lieutenant. The

wardroom The wardroom is the mess, mess cabin or compartment on a warship or other military ship for commissioned naval Officer (armed forces), officers above the rank of midshipman. Although the term typically applies to officers in a navy, it is also ...

tradition of hanging a portrait of the commissioned ship's reigning monarch led to some tension before it was decided to leave Queen

Wilhelmina of the Netherlands Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest- ...

on the bulkhead instead of replacing her with King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

of the United Kingdom, which was installed in the lieutenant's cabin. While escorting a convoy to Sydney through

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

on 26 January 1943, ''Abraham Crijnssen'' detected a submarine on

. The convoy was ordered to scatter, while ''Abraham Crijnssen'' and depth charged the submarine contact. No wreckage of the suspected submarine was found. A pair of hastily released depth charges at the start of the engagement damaged the minesweeper; several fittings and pipes were damaged, and all of her centerline rivets had to be replaced during a week-long dry-docking. HRMS Abraham Crijnssen disguised as a tropical island

HRMS Abraham Crijnssen disguised as a tropical island

Return to RNN

''Abraham Crijnssen'' was returned to RNN service on 5 May 1943, but remained in Australian waters for most of World War II. On 7 June 1945, the minesweeper left Sydney for Darwin, with the oil lighter (and former submarine) ''K9'' in tow. On 8 June, the tow cable snapped, and ''K9'' washed ashore at

Seal Rocks, New South Wales Seal Rocks is a small coastal settlement in the Mid-Coast Council Local government in Australia, local government area, in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, north-north-east of Sydney. It is famous for its many premier s ...

.Carruthers, ''Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942'', p. 151 ''Abraham Crijnssen'' was used for mine-clearing sweeps of

Kupang Kupang (, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census, it had a population of 442,758;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as o ...

Harbour prior to the arrival of a RAN force to accept the Japanese surrender of Timor.

Post-war

After World War II, the minesweeper was used on anti-

patrols of the

. She left for the Netherlands in August 1951, and was converted into a boom defence vessel in March 1956.

Decommissioning and preservation

The ship was removed from the Navy List in 1960. After leaving service, ''Abraham Crijnssen'' was donated to the Sea Cadet Corps (''Zeekadetkorps Nederland'') for training purposes. She was docked at The Hague from 1962 to 1972, after which she was moved to Rotterdam. The ship was also used as a storage

hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

during this time. In 1995, ''Abraham Crijnssen'' was marked for preservation by the

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 ...

. She was retrofitted to her wartime configuration.

Citations

References

Books

* *

Websites

* * *

External links

* *
''Abraham Crijnssen'' at the Dutch Naval Museum
(Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham Crijnssen Jan van Amstel-class minesweepers 1936 ships World War II minesweepers of the Netherlands World War II minesweepers of Australia Museum ships in the Netherlands Minesweepers of the Royal Australian Navy Ships built by Gusto Shipyard