HNLMS ''Isaac Sweers'' was one of four built for 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

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 ...

Design and construction

The keel was laid on 26 November 1938. The ship was launched on 16 March 1940 and the unfinished ship was evacuated to England after the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and Fran ...

. She was completed in Great Britain, with six British 4-inch dual purpose guns instead of planned five 120 mm guns. The ship was modern for her time, she was fast and had two manually stabilized 40 mm Bofors AA guns, each with its own Hazemeyer

fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control ...

, an on-mount mechanical analog fire control computer integrated with a on-mount optical rangefinder. It was the first Dutch ship to use a Dutch radio direction finder (RDF 289), to aim its AA guns. The ship's plans were saved from the Germans and elements were incorporated into

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

ship designs.

Operations

''Isaac Sweers'' was part of the Allied 4th Destroyer Flotilla which torpedoed and sank the Italian cruisers and on 13 December 1941, at the Battle of Cape Bon. She riddled ''Alberto di Giussano'' with gunfire at short range and launched four torpedoes against the ; all of them missed their target. She escorted the important convoy MW 8B to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in January 1942. During this mission the British destroyer was torpedoed by the German submarine on 12 January 1942. ''Isaac Sweers'' towed the stricken British destroyer through a field of burning oil and saved her entire crew of 240 sailors. They were taken to

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

. During

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

, on 11 November 1942, along with , ''Isaac Sweers'' helped rescue 241 men from the ship ''Nieuw Zeeland'', a Dutch troop transport that had been torpedoed by the at - about east of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, in the Mediterranean. On 13 November 1942, ''Isaac Sweers'' was hit by two torpedoes from the German submarine under command of

Wilhelm Dommes __NOTOC__ Wilhelm Dommes (16 April 1907 in Berent District, West Prussia – 23 January 1990 in Hannover) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He was the commander of ...

. She sank with the loss of 108 of her 194 crew.

Notes

References

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External links

Dutch navy destroyers in WWII

Dutch radar developments 1936-1941
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac Sweers Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyers Ships built in Vlissingen Ships built in Southampton 1940 ships World War II destroyers of the Netherlands Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in November 1942