The ''Rotterdam'' class are two

landing platform dock An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently oper ...

(LPD) ships in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy. Built by

Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding Damen Naval is a Dutch shipyard, and a continuation of the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, responsible for a number of ships used by the Royal Netherlands Navy. It is owned by the Damen Group. Damen Naval is situated in Vlissingen. History T ...

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label= Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river ...

, their mission is to carry out amphibious warfare by transporting the bulk of the

Korps Mariniers The Netherlands Marine Corps ( nl, Korps Mariniers) is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines trace their origins back to the establishment of the on 10 December 1665, by the then grand pensionary of the Dutc ...

. These ships have both a large

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribut ...

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopt ...

and a well deck for large landing craft, as well as space for up to 33

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension s ...

s. was commissioned in 1998 and in 2007. ''Rotterdam'' and ''Johan de Witt'' are based at the

Nieuwe Haven Naval Base Nieuwe Haven is a Royal Netherlands Navy base in Den Helder and the largest naval base in the Netherlands. History Already before World War I, Willemsoord had become too small for major warships. The wet dock was long and wide. The entrance ...

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 ...

, the Netherlands. The class is the result of a joint project between Spain and the Netherlands for developing a common class of LPD that would fulfill the needs of both countries to replace older ships. This process produced the Enforcer design, which forms the basis of the ''Rotterdam'' class as well as the similar and .

Design and description

The project began in the Netherlands in 1990 as the Royal Netherlands Navy sought a solution to their LPD requirements. Spain joined the project in July 1991 and the definition stage was completed by December 1993. The ''Rotterdam'' class spawned from the joint Enforcer design with the Dutch

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

being authorised on 29 July 1994. The LPDs were designed to transport a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (ref ...

, disembark them offshore, and provide general logistic support. The ships are equipped with a large

helicopter deck A helicopter deck (or helo deck) is a helicopter pad on the deck of a ship, usually located on the stern and always clear of obstacles that would prove hazardous to a helicopter landing. In the United States Navy, it is commonly and properly ...

for helicopter operations and a dock for large

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force ( infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are large ...

. The ships have a complete Echelon II hospital – a step above a first aid unit, but below a fully-functional hospital – including an operating theater and intensive care facilities with ten beds. A surgical team can be stationed on board. The ship also has a desalination system enabling it to convert seawater into drinking water.

Ships in class

Construction and career

The first ship, named ''Rotterdam'', was ordered in April 1994 and

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

at their shipyard in

, the Netherlands on 23 February 1996. The second vessel, named ''Johan de Witt'', was ordered in May 2002 and laid down on 18 June 2003. ''Rotterdam'' was commissioned on 22 February 1997 and ''Johan de Witt'' on 30 November 2007. Both ships are based at

. In October 2012, while serving as the flagship for Operation Ocean Shield, ''Rotterdam'' sank a suspected Somali pirate ship off the east coast of Africa. ''Rotterdam'' came under sustained attack from shore based weapons while rescuing the crew of the sunken ship and sustained damage to one of her small boats. In September 2019 ''Johan de Witt'' and were sent to

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the arc ...

for humanitarian aid after the country was hit by

Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, which became the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas, and tied for strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin. It is also rega ...

. The ships loaded supplies like food, water and medicines at the island of

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divid ...

before continuing to the Bahamas.

Citations

External links

Rotterdam-class at defensie.nl

Rotterdam at defensie.nl

Johan de Witt at defensie.nl
{{Post1945DutchShips Rotterdam-class landing platform docks Amphibious warfare vessel classes

Design and description

Ships in class

Construction and career

See also

Citations

External links