His/Her Dutch Majesty's Ship

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HNLMS Tromp in the 1990s
HNLMS Tromp in the 1990s

His Netherlands Majesty's Ship (Dutch: Zijner Majesteits, literal translation: His Majesty's) or Her Netherlands Majesty's Ship (Dutch: Harer Majesteits, literal translation: Her Majesty's) is an, incorrect but common, translation of the ship prefix of the Royal Netherlands Navy for naval ships commanded by an officer. The English abbreviation for both prefixes is HNLMS (Dutch: Zr.Ms. or Hr.Ms.). Sometimes HNMS is used, but this could also mean Norway. One way to avoid the ambiguity of HNMS is to use "HNLMS" for the Netherlands and "HNoMS" for Norway. HNLMS is in fact an incorrect translation of the Dutch Hr.Ms., which correctly translates to "Her Majesty's".
For example, "Hr.Ms. Tromp" translates to "Her Majesty's Tromp" and not "Her Majesty's Ship Tromp".

Knowledgeable sources such as Jane's tend to use the official prefix Hr.Ms. even in English language publications, rather than HNLMS.

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