HNLMS Java

For other ships of the same name, see HNLMS Java.
Java
Career (Netherlands)
Name: Java
Builder: Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde in Flushing
Laid down: 31 May 1916
Launched: 6 August 1921
Commissioned: 1 May 1925
Fate: Sunk on 27 February 1942
General characteristics
Type:Java-class cruiser
Displacement:6670 tons standard
8087 tons full load
Length:155.3 m (509 ft 6 in)
Beam:16 m (52 ft 6 in)
Draught:6.22 m (20 ft 5 in)
Propulsion:73,000 shp (54,000 kW), three shafts
Speed:31 knots
Range:4,340 nmi (8,040 km; 4,990 mi) at 11 or 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:526
Armament:10 x Bofors 150 mm guns
8 x Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns
8 x Browning .50 machine guns
Armour:7.5 cm (3.0 in) belt
2,5 to 5 cm (2.0 in) deck
12.5 cm (4.9 in) conning tower
10 cm (3.9 in) shields
Aircraft carried:2 Fokker C.XI-W floatplanes

HNLMS Java (Dutch: Hr.Ms. Java) was a Java-class cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy. She was sunk during the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February 1942.

Service history

The ship was built by the Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde in Flushing and laid down on 31 May 1916. The ship was launched on 6 August 1921 and commissioned in the Dutch navy on 1 May 1925.[1][2][3]

Later that year on 14 October Java left the Netherlands for a journey to the Dutch East Indies. She arrived in Tanjung Priok on 7 December that year.[3]

29 July 1929 Java, the destroyers De Ruyter, and Evertsen and the submarines K II and K VII left Surabaya and steamed to Tanjung Priok. At Tanjung Priok the ships waited for the royal yacht Maha Chakri of the king of Siam and the destroyer Phra Ruang. After this the ships without the submarines visited Bangka, Belitung, Riau, Lingga Islands, Belawan and Deli. On 28 August that year they returned in Tanjung Priok. On 31 August that year she participates in a fleet review at Tanjung Priok. The review was held in honor of the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands who was born that day. Other ships that participated in the review where the destroyers De Ruyter and Evertsen.[4]

On 23 August 1936 Java, her sister Sumatra and the destroyers Van Galen, Witte de With and Piet Hein where present at the fleet days held at Surabaya. Later that year on 13 November she and her sister and the destroyers Evertsen, Witte de With and Piet Hein made a fleet visit to Singapore. Before the visit they had practiced in the Chinese Sea.[5]

While returning to the Netherlands she was sent to Gibraltar where she performed convoy duties during the Spanish Civil War in the Strait of Gibraltar from 1 April to 5 May 1937.[6]

After seven months of refit in the Netherlands she left for the Dutch East Indies on 4 May 1938. Along the way she performed convoy duties in the Strait of Gibraltar from 10 to 13 may and on 25 June that year she arrived in Tanjung Priok. On 13 October that year she collided with Piet Hein in the Sunda Strait. Java had to be repaired at Surabaya.[7]

World War II

On 27 February 1942 she was torpedoed during the Battle of the Java Sea and sank. 512 of her crew lost their lives as the ship was sinking. Her wreck was discovered by a diving expedition on 1 December 2002 at a depth of 69 meters.[8]

References

  1. "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1916". Retrieved 2014-02-30. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1921". Retrieved 2014-02-30. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. 3.0 3.1 "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1925". Retrieved 2014-02-30. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1929". Retrieved 2014-02-30. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1936". Retrieved 2014-02-30. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  6. "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1937". Retrieved 2014-02-30. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1938". Retrieved 2014-02-30. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. "netherlandsnavy.nl". Retrieved 2014-02-30. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

Coordinates: 6°00′01″S 112°05′00″E / 6.00028°S 112.08333°E