Light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter during her sea trials.
HNLMS De Ruyter (Dutch: Hr.Ms. De Ruyter) was a unique light cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy. She was originally designed as a 5,000 long tons (5,100 t) ship with a lighter armament due to financial problems and the pacifist movement. Later in the design stage, an extra gun turret was added and the armor was improved. She was the seventh ship of the Dutch Navy to be named after Admiral Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter.
De Ruyter was laid down on September 16th 1933 at the Wilton-Fijenoord dockyard in Schiedam and commissioned on October 3rd 1936, commanded by Captain A. C. van der Sande Lacoste. After the war, the De Ruyter would be turned into a museum ship at Lelystad.
Specifications[]
- Type: Light Cruiser
- Service Period: 1936-1952
- Characteristics:
- Length: 560 feet 8 inches (170.89 meters)
- Beam: 51 feet 6 inches (15.7 meters)
- Draft: 16 feet 9 inches (5.11 meters)
- Displacement: 7,331 tons (Standard)
- Crew: 435
- Propulsion: 6 x Yarrow boilers, 3 x Parsons geared steam turbines, 2 x shafts
- Range: 6,800 nautical miles (12,594 kilometers) at 12 knots (22.22 km/h)
- Speed: 32 knots (59.26 km/h)
- Armament:
- 8 x 5.9"/50-caliber Mk.IX/X naval guns (4x2)
- 10 x 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns (5x2)
- 8 x 12.7mm Browning M2 machine guns
- 12 x 21" torpedo tubes (2x6) - added in 1942
- Armour:
- Belt: 5 cm (2.0 in)
- Deck: 3 cm (1.2 in)
- Turrets: 3 cm (1.2 in)
- Aircraft Carried: 2 x Fokker C-11W floatplanes
- Aviation Facilities: 1 x catapult