HNLMS Gelderland

The wreck of Niobe in Kotka
Career
Name:	HNLMS De Gelderland
Builder:	Fijenoord, Rotterdam
Laid down:	1 November 1897
Launched:	28 September 1898
Commissioned:	16 July 1900
Fate:	Seized by Germany, 1940
Notes:
Career
Name:	Niobe
Commissioned:	1940
Fate:	Sunk by enemy action on July 16, 1944
General characteristics
Class and type:	Holland-class cruiser
Displacement:	4,100 t
Length:	94.76 m
Beam:	14.76 m
Draught:	5.4 m
Propulsion:	Two 3-cycle triple expansion engines 12 Yarrow boilers 2 shafts 10,500 PS
Speed:	as Gelderland: 19.5 kt (1914) as Niobe: 16 kt (1944)
Complement:	397
Sensors and processing systems:	as Niobe: 2× FlaK-Kommandogeräte (optical range finders) 1× Würzburg radar
Armament:	as Gelderland: 2× 150 mm No.3 6× 120 mm No.2 6× 75 mm No.2 8× 37 mm 4× 37 mm revolver guns 2× 75 mm 2× 75 mm mortars as Niobe: 8× 10.5 cm FlaK L/45 C/32 4× 40 mm Bofors L/60 4× 20 mm (4×4) Vierlinge C/38

HNLMS Gelderland was a Dutch warship. During its career in the Dutch Navy it was most notable for being the ship Queen Wilhelmina sent to South Africa to rescue Paul Kruger during the Second Boer War. The ship was taken over by the Germans during World War II and renamed Niobe. She was sunk in Kotka harbour in Finland on 16 July 1944.

History

The ship began its history as the Dutch Holland-class armoured deck cruiser (pantserdekschip) HNLMS Gelderland. After World War I she served as an artillery training ship in the Dutch navy. The ship was seized by the Germans during their invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. Gelderland joined the German Kriegsmarine under its new name Niobe. She was in use between 1940–44, first as a cruiser, then as a training ship, and finally as an AA-cruiser ("Flakschiff").

During the great offensive of 1944 the Soviets tried to finish the war against the Finns, once and for all. The Germans came to the aid of the Finns, among the material brought with them was the AA-cruiser Niobe, which was ordered to strengthen the Kotka air defences, then one of the most bombed cities in Finland. The Soviet Union put much emphasis on finding and sinking the Finnish coastal defence ship Väinämöinen. Soviet aerial reconnaissance spotted a large ship in Kotka harbour and the decision to attack was taken. 132 bombers and fighters took off on 16 July 1944. The ship was, however, the Niobe and the aircraft were met with fierce resistance. Nine aircraft were shot down before the ship was hit by seven bombs and two bouncing bombs similar to the ones used in Operation Chastise from two Soviet A-20 Havoc bombers.^{[citation needed]} The guns were still firing while she was settling in her shallow grave, after which, much of her superstructure remained visible above sea level. 70 men were lost.

The Niobe was raised and scrapped in 1953.

External links

• Niobe sinking (in Russian)
• Gelderland page
• Niobe
• Pictures and facts