HNLMS De Ruyter (1935)

HNLMS "De Ruyter" was a light cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy, the lead ship of her class. She was originally designed as a 5000-ton 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 armour was improved.

"De Ruyter" was laid down on 16 September 1933 at the Wilton Fijenoord dockyard in Schiedam and commissioned on 3 October 1936 by Captain A. C. van der Sande Lacoste.

During World War II "De Ruyter" saw repeated action in the Dutch East Indies in fruitless attempts to ward off the Japanese invasion. She was damaged by air attack in the battle of Bali Sea on 4 February 1942, but not seriously. She fought in the battle of Badung Strait on 18 February 1942.

In the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February 1942, "De Ruyter" was the flagship of the Dutch rear-admiral Karel Doorman. Off the north coast off Java the ABDA fleet was surprised at night by a Japanese squadron consisting of the heavy cruisers "Nachi" and "Haguro" supported by 14 destroyers. "De Ruyter" was supposedly hit by a single Japanese Long Lance torpedo at about 23:30 and sank at 02:30 the next day with the loss of 345 men, including Admiral Doorman.

She was the seventh ship of the Dutch Navy to be named after Admiral Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter.

External links

* [http://leden.tref.nl/~jviss000/Ruyter_his.htm Tabular record of movement]