The ''Beemster''-class was a class of fourteen minesweepers that were built at different shipyards in the United States for the
Royal Netherlands Navy
The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...
(RNN).
[van Amstel, pp. 69-73.] The minesweepers were based on the
AMS-60 design and paid for by the United States under the
Mutual Defense Assistance Program
The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on 6 October 1949. For US Foreign policy, it was the first U.S. military foreign aid legislation of the Cold War era, and initially to Eur ...
(MDAP).
[Schoonoord, pp. 57-58.] The minesweepers served in the RNN between 1953 and 1976.
[Raven, p. 184.][Schoonoord, p. 319.]
Design and construction
The fourteen ''Beemster''-class minesweepers were ordered in 1951 in the United States.
[van Amstel, p. 10.] They were based on the
AMS-60 design.
The first ships were taken into service of the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1953 and the last in 1954.
As built the ships were equipped with a ''W Mk 3 mod 1'' mechanical sweep and either a ''A X Mk 6B'' or ''A X Mk 4V'' acoustic sweeper.
Furthermore, it had a double machine gun of 20 mm.
Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, the ships got equipped with a ''MB 5'' magnetic sweeper.
Ships in class
The ships were named after the smaller Dutch municipalities that started with the letter B.
Notes
Citations
References
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{{Adjutant class minesweeper
Mine warfare vessel classes
Minesweepers of the Royal Netherlands Navy