HNLMS ''Isaac Sweers'' was one of four built for the Royal Netherlands Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Design and construction

The keel was laid on 26 November 1938. The ship was launched on 16 March 1940 and the unfinished ship was evacuated to England after the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands ( nl, Duitse aanval op Nederland), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands ( nl, Slag om Nederland), was a military campaign part of Case Yellow (german: Fall Gelb), the Nazi German invasion of t ...

. She was completed in Great Britain, with six British 4-inch dual purpose guns instead of planned five 120 mm guns. The ship was modern for her time, she was fast and had two manually stabilized 40 mm Bofors AA-guns, each with its own "Hazemeyer"

fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control i ...

, an on-mount mechanical analog fire control computer integrated with a on-mount optical rangefinder. It was the first Dutch ship to use radar to aim its AA-guns. The ship's plans were saved from the Germans and elements were incorporated into

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

ship designs.Van Soeren, p. ?

Operations

''Isaac Sweers'' was part of the Allied flotilla of destroyers which torpedoed and sank the Italian cruisers and on 13 December 1941, at the Battle of Cape Bon. She riddled ''Alberto da Giussano'' with gunfire at short range and launched four torpedoes against the ; all of them missed their target. She escorted the important convoy MW 8B to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in January 1942. During this mission the British destroyer was torpedoed by the German submarine on 12 January 1942. ''Isaac Sweers'' towed the stricken British destroyer through a field of burning oil and saved her entire crew of 240 sailors. They were taken to

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near ...

. During Operation Torch, on 11 November 1942, along with , ''Isaac Sweers'' helped rescue 241 men from the ship ''Nieuw Zeeland'', a Dutch troop transport that had been torpedoed by the at - about east of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, in the Mediterranean. On 13 November 1942, ''Isaac Sweers'' was hit by two torpedoes from the German submarine under command of

Wilhelm Dommes __NOTOC__ Wilhelm Dommes (16 April 1907 in Berent District, West Prussia – 23 January 1990 in Hannover) was a German U-boat commander in World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He was the commander of ...

. She sank with the loss of 108 of her 194 crew.

Notes

References

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External links

Dutch navy destroyers in WWII

Dutch radar developments 1936-1941
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac Sweers Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyers Ships built in Vlissingen Ships built in Southampton 1940 ships World War II destroyers of the Netherlands Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in November 1942