HNLMS ''Jacob van Heemskerck'' ( nl, Hr.Ms. Jacob van Heemskerck) was a unique coastal defence ship of 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 ...

built by the Rijkswerf in Amsterdam. She was among the ships send to patrol the Venezuelan coast during the Second Castro Crisis. After her active career she was rebuilt into a stationary battery ship and recommissioned. 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 opposin ...

she was captured by the invading German forces and converted in an anti-aircraft battery. After the war the ship was recovered and given back to the Netherlands, to be converted to an accommodation ship.

Design

The ship was long, had a beam of , a draught of , and had a displacement of 4,920 ton. The ship was equipped with 2 shaft

reciprocating engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

s, which were rated at and produced a top speed of . The ship had a belt armour of , barbette armour and turret armour. Two single turret guns provided the ship's main armament, and these were augmented by six single guns and six single guns. The ship had a complement of 340 men.

Service history

The ship was built at the Rijkswerf in Amsterdam. Prince Henry of the Netherlands attended the launch ceremony and christened the ship on 22 September 1906. The ship was commissioned on 22 April 1908. The same year she, together with the s ''Friesland'' and ''Gelderland'' were sent to patrol the

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n coast during the Second Castro Crisis. On 16 May 1910 the ship left the port of

IJmuiden IJ_(digraph).html" ;"title="n IJ (digraph)">n IJ (digraph) and that should remain the only places where they are used. > IJmuiden () is a port city in the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland. It is the main town in the municipality ...

to steam for

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

to bring Prince Henry of the Netherlands to the funeral of

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...

that was held on 20 May. During the last part of the journey the ship was escorted by five British torpedo boats. Later that year the Belgian king

Albert I Albert I may refer to: People Born before 1300 * Albert I, Count of Vermandois (917–987) *Albert I, Count of Namur () *Albert I of Moha *Albert I of Brandenburg (), first margrave of Brandenburg *Albert I, Margrave of Meissen (1158–1195) *Alber ...

and his wife made a

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

to the Netherlands. During this visit, they visited the IJ in Amsterdam where ''Jacob van Heemskerck'', ''Friesland'', , , and other Dutch warships were present and fired shots in salute. The pair were given a tour on the ''van Heemskerck''. On 24 July the ship left the port Den Helder for the coronation fleet review of King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

on 27 June. On 17 May 1917 the ship, together with the lugger ''Zorg en Vlijt'' picked up the crew of the luggers ''Mercurius'' and ''Jacoba'' that were boarded and later scuttled by a German submarine 50

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...

s off the coast of

World War II

After her active career she was rebuilt into a stationary battery ship and renamed ''Batterijschip IJmuiden'' and recommissioned on 19 April 1939. She was stationed in

. During the German invasion in

on 14 May 1940 she was scuttled by her crew to prevent her being captured by the German forces. The Germans however raised the ship on 16 July 1940 and towed her to Amsterdam on 24 July. From there she was towed to Kiel in March 1941. There she was rebuilt into a floating anti-aircraft battery at the Howaldtswerke and renamed ''Undine''. After the war she was found back in Wilhelmshafen and returned to the Netherlands. At the Rijkswerf in Amsterdam she was rebuilt into an accommodation ship. She was recommissioned on 23 February 1948 and renamed ''Neptunus''. This role she fulfilled until her decommissioning on 13 September 1974. On 4 October that same year she was stricken.

Notes

References

External links

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Description of ship

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob van Heemskerck (1906) Coastal defence ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy 1906 ships Naval ships of the Netherlands captured by Germany during World War II Ships built in Amsterdam Maritime incidents in May 1940 World War II cruisers of the Netherlands