The ''A'' class were four minesweepers 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 ...

. They were the first purpose-built minesweepers of the Dutch Navy, as earlier minesweepers were converted

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

Design

The ''A'' class was based on a German design used during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

History

All ships of the ''A'' class were built between 1928 and 1930 at

Willemsoord, Den Helder Willemsoord is a large former naval base of the Royal Netherlands Navy in Den Helder. It is now connected to the city center of Den Helder, and focuses on entertainment and tourism. Nieuwediep harbor: Origin of the naval base In the seven ...

. All four ships were commissioned on 4 August 1930, and two days later, on 6 August 1930, all four sailed to the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, arriving at

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

on 30 October 1930. During the

Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Forces from the Allies attempted ...

in March 1942 all four ships were scuttled by their crews. Three of the ships, ''A'', ''B'' and ''C'', were salvaged and put into service with the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

as auxiliary

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

s no. 113, 112 and 116, being rearmed with a single 47 mm gun, three 25 mm cannons, a 13.2 mm machine gun and eight depth charges. All three were sunk by US forces in 1944–1945.

Ships in class

* - Laid down 9/1928. Launched 19 April 1929 and completed on 4 August 1930. Scuttled at Surabaya, Java 1 March 1942, raised by Japan and commissioned as ''Cha.113'' on 17 January 1943. Sunk by US submarine USS ''Hardhead'' off Java on 23 June 1945.Jentschura et al 1986, p. 223. * - Laid down 9/1928. Launched 24 September 1929 and completed on 4 August 1930. Scuttled at Surabaya, Java 2 March 1942, raised by Japan, commissioned as ''Cha.112'' on 20 December 1942. Sunk by US aircraft in the Java Sea on 4 June 1945. * - Laid down 4/1929. Launched late 1929. Completed 4 August 1930. Scuttled at Surabaya, Java 6 March 1942, raised and commissioned as Japanese ''Cha.116'' on 8 April 1943. Sunk by US carrier-based aircraft 20 miles west of

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

on 13 November 1944. * - Laid down 1928. Launched 1929. Completed 8/1930. Scuttled at Surabaya, Java 2 March 1942 to prevent capture by Japanese forces.

References

*Jentschura, Hansgeorg, Dieter Jung and Peter Mikel. ''Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1869–1945''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1986. . *Mark, C. ''Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II'' Alkmaar: De Alk bv, 1997: 109-110.
Netherlandsnavy.nl :: A class minesweepers
{{WWII Dutch ships Mine warfare vessel classes Minesweepers of the Royal Netherlands Navy