HNLMS ''Amsterdam'' was the last replenishment oiler serving with the Royal Netherlands Navy. ''Amsterdam'' entered service on 2 September 1995 and replaced . On 4 December 2014 it was decommissioned and sold to the Peruvian Navy where it was renamed BAP ''Tacna''.

Design and description

''Amsterdam'' is a replenishment oiler that was designed to replace the ageing . The result of a joint effort between the Nevesbu and E.N. Bazàn (later IZAR, then

Navantia Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company, which offers its services to both military and civil sectors. It is the fifth-largest shipbuilder in Europe and the ninth-largest in the world with shipyards around the globe. The heir to t ...

) design bureaus, the vessel was one of three ordered; two by the Netherlands and one () by Spain to a modified design. The Netherlands's planned second vessel was cancelled. ''Amsterdam'' measures long and at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

with a maximum beam of and at the waterline and a draught of . The ship has a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of fully loaded. ''Amsterdam'' was constructed to merchant ship standards with military nuclear, biological and chemical damage control. ''Amsterdam'' is propelled by a single five-bladed -diameter LIPS controllable pitch propeller powered by two IZAR/

Burmeister & Wain Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it ...

V16V 40/45

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s creating . This gives the ship a maximum speed of with a sustained speed of . The vessel has a range of at 20 knots and can stay at sea for 30 days. ''Amsterdam'' is equipped with four IZAR/Burmeister & Wain generators for power generation. The ship has a complement of 23 officers and 137

enlisted Enlisted may refer to: * Enlisted rank An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or ...

with an additional 70 spare berths. The aviation complement of 24 is included in the overall number. The vessel was designed with up to 20% of its crew be female. The ship was initially armed with two Oerlikon cannon and one Signaal Goalkeeper

close-in weapon system A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of ...

(CIWS). The 20 mm cannon were later removed and replaced two single-mounted

Browning M2 The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, ...

machine guns. ''Amsterdam'' also mounts four

Mark 36 SRBOC The BAE Systems Mark 36 Super Rapid Bloom Offboard Countermeasures Chaff and Decoy Launching System (abbreviated as SRBOC or "Super-arboc") is an American short-range decoy launching system (DLS) that launches radar or infrared decoys from naval ve ...

chaff decoy launchers and a Nixie towed

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

decoy system. The replenishment oiler mounts Ferranti AWARE-4 ESM radar warning and two

Kelvin Hughes Hensoldt UK, formerly Kelvin Hughes, is a British company specialising in the design and manufacture of navigation and surveillance systems and a supplier of navigational data to both the commercial marine and government marketplace. The company ...

surface search and helicopter control

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

s. The ship was capable of operating three

Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led t ...

or two

AgustaWestland AW101 The AgustaWestland AW101 is a medium-lift helicopter in military and civil use. First flown in 1987, it was developed by a joint venture between Westland Helicopters in the United Kingdom and Agusta in Italy in response to national requireme ...

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engin ...

/ NHIndustries NH90 helicopters from its

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopte ...

in Dutch service. The replenishment oiler is capacity for . The vessel's typical cargo inventory consisted of of

diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and ...

, of aviation fuel, of fresh water, of ammunition, of

sonobuoy A sonobuoy (a portmanteau of sonar and buoy) is a relatively small buoy – typically diameter and long – expendable sonar system that is dropped/ejected from aircraft or ships conducting anti-submarine warfare or underwater acoustic rese ...

s, of provisions and of spare parts. The ship also contained repair shops to aid the fleet. ''Amsterdam'' has four 2-ton dual-purpose and two 250-kilogram solid stores alongside replenishment stations on each side of the ship and a

vertical replenishment Vertical replenishment, or VERTREP, is a method of supply of seaborne vessels by helicopter. The United States Department of Defense defines VERTREP as: ...the transfer of cargo between ships using helicopters. VERTREP is often used to supplement ...

station forward. The vessel has a fuel transfer rate of per hour on its port side stations, per hour on its starboard stations and per hour astern. ''Amsterdam'' is also capable of transferring per hour of aviation fuel on either side.

Service history

Dutch service

The ship was ordered in October 1991 as a replacement for the ageing HNLMS ''Poolster''. The hull was constructed by B.Y. Merwede in Hardinxveld, the Netherlands, with the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

being

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 25 May 1992 and launched on 11 September 1993. The hull was taken to the Royal Schelde shipyard in

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label= Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river ...

to be completed and began

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s on 3 April 1995. The vessel was accepted by the Royal Netherlands Navy on 10 July 1995 and ''Amsterdam'' was commissioned on 2 September 1995. In early 1996, the ship sailed to the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

for tests on operations in cold climates, later in the year operating of the

Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

with other Dutch warships. In 1997, the ship sailed to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and Abu Dhabi for defence expositions. In 1998, ''Amsterdam'' was one of the Dutch warships that participated in one of the largest

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

military exercises to that date off Spain. In 2000, the ship sailed with a Dutch

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

, visiting several Asian countries. In August, the ship performed its 1,000 replenishment at sea. In November 2001, ''Amsterdam'' was assigned to NATO's

Standing Naval Force Atlantic Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of NATO's standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability. Hi ...

(STANAVFORLANT). In December, ''Amsterdam'' and the frigate transferred to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

as part of Standing Naval Force Mediterranean to take part in NATO's

Operation Active Endeavour Operation Active Endeavour was a maritime operation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It operated in the Mediterranean Sea and was designed to prevent the movement of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction. It had collateral benefit ...

, patrolling the eastern Mediterranean. On 2 January 2002, the ship recovered 20 refugees from Mediterranean waters after being taken off their ship in heavy weather. The vessel returned to the Netherlands in late January. From April to June, ''Amsterdam'' was in the Mediterranean again as part of Active Endeavour. In 2003, the replenishment oiler took part in the military exercise Northern Light off the coast of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and joined STANAVFORLANT for naval exercises in 2004. This was followed by a deployment to Curacao in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

to take over station duties until 2005, when the ship returned to European waters. ''Amsterdam'' deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Enduring Freedom during 2005/2006 and provided assistance to two US naval vessels after a battle they had fought with pirates on 18 March 2006. In 2008, the vessel was part of a UNIFIL mission to Lebanon. The vessel then returned to Caribbean waters, operating with British, French, Canadian and American forces in the region. From September 2010 to January 2011, ''Amsterdam'' was assigned to

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is a current counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the Eu ...

and Operation Shield off the coast of Somalia. The ship was assigned in December 2010 to the coast of Côte d'Ivoire in order to assist in a possible evacuation of

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

citizens from the country in the wake of unrest after the 2010 presidential election. In 2012–2013, ''Amsterdam'' was assigned to the Dutch Caribbean force, intercepting drug smugglers, before returning to the Mediterranean in mid-2014. The ship was sold to Peru in July 2014. ''Amsterdam'' was decommissioned on 4 December 2014 and transferred to the Peruvian Navy.

Peruvian service

''Amsterdam'' was acquired by the Peruvian Navy in July 2014. It was delivered to the navy on 4 December 2014 and commissioned as ''Tacna'', for the border city

Tacna Tacna is a city in southern Peru and the regional capital of the Tacna Region. A very commercially active city, it is located only north of the border with Arica y Parinacota Region from Chile, inland from the Pacific Ocean and in the valley of ...

, with the number ARL 158. The vessel was part of the revamp of the navy.

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Hr.Ms. ''Amsterdam'', Royal Netherlands Navy website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amsterdam Auxiliary ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy 1992 ships Auxiliary replenishment ship classes Ships built in Vlissingen