Holland-class destroyer

The Second World War had a devastating impact on the fleets of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Many surface vessels and submarines were destroyed, either in battle or by mines, and some were scuttled to prevent capture by the enemy.[2][3] The most notable surface vessels that were destroyed during the war were HNLMS Java, Sumatra and De Ruyter. This meant that the Royal Netherlands Navy had lost most of its firepower and was dependent on outdated and less powerful ships such as the light cruisers HNLMS Tromp and Jacob van Heemskerck.[4] Thus when important members of the navy were able to meet for the first time in The Hague in 1945, they were faced with a huge challenge of rebuilding the fragile fleet of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The navy leadership had remained active during the Second World War and had laid out plans for future ships that needed to be built and how many of each class. The only obstacle was that there was little money left in the defence budget to put these plans into motion. The reason for this was that the Netherlands and its biggest colony, the Dutch East Indies had been occupied by foreign invaders during the war and a lot of infrastructure had been damaged during the fighting.[5] This meant that a lot of money had to be dedicated to rebuilding infrastructure and to get the economy going again.

Nonetheless, the navy started to design new ships and ensured that preparatory work for rebuilding the fleet was started. Destroyers were one of the ship classes prioritized during the rebuilding effort, since they had shown their worth during the Second World War and the Netherlands had decided to specialize in NATO-context Anti-Submarine Warfare.[6][7] Dutch naval experts at the time were especially urging the Royal Netherlands Navy to invest in submarine destroyers, since they predicted that these kind of ships would play a major role in future naval conflicts.[8][9][10] This judgment was based on the evolution of the role of submarines since the First World War when looking back at the how successful they were in the following Second World War. They also recommended how they should be equipped and what tactics should be used to successfully counter submarines in battle. The base requirements set by the Royal Netherlands Navy for the Submarine destroyer 1947-class destroyers, as they were known at this time, reflected these recommendations.[2] However, besides being able to destroy enemy submarines, the requirements also included protection against radioactivity and the ability to perform coastal bombardments. On the other hand, torpedo attacks on other surface ships were not included in the design of the destroyers.[11]

In 1948, six hunters of the twelve planned destroyers were ordered.[11] The four Holland-class destroyers were to be built by three different shipyards. HNLMS Holland was built by the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij and HNLMS Gelderland by Wilton-Fijenoord, while Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde built the remaining two ships: HNLMS Noord-Brabant and HNLMS Zeeland. The construction took longer than expected because they were the first destroyers designed after the Second World War. The Royal Netherlands Navy had not built any new ships for more than five years and there had since been many technological advancements; to implement these advancements took more time than expected.[12] There were also serious doubts about the stability of the new vessels, which resulted in extra measures such as building the mast construction with aluminum instead of steel.[2] Another reason why the construction of the destroyers was delayed was due to financial problems of the Dutch navy. The navy spent a lot of money to perform maintenance on the old and outdated ships that it had in its inventory. Furthermore, the construction of the Holland-class destroyers cost more than estimated. To save costs and especially time, as the navy was in dire need of modern ships to replace some of its pre-war material, the four destroyers were provided with equipment that was built during the Second World War for the German Navy.[11] In addition to these four submarine destroyers, two more other destroyers were planned to be built, but due to cost savings, the construction of these ships was postponed.[2] Nonetheless, on 30 December 1954, the first Holland-class destroyer, Holland, was completed and taken into active service.[13] She was followed by Zeeland, Noord-Brabant and Gelderland; these ships were commissioned in 1955.

All four destroyers of the Holland class served for many years in the Royal Netherlands Navy until they were retired in the 1970s.

These ships were unusual as they were the first destroyers built without large calibre anti-ship torpedoes. Their primary role was anti-submarine warfare and convoy defence. The specification was issued in 1947 and construction was approved in 1948.[14]

The ships were built by three different Dutch shipyard.[15]

• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. London: Conway Maritime. ISBN 0-85177-605-1. OCLC 34284130. Also published as Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7. OCLC 34267261.
• Amstel, W.H.E. van (1991). De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine vanaf 1945. Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 9060139976.
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• Moens, J.; Muller, W.; Bernhard, R. (1970). D810: Hr. Ms. Noord-Brabant.
• Mark, Chris (2005). Onderzeebootjagers van de Holland- en Friesland-klasse. Amsterdam: Stichting Vrienden van de Koninklijke Marine. ISBN 9051230044.
• Schoonoord, D.C.L. (2012). Pugno Pro Patria: De Koninklijke Marine tijdens de Koude Oorlog. Van Wijnen-Franeker. ISBN 978-90-5194-455-6.
• Gerretse, K.H.L.; Wijn, J.J.A. (1993). Drie-cylinders duiken dieper: de onderzeeboten van de dolfijn-klasse van de Koninklijke Marine. Amsterdam: Van Soeren. ISBN 9068810278.