Design and construction
In 1975 the Netherlands, Belgium and France signed an agreement to develop a new mine countermeasures vessel together. [8] At the same time it was also decided that each country would contribute to the construction by being responsible for certain components and systems. [6] [9] As a result, the Netherlands was responsible for the main propulsion, the gearboxes and propellers. [9] France delivered the mine countermeasure and electronics systems, while Belgium build the remaining electronics and mechanic installations. [8]
The construction of the Alkmaar class started in 1979 at the shipyard of Van der Giessen-De Noord in Alblasserdam. [10] The ships were made from polyester, which required new construction methods in comparison to the previous mine countermeasure vessels that were built at the shipyard. [1] [11] As a result, Van der Giessen-De Noord invested 42 million Dutch guilders to build a new dedicated production hall that had a specific climate indoors and allowed serial construction in the same way as for aircraft production. [9] [11] [12] Inside the production hall there was an assembly line that contained four stations, with each ship staying around 21 weeks at a station before moving to the next. [13] Besides a new hall and tools, the shipyard also had to train personnel to be able to handle fiberglass and fiberglass sheets, which were used to construct the polyester ships. [13] The construction of the 15 minehunters are estimated to have cost a total of 1.3 billion Dutch guilders. [10]
Mine countermeasure systems
To hunt mines the Alkmaar class was equipped with the French DUBM 21B sonar, which was used to detect and classify mines, a Racal Decca 1229 radar and an EVEC plotting system. [14] [10] The sonar had a range of almost one kilometer and allowed the ship to search for mines up to a depth of 80 meters underwater. [15] [16] In addition, each ship was equipped with two Poisson Auto-Propulsé (PAP) type 104 submarine drones that were used for mine disposal. [17] [10] This PAP 104 wire guided drone had a television camera aboard for observation and could be fitted out with explosives to destroy mines from a safe distance. [17] [18]
Propulsion
The minehunters of the Alkmaar class are equipped with a Brons-Werkspoor A-RUB 215 V12 diesel engine that can produce 1900 bhp. [19] [20] This non magnetic diesel engine was produced by Brons-Industrie and a development of the earlier Werkspoor RUB 215 diesel engine. [21] [22] The Brons-Werkspoor A-RUB 215 V12 diesel engine can drive the two active screws of the minehunters to a maximum speed of 15 knots. [19] Besides the two screws, the minehunters also have bow thrusters. [19]
Service history
Between 1987 and 1989 Maassluis, Hellevoetsluis and Urk were active in the Persian Gulf as part of a Western European Union (WEU) mine clearing operation and placed under Belgian command. [23]
In 1990 Alkmaar and Zierikzee took part in the exercise Safe Pass at the west coast of America. [24]
In 2024 Willemstad, Makkum and Zierikzee took part in BALTOPS alongside other naval ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy. [25]
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