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]
Export
Bulgaria
In 2019 two Alkmaar class minehunters, Maassluis and Hellevoetsluis, were sold to Bulgaria for a total amount of 1.996 million euro excluding VAT. [35] [30] These minehunters had previously been taken out of service in 2011 as a result of austerity measures. [30]
On 15 September 2025 it was announced by the Dutch State Secretary of Defence that another three Alkmaar class minehunters will be transferred to the Bulgarian Navy. [39] The three minehunters that will be handed over will include Willemstad, Schiedam and Zierikzee. [40]
Latvia
In July 2005 it was announced that Latvia will buy five Alkmaar class minehunters from the Royal Netherlands Navy for 57 million euro. [41] [42] The minehunters that will be sold consisted of the Alkmaar, Delfzijl, Dordrecht, Harlingen and Scheveningen. [43] All five had already been withdrawn from service in the RNLN at the time of their sale, with the first three having been withdrawn in 2000, while the latter two had been withdrawn in 2003. [43] The minehunters will be overhauled before being handed over to the Latvian Navy within the next three years. [44] [29]
Harlingen was the first minehunter to be handed over to the Latvian Navy on 6 March 2007 and subsequently renamed Imanta. [29] She was followed by Scheveningen on 5 September 2007, which was renamed Viesters. [45] Dordrecht was handed over in January 2008 and renamed Tālivaldis. [45] A few months later, in October 2008, Delfzijn was transferred and renamed Visvaldis. [45] In June 2009 the last minehunter, Alkmaar, was handed over and renamed Rūsiņš. [45] While Rūsiņš was handed over in June 2009, she entered Latvian service in 2011. [43]
Ukraine
In March 2023 it was reported that the Netherlands would donate two Alkmaar-class minehunters to Ukraine. [46] [47] The transfer of these ships would most likely start from 2025. [48] [49]
In June 2025 Vlaardingen was donated to the Ukrainian Navy and renamed Melitopol. [50] A second Alkmaar-class minehunter, HNLMS Makkum was to be donated to Ukrainian Navy later in 2025, and was to be renamed to Henichesk. [34] [51]
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