The Royal Netherlands Navy is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is one of the four Netherlands Armed Forces. It was founded on 8 January 1488, making it the third oldest naval force in the world.
The Walrus-class submarine is the only submarine class currently in operation in the Royal Netherlands Navy. The boats have been in service since 1990 and are all named after sea mammals.
The Holland-class ocean-going patrol vessels are a class of four ocean-going patrol vessels constructed for the Royal Netherlands Navy. They are designed to fulfill patrol and intervention tasks against lightly armed opponents, such as pirates and smugglers, but have much higher level electronic and radar surveillance capabilities which are used for military stabilization and security roles, short of outright war. Without sonar or long range weapons, they utilize the surveillance capabilities of the Thales integrated mast, which integrates communication systems and two four-faced phased arrays for air and surface search.
HNLMS Karel Doorman is a multi-function support ship for amphibious operations of the Royal Netherlands Navy, which is also used by the German Navy. The ship replaced both of the navy's replenishment oilers: HNLMS Zuiderkruis and HNLMS Amsterdam. At 204.7 m she is the largest ship in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy.
The Alkmaar class is a ship class of fifteen minehunters that were built in the Netherlands for the Royal Netherlands Navy. They are based on the design of the Tripartite class, which was developed by a collaborative effort between the Netherlands, Belgium and France, and replaced the minesweepers and minehunters of the Dokkum class.
The Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigate (ASWF) is a project of the Royal Netherlands Navy and Belgian Navy to replace the existing Multipurpose- or M-frigates. The project shows similarities to the British Global Combat Ship but development is fully separate.
HNLMS Holland is the first ship of the Holland-class offshore patrol vessels of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The ship was originally designed to fulfill patrol and intervention tasks against lightly armed opponents, such as pirates and smugglers. However, it also has very advanced electronic and radar surveillance capabilities which are used for military stabilization and security roles, short of outright war. Without sonar or long range weapons, it utilizes the surveillance capabilities of the Thales integrated mast, which integrates communication systems and two 4-faced phased arrays for air and surface search.
In April 2018, the Dutch Government approved a multi-year investment program for the Dutch Navy and allocated funds for the 2018–2030 period. The Dutch Defence Materiel Administration (DMO) is in charge of the procurement of these new ships.
HNLMS Den Helder is a new replenishment oiler under construction for the Royal Netherlands Navy. Also known as the Combat Support Ship (CSS), Den Helder is planned to fill the gap of replenishment at sea that was left after HNLMS Amsterdam was sold to Peru in 2014.
The Netherlands and Belgium are doing a joint procurement for the replacements of the Tripartite-class/Alkmaar-class minehunters. Both countries want to procure six new mine countermeasure (MCM) vessels, which makes for a total of 12 MCM ships. The new MCM ships, developed by Naval Group, will include a range of unmanned systems including unmanned surface, aerial and underwater vehicles alongside towed sonars and mine identification and neutralization ROVs.
The Rotterdam class are two landing platform dock (LPD) ships in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy. Built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding at Vlissingen, their mission is to carry out amphibious warfare by transporting the bulk of the Korps Mariniers. These ships have both a large helicopter flight deck and a well deck for large landing craft, as well as space for up to 33 main battle tanks.
The Snellius class are two hydrographic survey vessel (HOV) ships in service with the hydrographic branch of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The ships were built by the Damen Group, with the hull being built in Romania by Damen Shipyards Galați and the fitting out in the Netherlands by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding.
The Cerberus class are four diving support vessels in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy. Built by Scheepswerf Visser at Den Helder, their mission is to help the explosive ordnance disposal unit with bomb disposal and to serve as a platform to train new navy divers.
HNLMS Soemba is a diving support and training vessel in service with the Dutch Navy. The vessel was constructed by Vervaco, Heusden for the Dutch Army as a training vessel for their divers. The current Soemba is the second vessel in the Dutch Navy with this name, following HNLMS Soemba which was scrapped on 12 July 1985.
The Linge class are a series of tugboats used by the Royal Netherlands Navy to dock their larger ships at the Nieuwe Haven Naval Base.
The Noordzee class are a class of tugboats used by the Royal Netherlands Navy to dock their larger ships at the Nieuwe Haven Naval Base.
HNLMS Van Kinsbergen, or MOV Van Kinsbergen is a naval training ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
The Orka-class submarine is a future submarine class currently planned for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The submarines will replace the aging Walrus class.
The West Indies Guard Ship (WIGS) is a ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy that rotates about every four to six months in support of the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard. It can be a frigate but more commonly one of the navy's Holland-class offshore patrol vessels is deployed to the region. This vessel usually carries an NHIndustries NH90 helicopter for search and rescue tasks and pursuit of suspect vessels.
HNLMS Cerberus (A851) is a diving support vessel of the Royal Netherlands Navy. She has been named after the mythical creature Cerberus.
Royal Netherlands Navy