Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy

Last updated
Commander of the
Royal Netherlands Navy
Commandant Zeestrijdkrachten
Rank flag of Vice admiral for the Royal Netherlands Navy.svg
Rank flag for vice admiral
Rene Tas marinehaven (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Vice Admiral René Tas
since 9 September 2021
Naval Jack of the Netherlands.svg  Royal Netherlands Navy
TypeService chief
AbbreviationCZsk
Member of Admiral Benelux
Reports toOnderscheidingsvlag van de Commandant der Strijdkrachten 2005.svg Chief of Defence
Seat The Hague
PrecursorCommander of the Naval Forces
Formation5 September 2005
First holder Jan-Willem Kelder

The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy (Dutch : Commandant Zeestrijdkrachten) (CZsk) is the highest-ranking officer of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The CZsk reports directly to the Chief of Defence (Netherlands).

Contents

The position of CZsk was created on 5 September 2005, following a large overhaul of the command structure of the Dutch armed forces. In this overhaul the position of Bevelhebber der Zeestrijdkrachten was dropped and the position of Commander of the Naval Force in The Netherlands was upgraded to the current CZsk position. Ever since the integration of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps into the Navy, the former Commander of the Marine Corps has held the position of Deputy Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

In addition to being the commanding officer of the Dutch Navy, under the terms of the BENESAM Treaty the CZsk is also the Admiral of the Benelux (the commanding officer of the integrated command of the Dutch and Belgian fleets). This means the CZsk is the commanding officer of the operational units of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Belgian Naval Component. Also, the CZsk shares command responsibility with the Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff for units that have been deployed on international missions (under the colors of the United Nations).

The position of CZsk is statutorily held by a Vice Admiral or Lieutenant General of the Marines (NATO OF-8). The current CZsk is Vice-Admiral Rene Tas, who succeeded Vice Admiral Rob Kramer in the position in September 2021.

Units

The Commander of the Royal Dutch Navy is Director of four Directorates:

List of officeholders

Commander of the naval forces

Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy

No.PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
Term of officeRef.
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
1 Jan Willem Kelder portrait.jpg Vice Admiral
Jan-Willem Kelder
(1949–2021)
5 September 200531 August 20071 year, 360 days
2 Rob Zuiderwijk 2007.jpg Lieutenant General
Rob Zuiderwijk
(born 1951)
31 August 200722 January 20102 years, 144 days
3 Matthieu Borsboom portret.jpg Vice Admiral
Matthieu Borsboom
(born 1959)
22 January 201026 September 20144 years, 247 days
4 Rob Verkerk C-ZSK.jpg Lieutenant General
Rob Verkerk
(born 1960)
26 September 201422 September 20172 years, 361 days
5 Portret Kramer.jpg Vice Admiral
Rob Kramer
(born 1962)
22 September 20179 September 20213 years, 352 days
6 Rene Tas marinehaven (cropped).jpg Vice Admiral
René Tas
(born 1964)
9 September 2021Incumbent3 years, 314 days [1]

Deputy commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy

See also

References

  1. Karremann, Jaime (17 March 2021). "Marine krijgt nieuwe commandant: René Tas". marineschepen.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 November 2021.

Further reading