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 Tripartite class is a class of minehunters developed from an agreement between the navies of Belgium, France and the Netherlands. A total of 35 ships were constructed for the three navies. The class was constructed in the 1980s–1990s in all three countries, using a mix of minehunting, electrical and propulsion systems from the three member nations. In France, where they are known as the Éridan class they are primarily used as minehunters, but have been used for minesweeping and ammunition transport in Belgium and the Netherlands, where the Tripartites are known as the Alkmaar class.
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.
HNLMS Amsterdam was the last replenishment oiler serving with the Royal Netherlands Navy. Amsterdam entered service on 2 September 1995 and replaced HNLMS Poolster. On 4 December 2014 it was decommissioned and sold to the Peruvian Navy where it was renamed BAP Tacna.
HNLMS Pelikaan (A804) is a logistic support vessel of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The ship was built and designed specially for the Caribbean Sea, and is permanently based at Curaçao. She entered service on 12 June 2006. The vessel has the Det Norske Veritas (DNV) Classification 1A1 E0 NAUT-OC ICS CRANE. Pelikaan provides search and rescue and disaster and humanitarian relief to Dutch operations in the Netherlands Antilles. The vessel can also be used for amphibious warfare.
HNLMS Mercuur (A900) is a submarine support ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The ship was built and designed specially to support the Dutch submarines. She entered service on 21 August 1987, and is the only surface vessel attached to the Dutch submarine service.
Konarak is a Hendijan-class support vessel of the Iranian Navy. It was built in the Netherlands and has been in service since 1988. Originally intended as a support and logistics ship, Konarak was overhauled in 2018, and was armed with anti-ship missiles. The vessel was struck by a missile fired from the Iranian frigate Jamaran in a friendly fire incident during training on 10 May 2020, killing 19 sailors.
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 will include a range of unmanned systems including unmanned surface, aerial and underwater vehicles alongside towed sonars and mine identification and neutralization ROVs.
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.
HNLMS Van Kinsbergen, or MOV Van Kinsbergen is a naval training ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
In November 2014, Dutch Minister of Defence, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, announced plans to replace the Walrus-class submarines with four new submarines in 2025. In later years this has been pushed back to at least 2034.
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.
HNLMS Argus (A852) is a diving support vessel of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
HNLMS Nautilus (A853) is a diving support vessel of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
Netherlands
Royal Netherlands Navy 