HNLMS Jan van Brakel (1936)

Last updated
Mijnenlegger Jan van Brakel van de Koninklijke Marine, Bestanddeelnr 903-7294.jpg
Jan van Brakel
History
Flag of the Netherlands.svgNetherlands
NameJan van Brakel
Namesake Jan van Brakel
OperatorNaval Jack of the Netherlands.svg  Royal Netherlands Navy
Builder Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde, Vlissingen
Yard number201
Laid down23 May 1935
Launched8 February 1936
Commissioned25 June 1936
Decommissioned1 August 1957
FateExpended as a target ship near Biak in 1957
General characteristics [1]
Type Minelayer and patrol vessel
Displacement
  • 715 t (704 long tons) standard
  • 955 t (940 long tons) full load
Length58.70 m (192 ft 7 in)
Beam10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draught3.45 m (11 ft 4 in)
Propulsion
Speed15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Crew65
Armament

HNLMS Jan van Brakel was a minelayer and patrol vessel [lower-alpha 1] of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN). [2] She was built in the Netherlands and served in the RNN between 1936 and 1957. [3]

Contents

Design and construction

Jan van Brakel was built at the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde and assigned yard number 201. [1] The ship was laid down on 23 May 1935, launched on 8 February 1936 and commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy on 25 June 1936. [3] Jan van Brakel was designed to function as both a minelayer and patrol vessel. [2]

The ship was named after Jan van Brakel, a famous Dutch captain from the 17th century who took part in the Raid on the Medway. [4]

Propulsion

The ship had two Yarrow steam boilers that could deliver 800 hp each, for a total of 1600 hp. [5] [6] This allowed Jan van Brakel to reach a speed of 15 kn. [7]

Armament

When it came to armaments Jan van Brakel was equipped with two 7.5 cm cannons, a single 3.7 cm cannon and four 12.7 mm machine guns. [1] In addition, it could carry 60 mines. [7]

Service history

As patrol vessel Jan van Brakel monitored fisheries in the North Sea. [1] [6]

Second World War

On 12 May 1940 the ship laid 80 mines in the waters west of Haaksgronden. [8] Two days later, on 14 May 1940, Jan van Brakel left for England. [7] There the ship was made ready in Portsmouth to be able to lay British mines. [9]

On 1 June 1940 Jan van Brakel left Portsmouth for the River Tyne to lay mines if needed. [9] Later it also performed escorting duties for allied convoys in British waters. [7] In April 1942 the ship left for Curaçao to escort allied convoys in the waters of the Caribbean. [1] After two years of being active in the West Indies, Jan van Brakel returned at the end of 1944 to England and was rebuilt as a mother ship for minesweepers. [7]

After the Netherlands was liberated Jan van Brakel functioned as mother ship for other minesweepers and was stationed at Terschelling. [10] However, this was only for a short duration as the ship left on 14 October 1945 for the Dutch East Indies together with eight minesweepers. [11] On 28 January 1946 they arrived and began clearing minefields that were still present in the territorial waters of the Dutch East Indies. [12] Later Jan van Brakel was also used as hydrographic survey vessel. [13] [14]

In 1951 the ship returned to the Netherlands and was rebuilt as a small frigate. [14] After being taken back into service in April 1953 it fulfilled the same duties as it did before the Second World War. [15]

In June 1955 the ship left for Dutch New Guinea and performed patrol duties. [14]

On 1 August 1957 Jan van Brakel was decommissioned and afterwards used as target ship near Biak. [3]

Notes

  1. ↑ The ship was classified in Dutch under different names, such as politievaartuig, [lower-alpha 2] politiekruiser [lower-alpha 3] or visserijpolitiekruiser. [lower-alpha 4]
  2. "Hr. Ms. Van Brakel in dienst: vlag en wimpel geheschen". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 26 June 1936.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Mark (1997), p. 98.
  2. 1 2 Roetering (1997), p. 14.
  3. 1 2 3 van Amstel (1991), p. 38.
  4. ↑ "Mijnenlegger Jan van Brakel vaart proef". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 9 April 1936.
  5. ↑ "De "Jan van Brakel" in dienst gesteld: Een eenvoudige plechtigheid". De Standaard (in Dutch). 26 June 1936.
  6. 1 2 "Te waterlating te Vlissingen: H.M. politiekruiser "Jan van Brakel"". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 10 February 1936.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 von Münching (1978), p. 69.
  8. ↑ Roetering (1997), p. 30.
  9. 1 2 Raven (1988), p. 112.
  10. ↑ Roetering (1997), p. 59.
  11. ↑ "Acht mijnenvegers naar Indië: "Geroepen tot een groote en historische taak"". Algemeen Handelsblad (in Dutch). 15 October 1945.
  12. ↑ Roetering (1997), p. 72.
  13. ↑ "De "Jan van Brakel" na vijf jaar weer thuis". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 18 July 1951.
  14. 1 2 3 "Het einde van een trouw schip: Hr Ms Jan van Brakel: Zesmaal veranderd van bestemming". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 24 August 1957.
  15. ↑ "Na 22 jaar afgevoerd: Kon. Marine verliest het fregat "Jan van Brakel"". Nijmeegsch Dagbad (in Dutch). 6 August 1957.

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References

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