Smeroe-class minesweeper

Class overview
Name	Smeroe class
Builders	Soerabaja Drydock Co., Surabaya & Verenigde Prauwenveren, Batavia
Operators	Royal Netherlands Navy
Preceded by	DEFG class
Succeeded by	Keeten class
In service	1941–1946
Planned	6
Completed	3 (+1 under Japanese occupation)
Lost	3
Retired	3
General characteristics
Type	Minesweeper
Displacement	80 tons
Length	22.7 m (74 ft 6 in)
Beam	4.35 m (14 ft 3 in)
Draught	1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	1 × 135 ihp (101 kW) Caterpillar diesel engine
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement	14
Armament	1 or 2 × 7.7 mm (0.30 in) Lewis gun Potentially also 1 × 12.7 mm (0.50 in) Machine gun

The Smeroe class was a class of six minesweepers. Based on the DEFG-class minesweeper, these ships were originally supposed to be small personnel and cargo transports but were converted for minesweeping while still under construction with the optional conversion back to transport for peacetime usage under the Government Navy. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Ships of class

Name	Construction yard	Completed	Fate
Rindjani	Soerabaja Drydock Co., Surabaya	1941	Escaped to Australia after the Battle of the Java Sea. Served as a minesweeper stationed at Fremantle, returned to NEI after the war and served as a tug until at least 1946
Merbaboe	Soerabaja Drydock Co., Surabaya	1941	Escaped to Australia after the Battle of the Java Sea, returned to the NEI after the war and served at least until 1946
Smeroe	Soerabaja Drydock Co., Surabaya	1941	Escaped to Australia after the Battle of the Java Sea, returned to the NEI after the war and served at least until 1946
Merapi	Verenigde Prauwenveren, Batavia	Never commissioned	Scuttled on slipway 2 March 1942
Slamat	Verenigde Prauwenveren, Batavia	Never commissioned	Scuttled on slipway 2 March 1942
Tjerimai	Verenigde Prauwenveren, Batavia	1942 in Japanese service	Scuttled on slipway 2 March 1942, repaired by Japanese forces as submarine chaser Cha 101. Sunk by American aircraft near Celebes on 8 April 1945.

Citations

1. Mark, Chris (1997). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II. Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 978-90-6013-522-8.
2. Helfrich, Conrad Emile Lambert (1950). Memoires van Admiraal Helfrich Amsterdam: Elsevier.
3. von Münching, L.L. (1978). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in de Tweede Wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN   90-6013-903-8.

External links

• Description of class