HNLMS Zeeleeuw
Encyclopedia
Two submarine
s of the Royal Netherlands Navy
have borne the name HNLMS Zeeleeuw (S803), in honor of the Sea lion
. (Both were assigned the same pennant number
, so they are distinguished by an ordinal number
.)
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s of the Royal Netherlands Navy
Royal Netherlands Navy
The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
have borne the name HNLMS Zeeleeuw (S803), in honor of the Sea lion
Sea Lion
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear-flaps, long fore-flippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and short thick hair. Together with the fur seal, they comprise the family Otariidae, or eared seals. There are six extant and one extinct species in five genera...
. (Both were assigned the same pennant number
Pennant number
In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...
, so they are distinguished by an ordinal number
Ordinal number
In set theory, an ordinal number, or just ordinal, is the order type of a well-ordered set. They are usually identified with hereditarily transitive sets. Ordinals are an extension of the natural numbers different from integers and from cardinals...
.)
- HNLMS Zeeleeuw (1) was originally USS HawkbillUSS Hawkbill (SS-366)USS Hawkbill , a Balao-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the hawksbill, a large sea turtle ....
(SS-366), a U.S. Navy Balao-classBalao class submarineThe Balao class was a successful design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 122 units built, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences...
submarine, launched in 1944 and decommissioned in 1946. The ship was loaned to the Netherlands in 1953; she was commissioned in the Royal Netherlands Navy as HNLMS Zeeleeuw (S803). In 1970, Zeeleeuw was sold for scrap.
- HNLMS Zeeleeuw (2) is a Walrus-classWalrus class submarineThe Walrus-class submarine is the only submarine class currently in operation in the Royal Netherlands Navy. They have been in use since 1990 and are all named after sea mammals.-Design:...
submarine, launched in 1987 and still in service as of 2008.