Naval history of the Netherlands
Encyclopedia
The history of the Navy of the Netherlands
dates back to the 15th century. As overseas trade was a traditional cornerstone of the Dutch economy, naval defence was indispensable for the protection of commercial interests..
took initiative to arm ships since the 15th century and incidentally attacked pirates and foreign competitors. Defensive measures to protect the merchant ships could include sailing in a convoy and arming the merchant
s themselves. Offensive actions could include taking enemy ships by force. This was actively supported by the Dutch authorities in times of war, who handed out letters of marque
, allowing Dutch captains to attack and, if possible capture enemy ships and their cargoes.
The central authorities tried, in vain, to increase supervision on these private navies. By decree of Maximilian of Austria
, on 8 January 1488 the forerunner of the Dutch Navy was formed. The role of the navy had a legal status from then on, and the tasks of defending the country at sea was the responsibility of an admiral, appointed by the sovereign. However, many provinces surreptitiously created small navies of their own, without informing the admiral.
The Dutch revolt
(1568-1648) resulted in a better command structure of the Dutch navy. The government of the newly established Dutch Republic installed five admiralties (de Maze
, Amsterdam
, Zeeland
, the Noorderkwartier
, and Friesland
) which had offices in Rotterdam
, Amsterdam
, Middelburg
, Hoorn
, Enkhuizen
, and Dokkum
(later Harlingen
).
During the 17th century the Dutch Republic was involved in many wars, many of them at sea. The main goal of the Dutch navy was to protect shipping lanes all over the world and, if need be, to repel a naval invasion of Dutch territory.
Until 1648 Spain was the enemy; a Dutch fleet destroyed the main force of a large Spanish fleet still under construction at Gibraltar
in 1607. Other activities included blocking the port of Antwerp and the Flemish coast (to prevent the Spanish troops there from getting supplies) and escorting the Dutch merchants in the Baltic
.
In the course of the 17th century, Dutch wealth and maritime expansion was the source of much envy across Europe, but especially in England. When the anti-Dutch Navigation Ordinance of 1651 was passed, tensions ran high. During the First Anglo-Dutch War
English fleet concentrated on privateering against the Dutch merchant fleet. An example of this is the battle of Dungeness
in December 1652, in which Maarten Tromp
was able to keep the Channel
open for Dutch trade. In the second Anglo-Dutch War
5 major battles took place, nearly all of them in English waters. It was during this period that the Raid on the Medway
(1667) took place, the worst naval defeat in English history until this very day. The third Anglo-Dutch war
was in fact a conspiracy between France, England, Cologne
and Münster
to attack the Netherlands and destroy the Dutch Republic as a major naval power.
Although the Dutch fleet was the largest of the world at the time, the combined fleet of France and England quickly put the Dutch in a defensive position, but due to the tactical brilliance of Michiel de Ruyter
, it managed to inflict so much damage to both fleets in three consecutive battles in Dutch territorial waters at the nation's most anxious moment, that an invasion had to be called off. The Treaty of Westminster (1674)
marked the end of the trade wars between the English and the Dutch. A new era arrived in 1688, when a new Anglo-French alliance seemed imminent; the Dutch stadtholder
William III
took a desperate gamble by sailing to England with a large fleet that landed in Brixham
in Devon. He marched to London and toppled his father in law James II, who was in a very weak position then. William had himself proclaimed King of England, effectively making his greatest maritime rival an ally. In the 25 years after this 'Glorious Revolution
' the Dutch and the English successfully fought together with various other allies against France, then at the height of its powers during the reign of Louis XIV. The naval war zone shifted from the North Sea and the English Channel to the French coast and Mediterranean. At the end of the War of the Spanish succession
(1713) the series of wars ended.
At the start of the 17th century the squadron
s of the Dutch fleet were reinforced with merchant ships adapted for battle in earlier conflicts. The introduction of the line-tactic increased the demand for ships with more manoeuvrability, speed and crew experience.
In 1653 the Dutch government decided to build 60 ships, and 10 years later they placed another order for 60 more. The flagship of the Republic, De Zeven Provinciën, was fitted with 96 guns. For comparison, the British , built more than a century later, had only 8 guns more.
With about 4000 sailors the Dutch navy was a relatively small employer in peacetime, but in times of war thousands of men more were hired. Flag officers and captains were themselves responsible for hiring the ship's crew. Usually a ship's crew were hired for only one campaign, excluding the officers. Since the early 17th century, experienced captains were employed for long periods of time by the Dutch navy; they were responsible for the ships provisions, and when they bought supplies for less money than the government provided they could keep the rest, and a smart captain could make a small fortune this way in peacetime.
The crew itself were mostly natives or foreign inhabitants of the many Dutch harbour towns. In 1665 regiments of soldiers were deployed aboard the ships. These soldiers would later become famous and feared Dutch marines
.
In the middle of the 17th century the Dutch navy was the most powerful navy in the world.
program in 1780 could not prevent the disastrous Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
(1780-1784), and at the peace of Paris the Dutch had to allow free passage throughout the East Indies and effectively allowing the Royal Navy
to become the new power of the seas.
Several naval major reforms concerning education and naval command structure took place after the Batavian Revolution
(1795). The federative decentralised naval command was now replaced by a central organisation in The Hague
, reflecting the increasingly centralised structure of the country.
The warships stayed in the drydocks, although a number of ships managed to follow the fleeing stadtholder William V
to Great Britain; others, like the ships sailing in East Asia, were later joined with the forces of William V.
After the surrender
of a naval squadron near Saldanha Bay
(1796) and the defeat at the Battle of Camperdown
(1797), the surrender of the fleet near the Vlieter
in 1799 proved to be the death of the Batavian navy. In the 3 years the Netherlands were a part of Imperial France
the navy was unable to operate independently.
, yet this did not happen until 1905.
The Dutch navy in the 19th century suffered from a constant shortage of manpower, forcing the government to hire crew from its colonies
; this increased the total employees from 5000 in 1850 to over 10,000 in 1900.
In 1917 the first airplanes were added to the navy; the first women were employed in 1944, but were not in combat functions until 1980.
After the disappearance of the ship of the line
a whole array of ship classes and types were created. The invention of the propeller
launched the mass use of steam-propelled ships. Wood was replaced by iron. New developments in the field of artillery
increased a gun's range and improved its accuracy. Around 1900 torpedoes and mines created a new dimension in naval warfare
.
Between 1783 and 1789 naval squadrons were sent to Asia to support the Dutch East India Company
. After the bankruptcy of the East India Company Dutch naval tasks shifted greatly towards East Asia, until some 60% of the entire navy was situated there around 1850. Alongside the Colonial Navy, administrative and civil tasks were carried out by the Government Navy
.
. The Dutch navy had its headquarters in London and smaller offices in Sri Lanka
and Australia.
Around the world Dutch naval units were responsible for troop transport, for example during Operation Dynamo
in Dunkirk and D-Day
, they escorted convoys and attacked enemy targets. During the war the navy suffered heavy losses, especially in defence of the Dutch East Indies against the Japanese in the Battle of the Java Sea
(February 1942) in which the rear admiral Karel Doorman
, went down with most of his ships and with 2,300 of his crew.
After the war, the relations between the Netherlands and its colonies changed dramatically. The establishment of the Republic of Indonesia 2 days after the Japanese surrender blocked the Dutch plans for re-establishing its colonial authority. It took 4 years of war before the Netherlands acknowledged the independence of Indonesia. The Dutch navy was stationed in Western New Guinea
until that too was turned over to the Indonesians in 1962, because the action from the Military of Indonesia
, supported by the modern military equipments from Soviet Union
, as the order of President Sukarno
to integrate it into as one of Indonesian provinces.
At the time of the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the military focus was on the army and air force; it was not until the Korean War
(1950-1953) that the navy got more recognition. The government allowed the creation of a balanced fleet consisting of 2 naval squadrons. Apart from the aircraft carrier
Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman the Dutch navy consisted of 2 cruiser
s (De Ruyter class cruisers), 12 destroyers (8 Friesland, 4 Holland class Destroyer), 8 submarine
s, 6 frigate
s (van Speijk class frigates) and a large number of minesweeper
s.
The Netherlands developed its defence policy in close cooperation with other NATO members. The establishment of the Warsaw pact
in 1955 intensified the arms race between West and East. Technical innovations rapidly emerged; the introduction of radar, sonar and guided missiles were particularly relevant for the navy. The Soviet-dominated Warsaw pact was perceived as the main permanent threat; this made a fixed military strategy useful. From 1965 onwards the Netherlands joined certain permanent NATO squadrons like the Standing Naval Force Atlantic. In the 1960s the Soviet Union abandoned its traditional land based strategy and built up a navy with world wide impact, with many submarines and even an aircraft carrier. The main task of NATO navies was the protection of shipping lanes across the Northern Atlantic between the NATO-allies in North America and western Europe.
in November 1989 the international military situation changed drastically. Globally, new conflicts emerged and the borders between friend and foe seemed to gradually fade. NATO's reorientation of the organisations goals created a more prominent role for the United Nations
as international peacekeepers. From 1990 onwards navy units were engaged in conflicts in Cambodia
, Eritrea
, Ethiopia
, Iraq
, Afghanistan
, Lebanon
but also the Gulf War
and the Yugoslavian conflict. The new goals of the Dutch navy were now changed to an expeditionary peacekeeping and peace enforcing force.
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...
dates back to the 15th century. As overseas trade was a traditional cornerstone of the Dutch economy, naval defence was indispensable for the protection of commercial interests..
Origins
At first the Dutch navy had a private character. Wealthy merchants and local authorities in the many ports of the Low CountriesNetherlands (terminology)
More than one name is used to refer to the Netherlands, both in English and in other languages. Some of these names refer to different, but overlapping geographical, linguistic and political areas of the country. This is a common source of confusion for outsiders...
took initiative to arm ships since the 15th century and incidentally attacked pirates and foreign competitors. Defensive measures to protect the merchant ships could include sailing in a convoy and arming the merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
s themselves. Offensive actions could include taking enemy ships by force. This was actively supported by the Dutch authorities in times of war, who handed out letters of marque
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
, allowing Dutch captains to attack and, if possible capture enemy ships and their cargoes.
The central authorities tried, in vain, to increase supervision on these private navies. By decree of Maximilian of Austria
Maximilian of Austria
Maximilian of Austria may refer to the following members of the Habsburg dynasty:*Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , who obtained the Burgundian lands by marriage...
, on 8 January 1488 the forerunner of the Dutch Navy was formed. The role of the navy had a legal status from then on, and the tasks of defending the country at sea was the responsibility of an admiral, appointed by the sovereign. However, many provinces surreptitiously created small navies of their own, without informing the admiral.
A world power
Dutch Revolt
The Dutch Revolt or the Revolt of the Netherlands This article adopts 1568 as the starting date of the war, as this was the year of the first battles between armies. However, since there is a long period of Protestant vs...
(1568-1648) resulted in a better command structure of the Dutch navy. The government of the newly established Dutch Republic installed five admiralties (de Maze
Admiralty of Rotterdam
The Admiralty of Rotterdam, also called the Admiralty of de Maze, was one of the five Admiralties in the Dutch Republic.-History:It was set up in 1574 during the Dutch Revolt, when William I of Orange's supporters decided to pool their naval resources at Rotterdam...
, Amsterdam
Admiralty of Amsterdam
The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic. The administration of the various Admiralties was strongly influenced by provincial interests...
, Zeeland
Admiralty of Zeeland
The Admiralty of Zeeland was one of the five admiralties of the navy of the Dutch Republic, made up of Zeeland. One of its famous admirals was Joost Banckert. This and the other admiralties were disestablished in 1795....
, the Noorderkwartier
Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier
The Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier , also known as the Admiralty of West Friesland, was one of the five admiralties of the Dutch Republic, made up of West Friesland and part of northern Holland.-History:...
, and Friesland
Admiralty of Friesland
The Admiralty of Friesland or Frisian Admiralty was one of the five admiralties of the Dutch Republic...
) which had offices in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Middelburg
Middelburg
Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. It is situated in the Midden-Zeeland region. It has a population of about 48,000.- History of Middelburg :...
, Hoorn
Hoorn
-Cities :* Purmerend * Enkhuizen * Alkmaar * Amsterdam * Lelystad * Den Helder * Leeuwarden -Towns :* Edam...
, Enkhuizen
Enkhuizen
Enkhuizen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.Enkhuizen was one of the harbour-towns of the VOC, just like Hoorn and Amsterdam, from where overseas trade with the East Indies was conducted. It received city rights in 1355...
, and Dokkum
Dokkum
Dokkum is a Dutch fortified town in the municipality of Dongeradeel in the province of Friesland. It has 13,145 inhabitants . The fortifications of Dokkum are well preserved and are known as the bolwerken . - History :...
(later Harlingen
Harlingen, Netherlands
Harlingen is a municipality and a city in the northern Netherlands, in the province of Friesland at the Wadden Sea. Harlingen is an old town with a long history of fishing and shipping....
).
During the 17th century the Dutch Republic was involved in many wars, many of them at sea. The main goal of the Dutch navy was to protect shipping lanes all over the world and, if need be, to repel a naval invasion of Dutch territory.
Until 1648 Spain was the enemy; a Dutch fleet destroyed the main force of a large Spanish fleet still under construction at Gibraltar
Battle of Gibraltar
The naval Battle of Gibraltar took place on 25 April 1607 during the Eighty Years' War when a Dutch fleet surprised and engaged a Spanish fleet anchored at the Bay of Gibraltar. During the four hours of action, most of the Spanish fleet was destroyed....
in 1607. Other activities included blocking the port of Antwerp and the Flemish coast (to prevent the Spanish troops there from getting supplies) and escorting the Dutch merchants in the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
.
In the course of the 17th century, Dutch wealth and maritime expansion was the source of much envy across Europe, but especially in England. When the anti-Dutch Navigation Ordinance of 1651 was passed, tensions ran high. During the First Anglo-Dutch War
First Anglo-Dutch War
The First Anglo–Dutch War was the first of the four Anglo–Dutch Wars. It was fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Caused by disputes over trade, the war began with English attacks on Dutch merchant shipping, but...
English fleet concentrated on privateering against the Dutch merchant fleet. An example of this is the battle of Dungeness
Battle of Dungeness
The naval Battle of Dungeness took place on 10 December 1652 during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the cape of Dungeness in Kent.- Background :...
in December 1652, in which Maarten Tromp
Maarten Tromp
Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp was an officer and later admiral in the Dutch navy. His first name is also spelled as Maerten.-Early life:...
was able to keep the Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
open for Dutch trade. In the second Anglo-Dutch War
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....
5 major battles took place, nearly all of them in English waters. It was during this period that the Raid on the Medway
Raid on the Medway
The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of the Medway, Raid on Chatham or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War...
(1667) took place, the worst naval defeat in English history until this very day. The third Anglo-Dutch war
Third Anglo-Dutch War
The Third Anglo–Dutch War or Third Dutch War was a military conflict between England and the Dutch Republic lasting from 1672 to 1674. It was part of the larger Franco-Dutch War...
was in fact a conspiracy between France, England, Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
to attack the Netherlands and destroy the Dutch Republic as a major naval power.
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter is the most famous and one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. He fought the English and French and scored several major victories against them, the best known probably...
, it managed to inflict so much damage to both fleets in three consecutive battles in Dutch territorial waters at the nation's most anxious moment, that an invasion had to be called off. The Treaty of Westminster (1674)
Treaty of Westminster (1674)
The Treaty of Westminster of 1674 was the peace treaty that ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Signed by the Netherlands and England, it provided for the return of the colony of New Netherland to England and renewed the Treaty of Breda of 1667...
marked the end of the trade wars between the English and the Dutch. A new era arrived in 1688, when a new Anglo-French alliance seemed imminent; the Dutch stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
took a desperate gamble by sailing to England with a large fleet that landed in Brixham
Brixham
Brixham is a small fishing town and civil parish in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. Brixham is at the southern end of Torbay, across the bay from Torquay, and is a fishing port. Fishing and tourism are its major industries. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of...
in Devon. He marched to London and toppled his father in law James II, who was in a very weak position then. William had himself proclaimed King of England, effectively making his greatest maritime rival an ally. In the 25 years after this 'Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
' the Dutch and the English successfully fought together with various other allies against France, then at the height of its powers during the reign of Louis XIV. The naval war zone shifted from the North Sea and the English Channel to the French coast and Mediterranean. At the end of the War of the Spanish succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
(1713) the series of wars ended.
At the start of the 17th century the squadron
Squadron (naval)
A squadron, or naval squadron, is a unit of 3-4 major warships, transport ships, submarines, or sometimes small craft that may be part of a larger task force or a fleet...
s of the Dutch fleet were reinforced with merchant ships adapted for battle in earlier conflicts. The introduction of the line-tactic increased the demand for ships with more manoeuvrability, speed and crew experience.
In 1653 the Dutch government decided to build 60 ships, and 10 years later they placed another order for 60 more. The flagship of the Republic, De Zeven Provinciën, was fitted with 96 guns. For comparison, the British , built more than a century later, had only 8 guns more.
With about 4000 sailors the Dutch navy was a relatively small employer in peacetime, but in times of war thousands of men more were hired. Flag officers and captains were themselves responsible for hiring the ship's crew. Usually a ship's crew were hired for only one campaign, excluding the officers. Since the early 17th century, experienced captains were employed for long periods of time by the Dutch navy; they were responsible for the ships provisions, and when they bought supplies for less money than the government provided they could keep the rest, and a smart captain could make a small fortune this way in peacetime.
The crew itself were mostly natives or foreign inhabitants of the many Dutch harbour towns. In 1665 regiments of soldiers were deployed aboard the ships. These soldiers would later become famous and feared Dutch marines
Netherlands Marine Corps
The Korps Mariniers is the marine corps and amphibious infantry component of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines are trained to operate anywhere in the world in all environments, under any condition and circumstance, as a rapid reaction force. The Korps Mariniers can be deployed to a given...
.
In the middle of the 17th century the Dutch navy was the most powerful navy in the world.
Decline and French domination
The Dutch Republic went into decline after 1713, and in the late 18th century its navy was no longer a match for the French and even less for the British navy. An ambitious shipbuildingShipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
program in 1780 could not prevent the disastrous Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
The Fourth Anglo–Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, tangentially related to the American Revolutionary War, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that...
(1780-1784), and at the peace of Paris the Dutch had to allow free passage throughout the East Indies and effectively allowing the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
to become the new power of the seas.
Several naval major reforms concerning education and naval command structure took place after the Batavian Revolution
Batavian revolution
The term Batavian revolution refers to the political, social and cultural turmoil that marked the end of the Dutch Republic at the end of the 18th century...
(1795). The federative decentralised naval command was now replaced by a central organisation in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, reflecting the increasingly centralised structure of the country.
The warships stayed in the drydocks, although a number of ships managed to follow the fleeing stadtholder William V
William V, Prince of Orange
William V , Prince of Orange-Nassau was the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, and between 1795 and 1806 he led the Government of the Dutch Republic in Exile in London. He was succeeded by his son William I...
to Great Britain; others, like the ships sailing in East Asia, were later joined with the forces of William V.
After the surrender
Surrender (military)
Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
of a naval squadron near Saldanha Bay
Battle of Saldanha Bay (1796)
The designation Battle of Saldanha Bay refers to the surrender without a fight of a squadron of the navy of the Batavian Republic under the command of Rear-Admiral Engelbertus Lucas to a Royal Navy squadron under the command of Vice-Admiral George Elphinstone at Saldanha Bay on August 17,...
(1796) and the defeat at the Battle of Camperdown
Battle of Camperdown
The Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...
(1797), the surrender of the fleet near the Vlieter
Vlieter Incident
The Vlieter incident was the surrender without a fight of a squadron of the navy of the Batavian Republic, commanded by Rear-Admiral Samuel Story, during the Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland to the British navy on a sandbank near the Channel known as De Vlieter, near Wieringen, on August 30,...
in 1799 proved to be the death of the Batavian navy. In the 3 years the Netherlands were a part of Imperial France
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
the navy was unable to operate independently.
Insurrection
The Netherlands regained their independence and on December 7, 1813, the Dutch navy was once again a part of the Dutch armed forces. Since the country had become a kingdom, the Dutch navy was to get the predicate "royal" and become the Royal Netherlands NavyRoyal 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...
, yet this did not happen until 1905.
The Dutch navy in the 19th century suffered from a constant shortage of manpower, forcing the government to hire crew from its colonies
Dutch Empire
The Dutch Empire consisted of the overseas territories controlled by the Dutch Republic and later, the modern Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, but based on military conquest of already-existing...
; this increased the total employees from 5000 in 1850 to over 10,000 in 1900.
In 1917 the first airplanes were added to the navy; the first women were employed in 1944, but were not in combat functions until 1980.
After the disappearance of the ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
a whole array of ship classes and types were created. The invention of the propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
launched the mass use of steam-propelled ships. Wood was replaced by iron. New developments in the field of artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
increased a gun's range and improved its accuracy. Around 1900 torpedoes and mines created a new dimension in naval warfare
Naval warfare
Naval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...
.
Between 1783 and 1789 naval squadrons were sent to Asia to support the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
. After the bankruptcy of the East India Company Dutch naval tasks shifted greatly towards East Asia, until some 60% of the entire navy was situated there around 1850. Alongside the Colonial Navy, administrative and civil tasks were carried out by the Government Navy
Government Navy
The Government Navy was a Dutch naval force which stemmed from the Colonial Navy in the former Dutch East Indies. It existed from 1861 to 1949 and operated in a civil-administrative role alongside the Royal Netherlands Navy....
.
World War II and decolonisation
During the Second World War the Dutch navy was based in Allied countries, due to the conquest in May 1940 of the Netherlands by Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. The Dutch navy had its headquarters in London and smaller offices in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and Australia.
Around the world Dutch naval units were responsible for troop transport, for example during Operation Dynamo
Operation Dynamo
The Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...
in Dunkirk and D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
, they escorted convoys and attacked enemy targets. During the war the navy suffered heavy losses, especially in defence of the Dutch East Indies against the Japanese in the Battle of the Java Sea
Battle of the Java Sea
The Battle of the Java Sea was a decisive naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, that sealed the fate of the Netherlands East Indies....
(February 1942) in which the rear admiral Karel Doorman
Karel Doorman
Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman was a Dutch Rear Admiral who commanded ABDACOM Naval forces, a hastily-organized multinational naval force formed to defend the East Indies against an overwhelming Imperial Japanese attack. Doorman was killed and the main body of ABDACOM Naval forces destroyed...
, went down with most of his ships and with 2,300 of his crew.
After the war, the relations between the Netherlands and its colonies changed dramatically. The establishment of the Republic of Indonesia 2 days after the Japanese surrender blocked the Dutch plans for re-establishing its colonial authority. It took 4 years of war before the Netherlands acknowledged the independence of Indonesia. The Dutch navy was stationed in Western New Guinea
Western New Guinea
West Papua informally refers to the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and other smaller islands to its west. The region is officially administered as two provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea.The population of approximately 3 million...
until that too was turned over to the Indonesians in 1962, because the action from the Military of Indonesia
Military of Indonesia
The Indonesian National Armed Forces in 2009 comprises approximately 432,129 personnel including the Army , Navy including the Indonesian Marine Corps and the Air Force ....
, supported by the modern military equipments from Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, as the order of President Sukarno
Sukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
to integrate it into as one of Indonesian provinces.
Cold War and NATO cooperation
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
(1950-1953) that the navy got more recognition. The government allowed the creation of a balanced fleet consisting of 2 naval squadrons. Apart from the aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman the Dutch navy consisted of 2 cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s (De Ruyter class cruisers), 12 destroyers (8 Friesland, 4 Holland class Destroyer), 8 submarine
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, 6 frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s (van Speijk class frigates) and a large number of minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
s.
The Netherlands developed its defence policy in close cooperation with other NATO members. The establishment of the Warsaw pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
in 1955 intensified the arms race between West and East. Technical innovations rapidly emerged; the introduction of radar, sonar and guided missiles were particularly relevant for the navy. The Soviet-dominated Warsaw pact was perceived as the main permanent threat; this made a fixed military strategy useful. From 1965 onwards the Netherlands joined certain permanent NATO squadrons like the Standing Naval Force Atlantic. In the 1960s the Soviet Union abandoned its traditional land based strategy and built up a navy with world wide impact, with many submarines and even an aircraft carrier. The main task of NATO navies was the protection of shipping lanes across the Northern Atlantic between the NATO-allies in North America and western Europe.
The current navy
After the fall of the Berlin WallBerlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
in November 1989 the international military situation changed drastically. Globally, new conflicts emerged and the borders between friend and foe seemed to gradually fade. NATO's reorientation of the organisations goals created a more prominent role for the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
as international peacekeepers. From 1990 onwards navy units were engaged in conflicts in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
but also the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
and the Yugoslavian conflict. The new goals of the Dutch navy were now changed to an expeditionary peacekeeping and peace enforcing force.