HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (1909)

Type

Ironclad

Period

20th Century

Nation

Netherlands

Overview: HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën was a Dutch pantserschip (armoured coastal defence ship) of the Royal Netherlands Navy, launched in 1909 and commissioned in 1910. She spent much of her career defending the Dutch East Indies and is best remembered for a dramatic 1933 mutiny rather than for combat action. Specifications: She was 101.5 m long, with a beam of 17.1 m and a draft of 6.15 m, displacing 6,530 tons. Her main armament was two 283 mm (11.1 in) guns, backed by four 150 mm, ten 75 mm, and four 37 mm guns plus a 75 mm mortar, and she carried belt armor up to 5.9 in and turret armor up to 9.8 in thick. Twin-shaft machinery gave her 8,000 hp and a top speed of 16 knots, with a complement of around 450. Service History: After commissioning she sailed for the Dutch East Indies, arriving in Surabaya in January 1911, and served there for most of her career, including a stint in the 1920s that counted future Rear Admiral Karel Doorman among her crew. On 5 February 1933 part of her mixed Dutch and Indonesian crew seized control of the ship in a mutiny off Sumatra that had significant political repercussions in the Netherlands. In 1936 she was withdrawn from front-line service, converted to a training ship, and renamed HNLMS Soerabaja. Notable Facts: As Soerabaja, she was sunk by Japanese bombers in Surabaya harbor on 18 February 1942, shortly before the Battle of the Java Sea; the Japanese later raised and used her as a stationary battery ship before Allied aircraft sank her again in 1943. One of her main 283 mm guns survives today as a preserved exhibit at the Loka Jala Crana Naval Museum in Surabaya, a useful detail reference for modelers seeking accurate gun proportions.