MBT HrMs minelayer "Willem van der Zaan" (1938) - Construction drawing Scale 1:200 (10.11.003)

The Hr.Ms. Willem van der Zaan was the largest and last purpose-built minelayer of the Royal Netherlands Navy, designed for both minelaying operations and as a training ship for midshipmen. She was commissioned in 1939, just a few days before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Technical Specifications

Shipyards: N.V. Nederlandse Dok Maatschappij, Amsterdam

Dimensions: 75.2 metres in length, 11.2 metres in width, 3.28 metres draught

Displacement: 1,407 tonnes

Engine power: 2,200 hp

Speed: 15.5 knots (approx. 28.7 km/h)

Crew: 92 as a minelayer; 130 as a training ship

Armament:

2 × 120 mm guns (2x1)

4 × 40 mm Bofors (2x2)

4 × .50 calibre (2x2)

120 mines (later reduced to 90)

Radar: Various types installed during the war

Aircraft: 1 aircraft with heavy crane

Service history

Commissioned: 21 August 1939

Warservice:

Deployed in early May 1940 for mine-laying operations in the Boomkensdiep and off the coast of Vlieland.

Evacuated to England on 13 May 1940, where various mine-laying operations were carried out.

Escorted countless convoys during the war.

After the war:

Returned to the Netherlands on 30 May 1945.

Deployed for patrol duties and the transport of former prisoners of war to the Dutch East Indies.

Fulfilled various roles, including as a frigate, a station ship in the Antilles and a workboat for minesweepers in Vlissingen.

Declared a non-operational vessel in 1963.

Struck off the register on 27 February 1970 and sold for scrap on 6 October 1970.

Specifications: