HNLMS Zuiderkruis (A832)

HNLMS Zuiderkruis (A832) (Hr.Ms. Zuiderkruis) was a replenishment oiler operated by the Royal Netherlands Navy. Zuiderkruis entered service in 1975 and was decommissioned on 10 February 2012. Her design was based on the earlier replenishment ship HNLMS Poolster (A835). The ship has been stripped for parts and left Den Helder for scrapping in Turkey on 21 February 2014.

Service
On 15 October 1974 Zuiderkruis was launched at the yard of Verolme Shipyards in Alblasserdam and commissioned in the navy on 27 June 1975.

In 1981 Zuiderkruis was the first ship in the Dutch navy to have female sailors aboard.

8 February 1982 the ship together with the frigates HNLMS Tromp, HNLMS Callenburgh (F808), HNLMS Van Speijk, HNLMS Piet Hein (F811) and the destroyer HNLMS Overijssel departed from Den Helder for a trip to the US to show the flag and for 200 years diplomatic relations. The ships returned to Den Helder on 19 May 1982.

In 1988 Zuiderkruis and the frigates HNLMS Jan van Brakel (F825), HNLMS Kortenaer (F807) and HNLMS Witte de With (F813) made a trip to the far east and Australia to show the flag and for practice.

She, HNLMS Philips van Almonde (F823) and HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck (F812) participated in the Gulf War and were sent to replace Witte de With and HNLMS Pieter Florisz (F826) on 4 and 5 December 1990.

Zuiderkruis rescued 14 Sri Lankan refugees on 25 April 1996 Adriatic Sea and dropped them off at the Italian port of Bari.

On 17 February 2003 a combined Belgian-Dutch squadron left for practice on the Atlantic Ocean. The squadron consisted of Zuiderkruis and the frigates  Jacob van Heemskerck, HNLMS Van Speijk (F828), HNLMS Van Galen (F834) and BELGIAN FRIGATE Wandelaar. Several ports in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States were visited and the squadron was expected to return on 24 April.

She, HNLMS Rotterdam (L800) and the school ship Urania visited Spithead for a fleet review held in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar on 28 June 2005.