Holland-class cruiser

The Holland class was a class of six protected cruisers of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The class was built in two groups, each consisting of three ships.

Design
The design was based on the British Apollo-class cruiser, although it featured the more seaworthy form amidships of the Astraea-class cruiser. The first three ships of the class were 93.3 m long while the last three were 94.7 m long, had a beam of 14.8 m, a draught of 5.41 m, and had a displacement of 3,900 tons. The last three ships were slightly larger and displaced 133 tons more than the first three ships. The ships were equipped with two shaft reciprocating engines, which were rated at 10000 ihp and produced a top speed of 20 kn. The ships had 5 cm deck armour. The main armament of the ships were two 5.9 in single guns. Secondary armament included six single 4.7 in guns and four 3 in single guns. In 1914-1915 refits, the 5.9 in guns were removed from each ship and replaced with an additional four 4.7 in single mounts.

Construction
The class was built in two groups each consisting of three ships. The ships were laid down at Rijkswerf in Amsterdam, Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde in Flushing and Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij in Rotterdam.

History
The protection of the Dutch East Indies came into the spotlight at the end of the nineteenth century. Many countries began expanding their battle fleets. In 1887, two medium-sized Chinese battleships became operational and were considered superior to the Dutch defence. This led to a reassessment of the defence of the Dutch East Indies.

In April 1892, the foundations for modernisation were formulated by a committee consisting of three officers J.H. Kromhout, F.J. Haver Droeze and G. Kruys. Navy expert, rear admiral and Chief of the Naval Staff, Gerhardus Kruys advocated for new cruisers. In the second half of the 1890s the Holland class cruisers was built, as well as the almost identical second series, the Utrecht class.

On 19 October 1900 Gelderland transported Paul Kruger to Europe during the Second Boer War. HNLMS Holland (1896) together with HNLMS Koningin Wilhelmina der Nederlanden and the Evertsen-class coastal defence ship HNLMS Piet Hein (1894) were sent to Shanghai to defend Dutch interests during the Boxer Rebellion. Holland and Zeeland together with the coastal defence ships HNLMS Hertog Hendrik, HNLMS Koningin Regentes and HNLMS De Ruyter (1901) assisted the KNIL during the Aceh War.

In 1908 Friesland, Gelderland and the coastal defence ship HNLMS Jacob Van Heemskerck (1906) were sent to patrol the Venezuelan coast during the second Castro crisis. Friesland and Utrecht were decommissioned in 1913 with the remaining four being modernized. During World War I all remaining ships were stationed in Dutch home waters.

Holland and Zeeland were decommissioned in 1920 and 1924 while Noordbrabant became an accommodation ship in 1920. A role she fulfilled until she was damaged during the German invasion in World War II. Gelderland became a training ship in 1920. She was captured by Germany in 1940, renamed Niobe and sunk during the war in Kotka harbour in Finland on 16 July 1944.