Abraham van der Hulst in 1939
History
Netherlands
NameAbraham van der Hulst
NamesakeAbraham van der Hulst
BuilderGusto, Schiedam
Laid down13 November 1936[1]
Launched31 May 1937[1][2]
Commissioned11 October 1937[1]
FateScuttled, 14 May 1940[2]
Germany
NameM 552
Commissioned1940
DecommissionedApril 1944
FateDestroyed in an air raid, 30 August 1944
General characteristics
Class and typeJan van Amstel-class minesweeper
Displacement
Length
  • 56.7 m (186 ft 0 in) oa
  • 55.80 m (183 ft 1 in) pp
Beam7.8 m (25 ft 7 in)
Draft2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts, 2 × triple expansion engines
Speed15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement45
Armament
  • 1 × single 3 in (76 mm) gun
  • 2 × twin .50-calibre machine guns
Abraham van der Hulst after she had struck a mine on 8 October 1939

HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst was a Jan van Amstel-class minesweeper built for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the 1930s. The German invasion of the Netherlands resulted in the ship being scuttled at Enkhuizen on 14 May 1940, but was raised by the Germans and entered service as the minesweeper M 553 with Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. The vessel was sunk by a mine off East Prussia on 21 April 1944. M 552 was raised on 20 July 1944 and towed to Stettin. There, the ship was bombed and burned out 20 August 1944. The wreck was captured by the Soviets. One source says she was returned to the Netherlands post war.[3]

Description

The Jan van Amstel-class ships were 55.8 metres (183 ft 1 in) long, with a beam of 7.8 metres (25 ft 7 in) and a draught of 2.2 metres (7 ft 3 in) at deep load. They displaced was 450 long tons (460 t) at normal load, which increased to 585 long tons (594 t) at deep load. A pair of Yarrow boilers fed steam to two triple-expansion steam engines that each drove a single propeller shaft. The engines were rated at 1,690 indicated horsepower (1,260 kW) which gave the ships a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). They carried up to 110 long tons (110 t) of fuel oil and had a complement of 45 officers and ratings.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Jan van Amstel-class". Netherlandsnavy.net. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b Lenton 1975, p. 355.
  3. ^ "Jan van Amstel-class". netherlandsnavy.nl. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. ^ Roberts, p. 394; van Willigenburg, p. 106

Bibliography

External links

Media related to H Hr.Ms. Abraham van der Hulst (ship, 1937) at Wikimedia Commons


Jan van Amstel-class minesweepers
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in May 1940
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1944
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in August 1944
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