HNLMS Krakatau was a minelayer of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN).[2] She was built in the Dutch East Indies and served between 1924 and 1942 in the RNN.[3]
Design and construction
Krakatau was laid down on 3 February 1923 and launched on 2 February 1924 at the Marine Etablissement te Soerabaja (MES).[1][4] The ship was designed by the Dutch engineer R. O. Leegstra.[5] After passing its sea trials in October 1924 Krakatau was commissioned on 11 December 1924.[1][6][7] While the ship passed its sea trials, it did share a common flaw with other ships built at the MES at the time, namely stability problems.[8] To counter this problem permanent ballast was added to the Krakatau, however, it did not manage to completely fix the stability problem of the ship.[9]
Service history
On 11 October 1932 Krakatau capsized in the Oostervaarwater near Soerabaja.[2][10] At the time the ship was doing a speed related exercise when it began taking water.[11] It was theorized that this was the result of leaving the mine doors at the rear of the ship open.[8][9] The increasing speed during the exercise would have led to high waves that would land on the rear of the ship, which could pour inside through the open doors.[9][11] Eventually the water inside the ship gathered at one side of the ship and it slowly capsized.[8] On 4 December 1932 Krakatau was re-floated and towed to the MES.[12] There it was determined that the ship had taken minimal damage and would be fully repaired.[13] The next year, on 4 September 1933, Krakatau was taken back into service.[14]
Second World War
Between 19 and 20 February 1942 Krakatau acted as a motor torpedo boat tender for a division of motor torpedo boats and took part in the Battle of Badung Strait.[2] Shortly after the battle the ship provided gasoline to motor torpedo boats in the Pangpang Baai.[15] During this time it managed to stay hidden and unharmed, even when Japanese scouts and bombers flew over, as a result of its carefully applied camouflage.[15]
On 8 March 1942 Krakatau was scuttled by its crew 500 meters from the dock[a] of the Pyrotechnische Werkplaatsen in the Westervaarwater near Batoe Porron in Madoera.[2][14] The ship was scuttled because there was not enough oil to make the journey to an Allied port and it was determined that it had not much fighting value as a warship.[16] Afterwards the crew of the ship left for Kamal to continue the battle on land against the Japanese.[8]
Netherlands
Royal Netherlands Navy