The Royal Netherlands Navy has a rather under-appreciated history. Although it fell from the ranks of first rate navies back in the 17th century, it continued to maintain one of the world's most capable smaller fleets (although combination of budget cuts and rising Asian powers has recently seen the Royal Netherlands Navy slide several places down the list of the world's largest navies). This proud tradition carried into the missile age, with the Netherlands designing and building a variety of guided missile ships, generally armed with a combination of foreign weapons and domestic combat systems.
Cruiser De Zeven Provinciën
As with several other navies, the first Dutch guided missile ship was a converted cruiser -
De Zeven Provinciën (C802). First commissioned in 1953 with eight 6” guns in four turrets, in 1962 she lost her two aft turrets for a twin-arm Mk 10 Terrier launcher with a forty-round magazine. The United States actually offered the Netherlands free Terrier systems for both
De Zeven Provinciën and her sister ship
De Ruyter, but the Dutch government was only willing to pay for a single refit. This conversion set the pattern of using American missile systems that continues to this day.
De Zeven Provinciën served until 1975, when she was sold to the Peruvian Navy. With her Terrier system replaced with a large flight deck and hangar, she served under the new name
Aguirre (CH-84) until 1999.
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| De Zeven Provinciën in 1962: 40x Terrier |
The next missile ships were the two
Tromp-class frigates (also known as the “GW-class”). Originally intended to supplement
De Zeven Provinciën, the frigates actually commissioned in 1975 and 1976, after the cruiser had been retired. Missile armament consisted of a Mk 13 single-arm launcher aft for forty SM-1 missiles and an octuplet Sea Sparrow launcher forward with a magazine for eight reloads. This use of layered missile systems was rather unique among Western ship designs of that period but was continued in the next class of Dutch guided missile ships. Finally, there were also eight Harpoon missiles in amidships box launchers. The ships of the
Tromp-class were decommissioned in 1999 and 2001, as their replacements were preparing to enter service.
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| Tromp in 1975: 40x SM-1MR, 16x Sea Sparrow, 8x Harpoon |
Jacob van Heemskerck-class
The
Tromp-class was supplemented by a pair of
Jacob van Heemskerck-class frigates (“L-class”), a modified version of the very successful
Kortenaer-class antisubmarine frigates. Despite being slightly smaller than the
Tromp-class, they carried the same armament of a Mk 13 launcher aft, a Sea Sparrow launcher forwards, and Harpoon amidships. However, the electronics fit for these weapons was almost entirely new and the Sea Sparrow launcher was now fed from a sixteen-round magazine. Both ships were commissioned in 1986 and served until 2005, when they were sold to the Chilean Navy and remain in active service to this day.
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| Jacob van Heemskerck in 1986: 40x SM-1MR, 24x Sea Sparrow, 8x Harpoon |
De Zeven Provinciën-class
The most recent guided missile ships to join the Royal Netherlands Navy are the four
De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates (“LCF-class). These commissioned from 2002 to 2005, replacing both the
Tromp-class and the
Jacob van Heemskerck-class. The new
De Zeven Provinciën-class introduced several innovations, such as phased array radars and the Mk 41 vertical launch system, and are armed with a forty-cell VLS forward and Harpoon box launchers amidships. It is commonly accepted that the VLS is loaded with 32 SM-2 Block IIIA and 32 ESSM, but I have been unable to determine if the Netherlands has actually procured the 130+ SM-2 that such a loadout would require (I have only found a foreign military sales request for up to 55 weapons in 2004 and participation in a four-nation 280 missile buy in 2017). However, the Netherlands likely has over 300 ESSM. Therefore, it is possible that the actual loadout is closer to 12 SM-2MR and 64 ESSM.
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| De Zeven Provincien in 2002: 32x SM-2MR, 32x ESSM, 8x Harpoon |
Interestingly, the Mk 41 is the strike-length version and there were plans to procure SM-2 Block IV for its anti-ballistic missile capabilities. This would have made the Netherlands the only nation other than the United States to operate SM-2ER, but the cancellation of that weapon in favor of developing SM-6 ended that idea. There was also serious talk of acquiring Tomahawk and adding another eight VLS cells to each ship to accomodate it, but those plans were cancelled in 2007. Despite taking part in American ballistic missile defense exercises, there is currently no intention of procuring SM-3 for the
De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates. However, the 2019 defense plan announced the integration of the active radar homing ESSM Block 2 in 2022 and participation in the development of the new active radar homing SM-2 Block IIIC, which will be a significant increase in capability if the plan is fully funded.
