HNLMS Zuiderkruis (A832)
_Cartagena_Colombia.jpg) Zuiderkruis (A832) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Netherlands | |
| Name: | Zuiderkruis |
| Namesake: | Southern Cross (Crux) |
| Owner: | Royal Netherlands Navy |
| Laid down: | 16 July 1973 |
| Launched: | 15 October 1974 |
| Commissioned: | 27 June 1975 |
| Decommissioned: | 10 February 2012 |
| Out of service: | 15 December 2011 |
| Identification: | A832 |
| Honours and awards: | Operation Blue Nose, Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Sharp Guard, UNMIL, Counter-drugs Operations in Caribbean. |
| Status: | Decommissioned, to be scrapped in 2013 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Auxiliary Replenishment Ship |
| Displacement: | 16,900 tons |
| Length: | 170 metres (560 ft) |
| Beam: | 20 metres (66 ft) |
| Draught: | 8.4 metres (28 ft) |
| Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Complement: | 170–190 |
| Armament: | 1 x Goalkeeper CIWS system, up to 8 12.7 mm machine guns, up to 3 helicopters |
HNLMS Zuiderkruis (A832) (Dutch: Hr.Ms. Zuiderkruis) was a replenishment ships 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 Poolster. 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.[1]
In 1981 Zuiderkruis was the first ship in the Dutch navy to allow female marines aboard.[2]
8 February 1982 the ship together with the frigates Tromp, Callenburgh, Van Speijk, Piet Hein and the destroyer Overijssel departed from Den Helder for a trip to the USA to show the flag and for 200 years diplomatic relations. 19 May1982 the ships returned in Den Helder[3]
In 1988 Zuiderkruis and the frigates Jan van Brakel, Kortenaer and Witte de With made a trip to the far east and Australia to show the flag and for practice.[4]
She, Philips van Almonde and Jacob van Heemskerck participated in the Gulf War and were send to replace Witte de With and Pieter Florisz on 4 and 5 December 1990.[5]
Zuiderkruis rescued 14 Sri Lankan refugees on the 25 April 1996 Adriatic Sea and dropped them off at the Italian port Bari.[6]
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, Van Speijk, Van Galen and Wandelaar. Several ports in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States were visited and the squadron was expected to return on 24 April.[7]
She, Rotterdam 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 .[8]
References
- ↑ "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1974". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ↑ "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1994". Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ↑ "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1982". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ↑ "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1988". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ↑ "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1990". Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ↑ "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 1996". Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ↑ "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 2003". Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ↑ "scheepvaartmuseum.nl :: Maritieme kalender 2005". Retrieved 5 July 2015.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to HNLMS Zuiderkruis (A832). |