Protected Cruisers: Holland Class

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Brian James
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Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Protected Cruisers: Holland Class

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Holland Class Protected Cruiser HNLMS Gelderland pictured at Amsterdam in April 1937...She was built at the Maatschappij voor Scheeps- en Werktuigbouw Fijenoord Shipyards at Rotterdam, launched on September 28th 1898 and commissioned on July 15th 1900. She was taken over by the Germans during World War II, rebuilt as an Anti-Aircraft Cruiser and renamed Niobe. Commissioned into the Kreigsmarine on March 1st 1944, she was sunk in Kotka harbour in Finland on July 16th 1944..She was seized by the Germans during their invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, and remained laid up at Den Helder from May 14th 1940 until August 1941, when she was taken in hand at the Van der Giessen de Noord shipyard at Krimpen aan den IJssel to be rebuilt as an Anti-Aircraft Cruiser (Flakschiff). Work was completed in December 1943, and Gelderland commissioned in the German Kriegsmarine under the new name of Niobe on March 1st 1944. During the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive of 1944 the Soviets tried to finish the Continuation War with the Finns. The Germans came to the aid of the Finns, and, among the materiel brought with them was the Anti-Aircraft Cruiser Niobe, which was ordered to strengthen the air defences of Kotka, then one of the most bombed cities in Finland. At the same time, the Soviet Union had put much emphasis on finding and sinking the Finnish coastal defence ship Väinämöinen. Soviet aerial reconnaissance identified a large ship in Kotka Harbour and the decision was taken to attack, with 132 bombers and fighters (sent by, amongst others, the 51st Mine-Torpedo Aviation Regiment of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet), on July 16th 1944. The ship was, however, Niobe, and the aircraft were met with fierce resistance. An Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber was shot down, but the ship was hit and sank. The guns of the Niobe were still firing as she settled in the shallow water, after which much of her superstructure remained visible above sea level. Seventy of the crew of the Niobe died. Niobe was raised in June 1953 and scrapped.
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Brian James
Posts: 8764
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Protected Cruisers: Holland Class

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Holland Class Protected Cruiser HNLMS Noord Brabant pictured fitting out at Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde at Flushing in 1899.
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Brian James
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Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: Protected Cruisers: Holland Class

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Holland Class Protected Cruiser HNLMS Utrecht pictured at New York in 1909.
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