Netherlands Cruiser HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck
HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck was a light cruiser of the Tromp-class in the Royal Netherlands Navy, named after Admiral Jacob van Heemskerk. Originally designed as a flotilla leader and a torpedo cruiser in Decker’s Fleet Plan of 1931, the ship was commissioned on 10 May 1940, when Germany invaded the Netherlands. Since she was not armed, she escaped to the United Kingdom where she was refitted as an air defence cruiser. During World War II, the ship was assigned as a convoy escort in the Atlantic Ocean and gained the nickname “Oude Jacob” due to her proficiency, and not a single convoy ship was lost when she was on duty.
In January 1942, the ship was sent to the Dutch East Indies to reinforce the defence fleet assembled there, arriving too late to take part in the Battle of the Java Sea. She was then reassigned to the Eastern Fleet and took part in operations ‘Stream’ and ‘Jane’, both aimed at the retaking of Madagascar. In November 1942, the cruiser identified and damaged the German supply vessel and blockade runner Ramses, which was subsequently scuttled by her own crew in the Indian Ocean.
After the war, Jacob van Heemskerck served as a barracks ship for naval trainees in Vlissingen before being decommissioned on 20 November 1969. The ship was eventually sold for scrap on 23 June 1970.
