William Van Oranje
Dutch Battlecruiser
The German empires Mackensen class of battlecruisers were to be the pinnacle of the German empires navy in the buildup to world war one. However these impressive ships, each armed with eight 13.8 inch guns in four twin turrets they were the victims of a war in which their completion was not seen as terribly important. The resources required to complete these ships being diverted to the construction of U-boats and other war material. Following the battle of Jutland the ships construction was further halted. However, believing that these ships were nearing completion, or fully completed and in active service, the British Royal Navy would rush ahead with the completion of the Renown class and Admiral class Battlecruisers.
When the war was over the ships, or at least Mackensen, was required to be handed over to the victorious Allies. It took some time for the German navy to convince the Allies that the ships were not actually completed. In the ships place the Bayern was sent and alongside the rest of the High seas fleet was scuttled to prevent their being handed over to the Allies. The three ships that were the farthest along, Mackensen, Graf Spee and Prinz Eitel Friedrich would spend the period 1918-1920 languishing under the indecision and contemplation of the allies. Lacking guns and engines the three ships were given little interest by the Allies, though the German government did spend considerable time planning to convert them into merchant ships.
Enter the Royal Netherlands Navy, before the beginning of the first world war the Dutch had envisaged the creation of a fleet of ten battleships and battlecruisers. However, by the end of the war the Dutch fleet consisted of only outdated cruisers and coastal defense ships. A fleet totally obsolete in the face of the ships completed by the Japanese, American and British ships during the war. With this in mind the Netherlands inquired of the new Weimar Republic about the possibility of buying the incomplete German battleships. With the caveat that the ships be sold to breakers rather than the Netherlands proper Germany gave its approval, agreeing also to sell a quartet of incomplete cruisers as well.
The ships were delivered in 1920 and immediately work was began on the ships to get them ready to join the fleet. France was particularly vocal in their objections regarding the purchase of the vessels, though they were not alone in their consternation. However Germany and the Netherlands had been careful to make the sale of the ships as legal as possible. Claiming that breakers had bought the ships, and then some time later the Navy had purchased the hulls for completion for the RNLN. Work progressed gradually on the ships as time progressed. By 1921 it was planned to complete the ships by 1923, assuming armament could be found for the ships.
This was a major obstacle. The Netherlands did not have the domestic ability to manufacture guns larger than six inch, and the original armament of the ships had been long since scrapped as Germany worked to abide by the terms of the treaty of Versailles. The ships would thus languish incomplete for some time along the quay without armament, but essentially complete otherwise. Efforts to develop guns domestically for the ships showed that doing so would be prohibitively expensive. For some time as well it looked like purchasing guns from abroad was also out of the question.
Happily however a solution was found, the Royal Navy of Britain had built a series of ships armed with 13.5 inch guns. A significant stockpile of such weapons had been built up to keep the vessels using these guns supplied with spare barrels. With the coming of the Washington Naval treaty in 1922 however the UK was looking likely to scrap the majority of their ships armed with guns smaller than 15 inch, with the probable exception of some of the Iron Duke class ships and perhaps a battlecruiser or two. Under the terms of the Washington Naval treaty the sale of these guns would be illegal. So, working as quickly as possible, the Netherlands purchased as many barrels and shells as possible from the UK and quickly set about designing a turret capable of housing the guns for the ships. Britain avoided taking significant fallout from the deal and work proceeded gradually in the Netherlands.
All three ships would be completed finally in 1925-27, fully ten years after the German navy had intended to commission them. Named William van Oranje, Admiraal Tromp and Zealandia, the three ships were dispatched to the Indies following acceptance trials. Forming the first division and alongside the cruisers of the Java class forming the core element of the Dutch forces in the region. One ships was kept in the Netherlands for use as a training ship and to allow her to be refit, the ships being rotated annually to ensure that all ships remained as up to date as possible.
The ships remained the only Dutch battleships in service until the two ships of the De Zeven Provincen class joined the fleet in 1937 and 38. All three ships underwent major modernization from 1936 until 1939, receiving new 13.5 inch guns, the same as those mounted on the Provincen class vessels. New superstructures and secondary batteries were also included, as was provision for a single seaplane and catapult. When Germany invaded the Netherlands all three ships fled to the UK, the Zealandia carrying Queen Wilhelmina, many members of the government, and the nations treasury. This left the Netherlands with a force of five battleships, twelve cruisers and forty three destroyers, plus roughly sixty submarines and numerous flying boats. The majority of these ships were deployed to the Indies, where a showdown with Japan was rapidly developing.
Seeing the Japanese fleet running rampant in China and knowing that was inevitable the Netherlands declared war on the empire on Japan in 1941 and awaited the inevitable attack. What followed was the Indies campaign where the Japanese committed significant forces amounting to seven battleships, three carriers, ten cruisers and thirty destroyers. As well as many troops and army aircraft. Small skirmishes characterised the early phase of the fighting, however in the pivotal battle of the Java sea the Dutch, British, Australian and American forces suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Japanese fleet. Leaving just two Dutch battleships surviving, one of which was the Zealandia.
The ship made a voyage to the United States following the fall of the Dutch East Indies, damage sustained during the Japanese invasion being repaired and the ship updated with more modern radar and anti aircraft systems. The ship returned to active duty and was used to escort American carriers in 1943 and 44 before aiding in D-day, bombarding German positions and lending fire support where necessary. The ship would then carry the Dutch royal family back to the Netherlands following the liberation of the country and then return to carrier escort in the Pacific until the Japanese surrender.
Zealandia then acted as flagship of the Royal Netherlands Navy, the ship having gained significant fame during the war. During the war for Indonesian independence the ship again acted in the fire support role until eventually the independence of the new Indonesian state was recognized. The ship returned to the Netherlands for a final time and it was initially planned to scrap the ship before a massive public campaign resulted in money being set aside to make the ship a museum ship. Opening to the public in 1956 Zealandia has since become a symbol and popular tourist destination in the Netherlands. She is the only Dreadnought still in existence in Europe, and one of only two ships of the type still in existence worldwide, the other being the USS Texas. She is also arguably the only Imperial German warship still afloat today.