In early 1904 the Dutch government was approached by the navy with a proposal to build four battleships for the DEI station .The main threat they claimed was Japan which had recently gone to war with the Russian Empire over territory in Korea .The thought was that if Japan would go to war with the Russian giant over some small land dispute then what was stopping them from making a go for the Indies ?
The bill called for four battleships two armored cruisers and eight protected cruisers to be built ,with twelve destroyers to built as well .
After a heated debate in the Senaat the bill was passed in its entirety and plans were drawn up for the new ships .Completion of the battleships was planned for 1908 with construction beginning in 1905 .The ships were built with heavy British assistance as the Dutch lacked the faculties to build the guns ,turrets and armor the new ships would require .The rest of the vessels would be built starting 1905 with the last units completed by 1910 .
However the launch of the British Dreadnought changed the navies plans as their four ships which had just been laid down were now worse than useless .
The navy approached the Senaat once again with a new naval bill calling for the redesign of the battleships .The navy once again got its way and throughout 1906 and 1907 the navy was revising (totaly rebuilding) the plans for the vessel .
Orders were placed in 1908 which called for a ship mounting ten twelve inch guns in two triple turrets and two twin turrets .These ships to be called the Seven Provinces class would be named Holland ,Zeeland ,Utretch and Groningen and would displace twenty thousand tons .
The other vessels of the original plan were not in any way modified and were all completed on schedule .
Battlecruiser Mensen Van de Seven Provincen upon commissioning .The ship was very similar to the British Lion class but differed in armor scheme and location of secondaries .
The Launch of the Battlecruiser HMS Invincible caused the Dutch admiralty to once again approach the Senaat ,this time to add another class of vessels to the fleet .The bill called for a pair of the new ships to be built as the Armored cruisers were now as outdated as the original battleships would have been .The Senaat weary of the navies sudden expansion and unhappy with its cost refused but the public in the midst of a navy craze raised funds to build both the new ships and another .After the public had collected funds for the vessels the Senaat passed their construction and provided funds to build another eight destroyers to escort the ships .
The ships were ordered in 1911 and would resemble the British Lion class Battlecruisers .The ships of the class were to be named Razend (furious) ,onbevreesd with the final ship named mensen van de zeven provincen (people of the seven provinces) in honor of the public which had funded her and her sisters .
The Seven Provinces class was commissioned 1912-13 with the Razend class following in 1914-15 .Upon commission the Seven Provinces class worked up by sailing from the Netherlands to the Dutch West Indies and back before sailing to the Dutch East Indies and the new Batavia fleetyard which had just finished construction and was intended to support the new battle fleet .
