Van Amstel-class frigate

The Van Amstel-class was a class of 6 frigates that were built during the Second World War in the United States and served as destroyer Escort during that war.[1] After the war the destroyer escorts were loaned to the Dutch navy as part of the MDAP and from 1950 to 1967 served as the Van Amstel-class frigates.

Class overview
Name:	Van Amstel class
Operators:	Royal Netherlands Navy
Succeeded by:	Van Speijk-class
Built:	1943-1944
In commission:	1950-1967
Planned:	6
Completed:	6
Retired:	6
General characteristics
Type:	frigate
Displacement:	1,240 tons standard 1,620 tons full load
Length:	93.3 m (306 ft)
Beam:	11 m (36 ft)
Draft:	3.5 m (11 ft) full load
Propulsion:	4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive 6,000 shp (4,500 kW), 2 screws
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h)
Range:	10,800 nautical miles (20,000 km; 12,400 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement:	15 officers 201 enlisted men
Armament:	3 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns (3×1) 2 × 40 mm AA guns (1x2) 8 × 20 mm AA guns (8×1) 3 × 21 in. torpedo tubes (1×3) 8 × depth charge projectors 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog) 2 x depth charge tracks

History

During the Second World War the United States built several destroyer escorts, such as the Cannon-class. The construction time of the destroyer escorts was short, it took about four months to build a Cannon-class destroyer escort. This led to the construction of many escorts. Some ships were immediately after construction given to allied nations such as the Brazilian Navy and the French Navy.[2] During the Second World War the destroyer escorts functioned as protectors of the supply and troop transport vessels against the submarine threat and airborne attacks. Although the estimated lifetime of the destroyer escorts was short, many managed to reach an age of 20 years. After World War II, a large number of destroyer escorts were loaned or sold to other navies, including the Netherlands.[3] The last active Cannon-class destroyer was the Filipino BRP Rajah Humabon (FF-01), the former USS Atherton, which was decommissioned in 2018.[4]

After the Second World War the Mutual Defense Aid Program signed to help West-Europe militarily and financially.[5] The aim of the MDAP program was to ensure that West-Europe remained outside the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. To this end the United Stated provided under the MDAP a lot of money and material to West European countries, for example, in 1950 1,450,000,000 dollars was spent under the MDAP.[5] In the period 1950-1951 the Netherlands was lent six frigates of the Cannon-class as part of the MDAP. These ships were the former USS Burrows, USS Rine Heart, USS Gustafson, USS O'Neill, USS Stern and the USS Eisner, which were put into service as the HNLMS Van Amstel, HNLMS De Bitter, HNLMS Van Ewijck, HNLMS Dubois, HNLMS De Zeeuw and HNLMS Van Zijll.[6] The destroyer escorts that were meant for the Netherlands were the first ships that the United States, on the grounds of the MDAP program made available to an ally.[7]

The frigates of the Van Amstel-class had, like all other Cannon-class ships, a diesel electric tandem motor drive and were because of this known in the US as the DET type.[8][9][10] The four diesels together delivered 6000pk for a maximum speed of 19 knots. The range of the ships was considerable: 10,000 nautical miles.[11]

In the 1960s were outdated and needed to be replaced. The Royal Netherlands Navy began designing in August 1960 the successor of the Van Amstel-class frigates.[12] These frigates would later be known as the Van Speijk-class frigates, and started to replace the Cannon-class frigates in 1967.[6] In 1968 the Cannon-class frigates were sold and scrapped by various companies.[3]

Ships in class

The following ships were part of the Van Amstel-class, they were built by several shipbuilders.

Ship	Pennant number	Commissioned	Shipbuilder	Fate
Van Amstel	F806	1950	Dravo Corporation	Returned to the United States in 1967.
De Bitter	F807	1950	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company	Returned to the United States in 1967.
Van Ewijk	F808	1950	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company	Returned to the United States in 1967.
Dubois	F809	1950	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company	Returned to the United States in 1967.
De Zeeuw	F810	1951	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company	Returned to the United States in 1967.
Van Zijll	F811	1951	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company	Returned to the United States in 1967.

References

Footnotes

1. Bas Flipse (28 May 2012). "Marinefoto Maandag 74". Marineschepen.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
2. "Classes of Destroyer Escorts". www.ussslater.org. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
3. ""Van Amstelklasse" fregatten". navyinside.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
4. Priam Nepomuceno (15 March 2018). "Navy retires WW II-era BRP Rajah Humabon from service". www.pna.gov.ph. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
5. "NATO the first five years 1949-1954". www.nato.int. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
6. Ivan Gogin. "VAN AMSTEL destroyer escorts (1943-1944/1950-1951)". www.navypedia.org. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
7. ""Cannon" Klasse". onzevloot.weebly.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
8. U.S. Destroyers: an illustrated design history by Norman Friedman. Chapter 7. ISBN 1-55750-442-3.
9. Rivet, Eric; Stenzel, Michael (April 22, 2011). "Classes of Destroyer Escorts". History of Destroyer Escorts. Destroyer Escort Historical Museum. Retrieved July 8, 2012. The Cannon class was very similar in design to the Buckley class, the primary difference being a diesel-electric power plant instead of the Buckley class's turboelectric design. The fuel-efficient diesel-electric plant greatly improved the range of the Cannon class, but at the cost of speed.
10. Rivet, Eric; Stenzel, Michael (April 22, 2011). "Classes of Destroyer Escorts". History of Destroyer Escorts. Destroyer Escort Historical Museum. Retrieved July 8, 2012. Except for the propulsion, the EDSALL class was nearly identical to the CANNON class in every respect. This fourth class of destroyer escort mounted a direct-drive diesel configuration that proved to be extremely reliable.
11. "Cannon Class". destroyerhistory.org. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
12. "DE NEDERLANDSE VOORGESCHIEDENIS". onzevloot.weebly.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 June 2018.

Sources

• Mark, Chris (2006) [2000]. Amerikaanse fregatten van de Van Amstel-klasse en de Wolf-klasse. Amsterdam: Stichting Promotie Maritieme Tradities.
• W.H.E., van Amstel (1991). De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine vanaf 1945. Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 9060139976.