Java-class cruiser

The Java class was a series of light cruisers operated by the Royal Netherlands Navy during the interwar period and World War II. Designed to defend the Dutch East Indies against the Empire of Japan, the cruisers were designed in 1916 to be the best in the world. However, a series of issues due to World War I, supply chain issues, worker strikes, instability in Germany, and a change in national policy delayed the ships for more than a decade. Of the three ships planned, one was cancelled during a construction pause. By the time the remaining two ships were launched in the mid 1920s, their design was outdated and little work was done to address the issue. Both ships saw action during World War II. was in the Netherlands when the country was invaded by Germany in 1940, and the cruiser fled to the United Kingdom. Under British control, she sailed around the world, was disarmed, and sunk as a breakwater off Normandy. was in the East Indies when the Pacific War began in 1941, and joined Allied efforts in attempting to repulse several Japanese invasions. During the Battle of the Java Sea, she was torpedoed and promptly sunk.

The Java class was a series of light cruisers operated by the Royal Netherlands Navy during the interwar period and World War II. Designed to defend the Dutch East Indies against the Empire of Japan, the cruisers were designed in 1916 to be the best in the world. However, a series of issues due to World War I, supply chain issues, worker strikes, instability in Germany, and a change in national policy delayed the ships for more than a decade. Of the three ships planned, one was cancelled during a construction pause. By the time the remaining two ships were launched in the mid 1920s, their design was outdated and little work was done to address the issue. Both ships saw action during World War II. was in the Netherlands when the country was invaded by Germany in 1940, and the cruiser fled to the United Kingdom. Under British control, she sailed around the world, was disarmed, and sunk as a breakwater off Normandy. was in the East Indies when the Pacific War began in 1941, and joined Allied efforts in attempting to repulse several Japanese invasions. During the Battle of the Java Sea, she was torpedoed and promptly sunk. ==Design== ==Construction== Reliance on foreign expertise soon backfired as the German arms industry buckled and collapsed as a result of World War I and resulting political unrest throughout Germany. Construction stalled as materials were delayed and some parts never arrived at all. After the war, the Dutch government questioned the need to build new, expensive, warships. As a result, the newly-started Celebes was canceled and work on the other two ships was suspended. During the pause, the government explored alternative uses for the cruisers, including a proposal to convert them into English Channel ferries. Ultimately, the Navy successfully argued that completing the ships would be more cost-effective than abandoning them, and progress resumed in 1920. Both ships were launched over the next year as parts were sourced from countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden, although eight SK L/50 guns were found in a Krupp warehouse and were incorporated. Construction was further delayed by a series of strikes, the newly introduced 8-hour work day, supply issues, and a fire that destroyed turbines intended for the future Sumatra. New turbines for the cruiser were sourced, allowing her to produce . The significant delays of her construction saw the ships outdated by the time she entered service, primarily regarding their armament. By 1922, the Washington Naval Treaty created a new standard of cruiser equipped with guns, which Japan heavily invested in. In addition, the single-barrel weapons protected only by gun-shields had already been replaced by enclosed, multi-gun turrets fed by independent magazines in other navies. ===Modifications=== Soon after the two ships entered service, they were fitted with two derricks and two floatplanes. Initially, the ships were equipped with the Fairey S.III, although it was fragile and replaced by the Fokker C.VII-w in 1927, itself later replaced by the Fokker C.XI-w in 1937. During the mid 1930s, the ships were refitted: the forward mast was rebuilt and shortened, and the anti-air weapons was expanded. Sumatra received three twin Bofors guns, while Java had two. ==Service history== ===Java=== After she was commissioned, Java sailed to the East Indies and visited several cities throughout East Asia and Oceania. In 1937, she returned to Europe to escort convoys through the Strait of Gibraltar during the Spanish Civil War and underwent a refit in 1938. By 1939, she continued to escort convoys in Asia before she joined an Allied fleet and participated in several attempts to repulse Japanese invasions of the East Indies. After several failed attacks, the cruiser was torpedoed and sunk while attempting to prevent the invasion of Java during the Battle of the Java Sea. Her outdated design proved fatal as she lacked modern protections and redundancies. She was struck by a Japanese torpedo on her stern, which caused her aft magazine to detonate. The resulting explosion ripped apart the ship, and she sank in about 15 minutes with most of her crew. ===Sumatra=== Sumatra likewise operated with Java in the East Indies. Upon Java s return from her 1938 refit, Sumatra sailed to Europe where she also escorted convoys during the Spanish Civil War and served as a training ship. She was docked and awaited her own refit in May 1940 when Germany invaded the Netherlands. She then fled for the United Kingdom and was placed under the command of the British Royal Navy. The next month, she sailed for Canada to evacuate members of the Dutch Royal Family and later patrolled the Caribbean and mid-Atlantic for commerce raiding. Later that year, she returned to the East Indies, was retrofitted, and had her crew reassigned to other vessels. After war was declared against Japan, the cruiser fled Asia with only a portion of her crew and machinery online. She sailed around the world and arrived back to the United Kingdom. The Royal Navy viewed her as obsolete, and had her disarmed to replace worn-out weapons on other Dutch vessels and later had her sunk as a breakwater during the construction of an artificial harbor after the Invasion of Normandy. ==See also== List of cruisers of the Netherlands ==Citations== ==Further reading== ==External links== Netherlandsnavy - Detailed breakdown of the class's equipment and ship histories Nationaal Archief - Original blueprints for both ships and related equipment

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