Holland-class cruiser

The Holland class was a class of six pantserdekschepen (protected cruisers) of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The class was built in two groups, each consisting of three ships.

Design
The design was based on the British Apollo-class cruiser. The first 3 ships of the class were 93.3 m long while the last three were 94.7 m long, had a beam of 14.8 m, a draught of 5.41 m, and had a displacement of 3,840 ton. The last 3 ships were slightly larger and displaced 130 tons more than the first 3 ships. The ships were equipped with 2 shaft reciprocating engines, which were rated at 10000 ihp and produced a top speed of 20 kn. The ships had 5 cm deck armour. The main armament of the ships were two 5.9 in single guns. Secondary armament included six single 4.7 in guns and four 3 in single guns.

Construction
The class was built in two groups each consisting of 3 ships. The ships were laid down at Rijkswerf in Amsterdam, Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde in Flushing and Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij in Rotterdam.

Service history
On 19 October 1900 Gelderland transported Paul Kruger to Europe during the Second Boer War. Holland together with Koningin Wilhelmina der Nederlanden and the Evertsen class coastal defence ship HNLMS Piet Hein (1894) where send to Shanghai to defend the Dutch interest during the Boxer Rebellion. Holland and Zeeland together with the coastal defence ships Hertog Hendrik, Koningin Regentes and De Ruyter assisted the KNIL during the Aceh War. In 1908 Friesland, Gelderland and the coastal defence ship Jacob Van Heemskerck where send to patrol the Venezuelan coast during the second Castro crisis . Friesland and Utrecht where decommissioned in 1913 with the remaining four being modernized. During the World War I all remaining ships were stationed in Dutch home waters. Holland and Zeeland were decommissioned in 1920 and 1924 while Noord Brabant became an accommodation ship in 1920. A role she fulfilled until she was damaged during the German invasion in World War II. Gelderland became a training ship in 1920. She was captured by Germany in 1940, renamed Niobe and sunk during the war in Kotka harbour in Finland on 16 July 1944.