HNLMS Koning der Nederlanden

HNLMS Koning der Nederlanden (Dutch: Zr.Ms. Koning der Nederlanden) was an iron-hulled ironclad turret ship built for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the early 1870s. She was the largest ship to serve in the Dutch Navy during the 19th century. The ship was converted to a barracks ship in the late 1890s and stationed in Surabaya in the Dutch East Indies. Koning der Nederlanden was scuttled in Surabaya on 2 March 1942, during the Battle of Java, to prevent her capture by the Japanese.

Design and description
HNLMS Koning der Nederlanden was the largest ship built for the Dutch Navy during the 19th century. She was fitted with a ram that protruded 1.22 m from the bow. The ship's gun turrets were only 3.3 m above the waterline, but the freeboard could be increased by use of hinged bulwarks. The turrets were rotated by hydraulic machinery.

The ship had an length between perpendiculars of 268 ft, a beam of 49 ft, and a draught of 19 ft. She displaced 5400 t. Her crew consisted of 256 officers and men.

Propulsion
Koning der Nederlanden had two compound steam engines, built by Penn and Sons, each driving a single 4.876 m propeller. The engines were powered by seven boilers. The engines produced a total of 4630 ihp which gave the ship a maximum speed of 11.95 kn during her sea trials that began on 26 July 1877. She carried 620 LT of coal and had three funnels. The ship was barque-rigged with three masts and had a total sail area of 847 sqm.

Armament
The ship mounted a pair of Armstrong 11 in rifled muzzle-loading guns in each gun turret. Each gun weighed 25.4 LT. Four 120 mm Krupp breech-loading guns were mounted on the upper deck and six 37 mm Hotchkiss 5-barrel revolving guns were also fitted in the ship's superstructure. They fired a shell weighing about 1.1 lb at a muzzle velocity of about 2000 ft/s to a range about 3500 yd. They had a rate of fire of about 30 rounds per minute The ship was initially armed with spar torpedoes, but they were removed shortly after completion.

Armor
Koning der Nederlanden had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was 200 mm thick amidships, but reduced to 150 mm at the bow and stern. Each gun turret, and its base, was protected by 230 mm armor plates, although the total thickness around the gun ports was 305 mm. The deck was unarmored.

Service
Koning der Nederlanden was laid down at the Rijkswerf in Amsterdam on 31 December 1871. She was launched on 20 October 1874 and commissioned on 16 February 1877. During construction the ship designed by B.J. Tideman was renamed from Matador to Koning der Nederlanden. The 37-millimeter guns were replaced by two quick-firing, 75 mm guns and four 37-millimeter quick-firers by 1890. The ship decommissioned on 1 April 1895 and began her conversion to an accommodation and guard ship at Surabaya Dockyard in August 1896. She retained all four of her 120-millimeter and two of her 37-millimeter guns when she recommissioned on 1 December 1899. From 1916 to 1923 she based in Soerabaja in the Dutch East Indies and was attached to the Submarine Service and served as submarine depot ship. The Koning der Nederlanden was relieved from this role by the ship Pelikaan. She was set on fire in Surabaya and then scuttled to prevent her capture by the Japanese during World War II on 2 March 1942.