List of active Royal Netherlands Navy ships

This article contains lists of current, future and historically notable Ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

Current ships
The following are currently ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy:

The ships are classified as frigates by the Netherlands Navy, but are classified as destroyers internationally as this better fits their armament and role.

The Holland class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) will fulfill patrol and intervention tasks against lightly armed opponents, such as pirates and smugglers.

There has been discussion about the armament of the Holland class, officially the ship is being fitted with armament as shown in the fact files, however the class carries an exceptionally advanced radar system for just patrol tasks. This indicates that maybe in the future, if needed, the ship can be equipped with heavier weapon systems such as missiles.

Submarine service
HNLMS Walrus (S802) was laid down on 11 October 1979 and launched on 28 October 1985. Completion was delayed because of damage caused by fire in 14 August 1986.

Mine Detection and Clearing Service

 * Tripartite class minehunters
 * HNLMS Makkum (M857)
 * HNLMS Schiedam (M860)
 * HNLMS Urk (M861)
 * HNLMS Zierikzee (M862)
 * HNLMS Vlaardingen (M863)
 * HNLMS Willemstad (M864)


 * Diving support vessels
 * HNLMS Cerberus (A851)
 * HNLMS Argus (A852)
 * HNLMS Nautilus (A853)
 * HNLMS Hydra (A854)

Hydrographical Survey Ships

 * HNLMS Snellius (A802)
 * HNLMS Luymes (A803)

Other ships

 * HNLMS Mercuur (A900) (torpedo training ship)
 * HNLMS Van Kinsbergen (A902) (Naval training vessel)
 * HNLMS Urania (Y8050) (Sailing naval training vessel)

Tugs

 * HNLMS Linge (A874)
 * HNLMS Regge (A875)
 * HNLMS Hunze (A876)
 * HNLMS Rotte (A877)
 * HNLMS Gouwe (A878)


 * HNLMS Breezand (Y8018)
 * HNLMS Balgzand (Y8019)


 * 17 landing craft (Used by the Netherlands Marine Corps)

Coast Guard

 * Netherlands Coastguard
 * Although the Coastguard is not officially part of the Navy, it is under its operational control. It does not have any ships of its own but uses vessels that have been assigned to it by other government ministries.
 * Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Caribbean Netherlands Coastguard
 * 4 patrol boats
 * 6 inshore patrol boats
 * 3 cutters

The Karel Doorman is a multi-function ship for amphibious operations currently under construction, with a scheduled in service date of 2014. It has a large helicopter deck with two landing spots and a roll-on/roll-off deck. It will be the main support ship, along with the two LPDs, of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

The ship has command rooms for war staffs and a large hospital room with 20 treatment rooms. With this ship, the amphibious plan for the navy is complete with two LPDs and one Joint Support Ship.

Royal Netherlands Navy ship prefix
In Dutch, ships are given the prefix "Harer Majesteits" ("her majesty's", abbreviated as "Hr.Ms.") or "Zijner Majesteits" ("his majesty's", abbreviated "Zr.Ms."). In English, the Dutch prefix is translated as "HNLMS" for "Her/His Netherland Majesty's Ship".

Some authors translate Hr./Zr.Ms. as "HNMS" but that abbreviation is ambiguous: the "N" might stand for "Netherlands" or "Norway". The most common way to avoid this ambiguity is to use "HNLMS" and "HNoMS" respectively.