HNLMS Tromp (1937)

HNLMS Tromp was the lead ship of the Tromp-class light cruisers of the Royal Netherlands Navy during and after World War II.

Originally designated as a flotilla leader and a torpedo cruiser in the Deckers Fleet Plan of 1931, she was laid down at the "Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij" (Netherlands Shipbuilding Company), Amsterdam, in 1936 and commissioned on 18 August 1938. She was named after Admirals Maarten Tromp and Cornelis Tromp.

Service history
The Tromp sailed to Asian waters before the outbreak of World War II.

On 8 December 1941 Tromp was in the western Java Sea searching for the missing HMAS Sydney (D48). She was assigned to the Combined Striking Force, ABDA Command in January 1942 for the defence of the Dutch East Indies. Tromp was badly damaged off Bali on 18 February 1942 during the Battle of Badung Strait, when she was hit by eleven 5 in (127 mm) shells from the Japanese destroyer JAPANESE DESTROYER Asashio, severely damaging her and hit both Japanese destroyers, killing four men on Asashio and seven on JAPANESE DESTROYER Oshio in return. The ship was then sent to Australia for repairs.

On 18 May, in company with HMAS Arunta (I30)], Tromp escorted convoy "ZK.8" out of Sydney composed of the Dutch ships Bantam, Bontekoe, Van Heemskerk and Van Heutsz bound for Port Moresby with 4,735 troops of the Australian 14th Brigade.

Later she served with the US Seventh Fleet and the British Eastern Fleet. The ship participated in raids on Sabang in April and Surabaya in May 1944.

During the war she was repeatedly reported as having been destroyed by the Imperial Japanese Navy, earning her the reputation of being one of "the most reportedly sunk ship" of the war. Because she kept showing up despite being declared sunk by the Japanese she was given the nickname "The Ghost Ship".

From 1949 Tromp was used as a training ship, was decommissioned in 1955, and scrapped in 1969.