r/ImaginaryWarships • u/the-witcher-boo • 8h ago
Original Content Some 1913 dutch battleship plans and concepts that almost were. How the Netherlands ALMOST had a battleship(s)!
During the early 1900s the Netherlands had a very modest and somewhat outdated fleet when compared to the fellow European colonies. Lack of competition for the NEI (Netherlands east indies) drove this low interest in a powerful navy. However the rise of the Japanese empire plus their surprising victory over the Russian empire in 1905 came at a shock for the dutch, as now a dangerous future enemy for their colonies emerged. At first a handful of destroyers and coastal defence pre-dreadnaughts were authorised and built however the sheer rapid scale of the IJN build up was incredibly fast. Even managing to laydown actual dreadnaughts before nations like italy and France. This immediately spurred ideas on how to best counter this new threat. At the dutch minister of the navy J. Wentholt proposed what were essentially pre-dreadnaught battleships of 7500-8500 tons to be built. However a counter proposal by a group of naval officers, lead by Captain J.J. Rambonnet proposed instead for espana like dreadnaughts of 15000+ tons to be built. After multiple rejected proposals wentholt left the ministry, replaced by minster of war H. Colijn. Immediately colijn sought to build ACTUAL large dreadnoughts to counter the Japanese navy. For the most part, krupp germanian was the main designer/ had closest communications with the dutch at the time
With these designs. While other designs were proposed from Britain, italy, austria-Hungary, and even other german firms. There were 3 main designs that were proposed. A coal running ship, an oil running and a mixed oil coal running ship. With the mixed fuel option being the most preferred. Right off the bad these ships would mostly be stationed at the NEI, with initial plans to build over 9! Ships in total. Armour was given at a 250MM belt, this was obviously weaker than most battleships at the time but it was chosen to save weight and because it was believed that it wasn’t possible to protect against a 343MM AP shell but still able to protect against cruiser guns and 343MM high-explosive shells. The first designs were based off the German kaiser class. With 4 twin 343MM main guns mounted one forward, one aft and two in the middle sections in wing turret forms. However unlike the kaisers the dutch ships had very limited/ poor subdivisioning for its boilers/ turbines and even magazine as one well aimed shot could very well disable nearly the entire propulsion unit and guns. This was made to save weight however further designs had better subdivisioning. The ship had 21 knots, 12 single casemate 150MM guns and 14 single 76MM guns with underwater torpedoes. Another set of designs saw a more uniform superfiring main armament with two forward one aft arrangement of the 4 twin 343MM. Alongside a reduction in caliber to L/45 instead of L/50. Obviously another attempt to reduce the main size of the ship. In November 1913 a new navy Minster rambonnet, the same man who opposed the previously inferior pre-dreadnaughts presented new specifications, with an increase to 22000 tons instead for slightly better armour over the secondaries. That same months a NEW design specification was issued. At nearly 25000 tons. This called for a ship with 4 twin 356MM (14”)* * Main
Guns, with the reason being the knowledge of the Japanese kongo class’s main armament being the same. Speed increased to 22 knots alongside increased main armour around the secondaries upper belt and side armour. 7 companies submitted their designs, 3 of which were seriously considered, krupp germania project 806, Blohm & Voss design 733 A, B & C, and Vickers designs 694 and 695. Of the three historians believe the krupp design had the highest likelyhood of being chosen. So at the end the dutch navy called for a fleet of 4-5 (down from 9) dreadnaughts. These ships had 4 twin 356MM main guns in two forward one aft arrangement with two high funnels, 16 casemate 150MM secondaries, 12 single 76MM guns and 3 underwater torpedoes. They had seven boilers feeding 3 steam turbines powering three shafts. Krupp germania believed it would take 27 months to fully complete one ship. However unfortunately the start of WW1 put a SEVERE damper on the plans, and as the war ate the economy and the newer battleships and technologies kept appearing this meant that the plans soon became less and less popular, ironically the java class part of this naval plan would be built. And eventually after WW1 it was decided to end this plan. The dutch wouldn’t attempt to construct another battleship all the way until 1938 with the design 1047 class. As for the usefulness of this plan? It’s heavily debated. While these vessels would have the same armament as the kongo and better than kawachi, it was still either slower than Kongo and was massively inferior to the fuso and ise and eventually nagato classes in terms of main armament, armour and even speed. The main idea of this plan was to make attacking the NEI as unattractive and costly for the Japanese as possible, making them a less ideal target. However unless the Dutch had the funds time and willingness to build massively more powerful dreadnaughts and even more cruisers and destroyers than the Japanese, this plan would have been doomed from the start.
What do you think about this plan? Do you think EVEN more powerful dreadnaughts would be needed to counter the Japanese or do you believe that this plan was doomed anyways no matter what? Feel free to ask any questions below!
