Alkmaar class
 The Schiedam
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The Alkmaar class is a type of minehunter belonging to the Royal Dutch Navy . The Alkmaar class minehunters are the backbone of the Netherlands' anti-naval defense systems . The lead ship was the already decommissioned Alkmaar (M 850). All 15 boats were named after Dutch cities and towns.
Development and construction
In 1974, Belgium , France and the Netherlands started a joint venture to develop a new class of mine hunters, which was built and commissioned in the three countries in the 1980s. Because of this cooperation, these mine hunters are known internationally as the Tripartite class . France supplied the anti-mine equipment for all boats, Belgium the electronics and the Netherlands the drive. The boats themselves were built in the countries involved in the project. The Dutch units were manufactured by Van der Giessen-De Noord in Alblasserdam between 1979 and 1989 .
Boats
Between 1983 and 1989, 15 mine-hunting boats were put into service. At the beginning of the 21st century, five boats were decommissioned due to a reorganization of the national defense. In July 2005 these boats were sold to Latvia for 57 million euros and put into service by the local navy after an overhaul . In 2011 4 more boats were decommissioned.
- M 850 Alkmaar (out of service)
- M 851 Delfzijl (out of service)
- M 852 Dordrecht (out of service)
- M 853 Haarlem (out of service)
- M 854 Harlingen (out of service)
- M 855 Scheveningen (out of service)
- M 856 Maassluis (out of service)
- M 857 Makkum
- M 858 Middelburg (out of service)
- M 859 Hellevoetsluis (out of service)
- M 860 Schiedam
- M 861 Urk
- M 862 Zierikzee
- M 863 Vlaardingen
- M 864 Willemstad
Technical specifications
The boats are 51.5 m long, 8.9 m wide and have a draft of 3.8 m. The water displacement is 605 t. The fuselage was made of a fiber composite material consisting of glass fibers and polyester ; aluminum was used for the superstructure . In addition to a low weight, this design also leads to a low magnetic signature . For self-defense, the boats with a are Giat -F2- automatic cannon caliber arms cm 2.0, based on the foredeck located.
drive
The main drive consists of a Werkspoor RUB 215 V12 diesel engine with an output of 1370 kW , which drives a variable-pitch propeller via a shaft . The boat thus reaches a top speed of 15 knots. The operational range is 3000 nautical miles at 12 knots. In order to be able to maintain maneuverability at low speeds during mine hunting operations , the boats have two active rudders , each with a propeller with a fixed pitch, which is driven by an electric motor with an output of 180 kW.
Mine defense
The minehunters have a hull-mounted Thomson Sintra DUBM 21B sonar for mine search . The boats can be equipped with an additional module for mine defense. The modules are installed in 20 ft ISO containers , for which there is space on each boat. This means that all boats can perform different tasks depending on their equipment.
On each boat there are two ROV "PAP-104 B" (Poisson Autopropulses) with which objects at a depth between 10 and 120 m can be identified and fought between 10 and 100 m. The underwater drones are 2.7 m long, 1.2 m wide, weigh 700 kg and can carry a mine destruction charge of 100 kg. They are driven and controlled by two screws with an electric drive, the speed that can be achieved is 5 kn. The drones are controlled via a cable connection with a length of up to 500 m from the boat. With their own sensors , the drones have a camera with searchlight and a close-range sonar.
For use by mine divers , the boats can be equipped with a decompression chamber that is housed in a container.
Each minehunter can operate with up to four hollow bar boats . The control of the H-boats is also housed in a modular 20-foot container.
Modernization program
The ten boats in the Alkmaar class and six boats in the Belgian Flower class were modernized between 2004 and 2008. The integrated mine destruction systems (“Integrated Mine Countermeasure System”, “IMCMS” for short), which are to be scaffolded, link mine hunting systems with remote-controlled mine clearance systems and have several modern sensor systems and weapons for mine destruction.
The German mine-destruction drone Seafox from Atlas Elektronik was to be used to combat mines . The sonar will be realized jointly by Atlas Elektronik and Thales Underwater Systems . The ROV "Double Eagle MkIII" from the Swedish manufacturer Saab Bofors Dynamics was to be purchased as an underwater vehicle .
In 2011 it was decided to reduce the number to six boats.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alkmaarklasse mijnenjagers on marineschepen.nl, accessed on October 23, 2016.