Named after Abraham Crijnssen , a 17th-century Dutch conqueror, the warship was the third of eight Jan van Amstel- class anti-mine boats and was built in Schiedam, the Netherlands.
The Abraham Crijnssen was stationed in the Dutch East Indies when the colony was attacked by Japan in 1941. After the destruction of the Allied fleet in the Battle of the Java Sea , they were ordered to leave for Australia. The crew camouflaged the deck so thickly with wood that the warship could hardly be distinguished from one of the countless small islands in the region overgrown with jungle. Disguised in this way, the Dutch managed to break through the Japanese lines undetected.
On August 26, 1942, the Abraham Crijnssen was handed over to the Australian Navy and operated there until May 5, 1943 under the name HMAS Abraham Crijnssen . The ship then served the Dutch Navy under its old name as a patrol boat until 1945. On June 7, 1945 Abraham Crijnssen left Sydney for Darwin with the task of towing the Dutch submarine K IX . During the trip, the tow broke and K IX was washed up on a beach. Until 1949 the ship was used as a patrol boat and for mine clearance in the Dutch East Indies. After independence from the Dutch East Indies in 1949, the ship returned to the Netherlands. Until 1961 it was used by sea cadets. In 1995 it was decided to keep the Abraham Crijnssen for posterity. Since 1997 the ship can be visited in the naval museum of Den Helder .
