Mr. Ms. Sumatra
 The Sumatra during a visit to Pearl Harbor (1927).
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The Mr. Ms. Sumatra was a light cruiser in the Dutch Navy that was built during World War I and entered service in 1926. The ship, approved in July 1915, belonged to the two-unit Java class and was named after the Indonesian island of Sumatra , which was a Dutch colony at the time. The keel laying of the Sumatra took place on July 15, 1916 at the Nederlandse Scheepsbouw Maatschappij in Amsterdam . As a result of the effects of the war (delivery bottlenecks) and also because of the strictly observed eight-hour working day in the neutral Netherlands, construction initially proceeded very slowly. As a result, the launch took place either on December 29, 1920 or December 19, 1921 (the information on this is contradictory). However, new delays soon arose, on the one hand the turbines manufactured by the Kiel Germania shipyard could only be delivered after the end of the First World War and the conclusion of the Versailles contract and on the other hand, on May 31, 1922, a fire occurred on the premises of Werkspoor , whereby the turbine sets that have just been delivered have been destroyed. Since the Germaniawerft due to the conditions of the peace treaty was initially able to provide any additional matching turbines, the Dutch navy for the installation of then decided Zoelly - geared turbines of the Swiss company Escher Wyss & Cie. , which were only delivered in 1923. The further construction of the cruiser, now regarded as out of date, was again slow, so that the commissioning could not take place until May 26, 1926.
Technical details, armament and modifications
The Sumatra was a maximum of 155.30 m long and 16.00 m wide. When fully loaded, the draft was 6.22 m. Eight oil fired Schulz-Thornycroft water-tube boilers , and three Zoelly - transmission turbines , headed for the three shafts, enabled with a maximum engine power of 82,000 WPS, the cruiser a speed of 30.25 knots (56 km / h). The oil supply was 1,200 tons, which enabled the ship to have a sea endurance of 3,600 nautical miles (cruising at 15 knots).
The armament of the Sumatra consisted of ten individually positioned 15 cm L / 50 Mark 6 cannons of the Bofors type and four 7.5 cm L / 55 Mark 4 cannons (also from Bofors). There were also four 12.7 mm machine guns . The 15 cm guns were set up so that seven cannons could be brought to bear on one broadside ; Two guns each stood in an elevated position in front of and aft of the main superstructure, three further cannons were installed on the upper deck on both sides of the ship next to the superstructures. The guns were in turret shields that were open to the rear and were 100 mm thick. During the service period, the armament was modified several times. The 7.5 cm cannons were disembarked as early as 1935 and were replaced by six 4 cm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, and four additional 12.7 mm machine guns came on board. By around 1942, the eight machine guns were completely replaced by six 2 cm Oerlikon flak . At about the same time, Sumatra received two depth charges with ten depth charges . The mine-laying devices had already been largely dismantled in the 1930s and were completely dismantled by 1942.
A torpedo armament and an airplane catapult were not on board the cruiser. The two seaplanes that were carried along (including the Fokker C.IV and Fokker C.XI-w machines ) had to be deployed by a slewing crane behind the aft chimney and then took off from the surface of the water.
period of service
Use in the Dutch East Indies
After the commissioning, Sumatra moved to the Dutch East Indies via Gibraltar and Suez at the end of 1926 . There the cruiser took over security and colonial services in the following years, including Shanghai in February 1927 . After tensions between Chinese nationalists and communists had developed there, the cruiser dropped a 140-man landing party in the port, which was supposed to protect Dutch interests in the city's business district. However, there was no fighting. In May 1927 Sumatra returned to the Dutch East Indies.
In the following years a series of partly longer shipyard idle times followed in Surabaya (among other things because of a damage to a turbine at the end of 1929). Another incident occurred on July 27, 1930 when a fire broke out in the engine room during a speed test. The cruiser suffered considerable damage. The miner Mr. Ms. Krakatau was towed to Surabaya and went to the shipyard there until November 1930. On May 14, 1931, during a maneuver near the island of Madura , the Sumatra ran into an underwater rock that was not shown on the nautical charts. The ship could only be recovered after three days and was repaired again in Surabaya by September 20, 1931. In 1934/35, Sumatra also spent a longer period in dock there in order to modernize its light armament. The cruiser was temporarily taken out of service.
After being taken back into service in late summer 1935, Sumatra made a visit to Saigon in November 1935 . The ship remained on colonial station in Asia until 1938, when the cruiser moved back to the Netherlands .
Use in World War II
After the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Sumatra took over security and patrol duties in the Dutch home waters. Among other things, she guided merchant ships of the warring states (the Netherlands had declared their neutrality at the outbreak of war ) through their own waters. The commander of the cruiser at that time was Kapitein ter Zee Coenraad H. Brouwer. The ship also helped on the night of 6/7. March 1940 during the salvage of crew members of the Dutch submarine Mr. Ms. O 11 , which sank after a collision with the tug BV-3 near Den Helder . The submarine was lifted again a day later, but three crew members of O 11 were killed in the accident.
At the time of the German attack on the Netherlands on May 10, 1940, Sumatra was in Vlissingen and fired its weapons in combat for the first time on the same day when it shot at German seaplanes that were dropping mines off Vlissingen from the air (albeit also unsuccessful). In order not to fall into German hands, the cruiser set sail for the United Kingdom on the morning of May 11 and reached the port of Immingham a day later . There the ship was equipped with a cable wrapped around the entire hull to protect against magnetic mines .
In June 1940 the Sumatra moved via Milford Haven to Halifax, Canada . On board were Prince Bernhard zur Lippe-Biesterfeld and Princess Juliana (who later became Queen of the Netherlands) as well as their children, who were to be brought to safety in Canada. In the following months, the cruiser operated off the US east coast , in the Caribbean and in the Atlantic , mostly securing British troop transports. Among other things, Kingston and Curaçao were also called. In July 1940, Sumatra also participated in the (unsuccessful) search for the German merchant cruiser Widder in the western mid-Atlantic. At the beginning of September 1940 the Sumatra was detached to the Dutch East Indies and consequently moved to Surabaya via Cape Town and Mauritius . Machine problems had already occurred during the approach, which is why the cruiser had to be docked shortly after arrival. Subsequent inspections revealed that cracks had formed on the turbine foundations. As the maximum speed had to be limited to only 15 kn , the ship was temporarily decommissioned on October 16, 1940.
After the outbreak of the Pacific War and in the context of the associated advance of Japanese forces towards the Dutch East Indies, the (not yet repaired) cruiser was put back into service at the end of January 1942 and relocated because it was not suitable for combat missions due to its low top speed February 3, 1942 via Trincomalee and Bombay to Portsmouth . During this transfer march, only four of the eight boilers and two of the three turbines were still working at times (which, however, could only be operated at reduced speeds). As a result of this serious engine problems which reached Sumatra Portsmouth, where the ship in November 1942 until October 30, 1942. launched and remained for about one and a half years in this state.
Whereabouts
On April 29, 1944, the Sumatra was finally decommissioned and handed over to the Royal Navy . Only manned by a hull crew, the ship, under British command, was brought off the coast of Normandy after the start of the Allied landings in Normandy and sunk there as a breakwater off Ouistreham itself on June 9, 1944 , to help build the Mulberry- Shield the B-section "Gooseberry 5" against the impact of waves. The ship was about 4,500 m from the coastline and in about 7.5 m deep water, which is why the superstructure and large parts of the hull still protruded from the water.
The wreck remained offshore for several years and was gradually partially shattered by storms. It was not until 1951 that the remains of Sumatra were dismantled and scrapped.
Individual evidence
- ^ Whitley, Mike J .: Cruiser in World War II. Classes, types, construction dates. Stuttgart 1997, p. 220.
- ^ Whitley: Kreuzer , p. 220.
- ↑ http://www.netherlandsnavy.nl/Sumatra_his.htm
- ↑ http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats/boat_o11.htm
- ^ Whitley: Kreuzer , p. 222.
literature
- Whitley, Mike J .: Cruiser in World War II. Classes, types, construction dates . Stuttgart 1997, pp. 220-222.
