HNLMS Zuiderkruis (1923)

	HNLMS Zuiderkruis
History
Netherlands
Name	Zuiderkruis
Namesake	Zuiderkruis
Builder	Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij, Amsterdam
Laid down	20 January 1922
Launched	17 November 1923
Commissioned	March 1924
In service	26 March 1943
Out of service	1950
Renamed	Bimasakti (As flagship of the Indonesian Navy from 1950 to 1952)
Fate	Transferred to Indonesia in 1950, scrapped in 1952
General characteristics
Type	Auxiliary, submarine tender, seaplane tender
Displacement	2,661 t (2,619 long tons) standard
Length	87.20 m (286 ft 1 in)
Beam	11.2 m (36 ft 9 in)
Draught	4.30 m (14 ft 1 in)
Installed power	1,600 hp (1,200 kW)
Propulsion	2 × Werkspoor triple expansion engines powering 2 shafts
Speed	12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Complement	97
Armament	2 × single 150 mm (5.9 in) Cannons (Optional, not equipped); 2 × single 76 mm (3.0 in) British HA/LA guns; 2 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon guns; 4 × single .30 Colt machine guns;

HNLMS Zuiderkruis was a Royal Netherlands Navy auxiliary ship. Originally constructed for the Government Navy, she was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1938. Laid down as a cable layer with the option for quick conversion to auxiliary cruiser, she came equipped with mounts that would allow the installation of two 5.9-inch (150 mm) cannons and facilities to accommodate two floatplanes.^[1]

Upon her transfer to the Navy, she was converted to a supply ship serving as submarine- and seaplane tender and be recommissioned in March 1939.^[2]^[3]

Service history

Zuiderkruis served throughout the Second World War. After the fall of Java, the ship escaped through Tjilatjap to Ceylon where she served the rest of the war with the British Eastern Fleet.^[1]^[2]

After the war ended, Zuiderkruis returned to the Dutch East Indies and served there until 1947 when she was be rebuilt as a survey vessel. In 1950 she was transferred to the Indonesian Navy and renamed Bimasakti. She served as the flagship of the Indonesian Navy until being scrapped in 1952.^[1]^[2]

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c von Münching, L. L. (1978). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in de tweede wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Alkmaar: Alk. ISBN 978-90-6013-903-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c Mark, Chris (1997). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II. Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 978-90-6013-522-8.
^ Helfrich, Conrad Emile Lambert (1950). Memoires van Admiraal Helfrich Amsterdam: Elsevier.

[Munching-1] von Münching, L. L. (1978). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in de tweede wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Alkmaar: Alk. ISBN 978-90-6013-903-5.

[Mark-2] Mark, Chris (1997). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II. Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 978-90-6013-522-8.

[3] Helfrich, Conrad Emile Lambert (1950). Memoires van Admiraal Helfrich Amsterdam: Elsevier.

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