HNLMS Van Meerlant

HNLMS Van Meerlant (ML 36) was a minelayer of the Royal Netherlands Navy built in the Gusto shipyard at Schiedam as part of the Douwe Aukes class.

History
Netherlands
Name:	HNLMS Van Meerlant
Builder:	Gusto shipyard, Schiedam
Laid down:	October 14, 1919[1]
Launched:	November 23, 1920[1]
In service:	July 25, 1922[1]
Out of service:	March 14, 1943[1]
General characteristics
Class and type:	Douwe Aukes class minelayer
Displacement:	687 tonnes[1]
Length:	54.8[1]
Beam:	9.0[1]
Draught:	3.2[1]
Propulsion:	1170 hp[1]
Speed:	12.8 knots[1]
Complement:	60 men[1]
Armament:	1 × 2 12.7 mm machine gun[1] 1 × 6.5 mm machine gun[1] 87 mines (1921 type)[1]

Service

On the general mobilisation of the Dutch military on 28 August 1939, Van Meerlant was deployed to lay minefields, including ones at IJmuiden and the Hook of Holland.[1] She sailed for the United Kingdom from Vlissingen alongside the gunboat Flores, arriving on 18 May 1940.[1] She was first stationed at Falmouth, alongside her sister ship Douwe Aukes and the Dutch ship Medusa.[2] Later that year Van Meerlant was posted to Chatham and assigned to the Thames Local Defence Flotilla, responsible for maintaining the boom defences in the Thames Estuary.[1][3] On 14 March she was transferred to the Royal Navy, retaining her name as HMS Van Meerlant.[1] She was sunk on 4 June 1941 by a mine, with 42 hands killed.[1][4]

Notes

1. Mark, C. Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II Alkmaar: De Alk bv, 1997 94-103
2. naval-history.net :: Royal Navy Ships, 10 June 1940
3. naval-history.net :: Royal Navy Ships, 1 January 1941
4. naval-history.net :: Naval Events, June 1941, Sunday 1st – Saturday 14th

Sources

• Mark, C. Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II Alkmaar: De Alk bv, 1997 94-103