HNLMS De Ruyter (), was an unprotected cruiser built in Amsterdam for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the 1879–1880.
Ordering and construction
Ordering By building the s, the Dutch Navy had opted for a large iron cruiser to replace the steam corvettes which defended the Dutch East Indies. The Atjeh class brought many innovations, like an iron hull, much larger size, rigging, breechloaders below deck etc. De Ruyter would be the fourth ship of this class. In November 1877 the minister for the navy announced that he would postpone the construction of De Ruyter till Atjeh had been proven to be successful. In the budget this was implemented by shifting 10% of the cost of one ship, from the fourth ship to the completion of the third ship.
In 1878 Atjeh started her trials. First came the speed trials, and experiments with the type of propeller. Next came experiments with using the steam engines at very low, or even zero pressure, which continued in May 1878. These were important for deciding on the type of steam engine to use for De Ruyter. In June and July trials under sail followed. After all these trials proved very successful, Atjeh was commissioned in mid August 1878. In September 1878, the budget for 1879 then indeed showed allocation for building the fourth ship of the Atjeh class.
Construction
De Ruyter was laid down at Rijkswerf Amsterdam on 7 January 1879. On that day, King William III of the Netherlands married Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont. At that moment, the cruiser Koningin Emma, which was up to then named De Ruyter, was almost ready to be launched. On account of the marriage, De Ruyter was then renamed Koningin Emma der Nederlanden, and a new De Ruyter was laid down on the same day.
In mid September 1880 Elisabeth of Wied, Princess of Romania (not yet a kingdom in 1880), and Princess Marie of Nassau, Princess-Widow von Wied arrived in Amsterdam. They were later joined by Queen Sophia of Sweden. On 21 September Elisabeth, Marie and the Consul of Sweden visited the Rijkswerf Amsterdam, and the training ship Wassenaar. On 22 September 1880 De Ruyter was launched. The launch was attended by the two princesses and the Dutch minister of the navy. The Princess of Romania would become the ship's sponsor. With a small axe she cut a rope, launching the ship.
On 30 May 1881 the Lieutenants 2nd class B. Brutel de la Rivière and W.J. Cohen Stuart left the guardship at Willemsoord with 50 NCO's and sailors. Their mission was to bring De Ruyter to Willemsoord under command of Jonkheer J.C.L. von Schmidt auf Altenstadt. On 31 May De Ruyter and Stier left IJmuiden for Nieuwediep, where they arrived the same day.
Trials The steam engines of De Ruyter were made by Fijenoord. They were of a three-cylinder compound type, with two low-pressure cylinders and one high-pressure cylinder. The first trial of the machine took place with the ship moored near the Rijkswerf Amsterdam. De Ruyter then steamed to Willemsoord for more extensive trials. On 13 July 1881 the first sea trial took place. While steaming for four hours at 1,856 ihp, coal consumption was 0.74 kg/ihp/h and speed was 13.2 kn. This was well within the required 0.9 kg/ihp/h at 1,750-2,200 ihp. An operating mistake then caused that the full speed trial had to be postponed due to some repairs.
On 27 July 1881 the full-speed trial took place. During four hours, De Ruyter made 14.5 knots at 86.3 turns and with well over 3,000 ihp. During 1.5 hours, she even made 14.86 knots at 88 turns. On 28 July a trial at moderate speed took place. With two boilers and steaming at about 9 knots, coal consumption was 235 kg per geographical mile. With a coal storage of 226 ton, this would give a projected range of 900 miles, well over the specified 600 miles at 8 knots. The final trials on 27 and 28 July were attended by inspectors F.W. Hudig and J.K. Beucker Andreae. As a direct result, the same engines were ordered for Van Speyk.
In Ordinary After the trials, De Ruyter still required some work. On 9 August 1881 she arrived back in IJmuiden, from whence she continued to the Rijkswerf Amsterdam in order to be finished. On 18 October 1881 De Ruyter left Rijkswerf Amsterdam again, towed by two tugboats. She was commanded by Lieutenant 1st class J.C.L. von Schmidt auf Altenstadt. The ship without sails would be towed to IJmuiden. On the same day, she left IJmuiden again. She was escorted to Nieuwediep by Buffel. Both arrived in Nieuwediep at midnight. At Willemsoord, De Ruyter was placed in ordinary.
First service in the Dutch East Indies
Voyage to the Dutch East Indies In early 1885 plans to commission De Ruyter for a trip to the Dutch East Indies became known. In mid-July 1885 Captain Jonkheer T.E. de Brauw was appointed to take command of De Ruyter on 1 August. In June she had already run a trial, during which she made 14 knots. On 4 July 1885 she ran another trial. Another trial followed on 10 July, when she made 13.3 kn at 5.49 m average draft. On 27 August a very short trial was held, in which she steamed 13.75 kn at an average draft of 5.88 m, which was not a typical trial run. The plan was to use steam continuously in order to reach the Dutch East Indies in the shortest possible time, the navy hoped for 35 days. De Ruyter was equipped with 316 men, 13 weeks of provisions, 22,000 liters of water, and 366 tons of coal. Draft was 5.62 m fore and 6.76 m aft.
On 1 September 1885 De Ruyter left Nieuwdiep, and anchored in the Texel roadstead. On 2 September she was inspected by the commander of Willemsoord, lifted anchor and steamed into the North Sea. With four boilers in use, the machine made 60 strokes, and with an east-southeast wind of 6 Beaufort, the sails were also put to use, resulting in a speed of 10-11 knots. In the morning of 3 September De Ruyter entered the English Channel against a strong southwest wind. Near St Catherine's Point (Isle of Wight), the machines broke down. De Ruyter then sailed at 3.5-4.75 kn for about 8 hours. After the machines were repaired, the lighthouse of Ushant was seen in the evening of 4 September. As expected, performance of the ship proved a lot worse in reality than during trials. With a strong wind from the southwest, and strong swell, speed was 1-2 knots slower, and coal consumption double that of the trials. However, the inexperience and sea sickness of the young stokers also played its part. On the 7th, the wind turned, and so the ship could also use the square and other sails, which increased speed to 11 knots. On 8 September De Ruyter passed Cape St. Vincent and signaled the semaphore that she would visit Malta, because she had not enough coal to reach Port Said. New machine trouble then again forced her captain to shut down the machines, but luckily a 5 bft. northern wind allowed her to continue under sail at 6 knots. On 9 September she passed Gibraltar. On a very calm sea with almost no wind, coal consumption continued to be way too high, because many pipes were leaking. Indeed, in some of the boilers, all pipes leaked, and De Ruyter only just reached Malta on the 13th. The report that the captain sent from Malta was very enthusiastic about all aspects of the ship, except about the machines.
On Malta De Ruyter bunkered, and repaired multiple types of tubes and two auxiliary machines. The cost would be 21.3.3 GBP. The captain noted that all English commanders asked whether De Ruyter really did not have electrical lighting, a search light, torpedo boat and whitehead torpedoes. After repairs and taking in supplies, e.g. 126,000 liters of fresh water, draft was 5.1 m and 6.5 m aft. De Ruyter left Malta on 18 September. Attempt to make 70 turns immediately led to parts of the machinery overheating, and so this could not be done. On 22 September De Ruyter reached Port Said.
On the 25th, De Ruyter left Suez. The north and north east winds increased speed to 10-10.5 knots, and the machines worked well at 60 strokes. On the 26th the square sails were raised, the machines increased to 66 strokes, and the speed increased to 11-11.25 kn. She reached Aden on 1 October.
After leaving Aden, De Ruyter tried to steam slower, and to make more use of the sails in order to save coal, but this had little effect on coal consumption. On 5 October the steam engines were stopped again. Some mechanical defects were found, and again, many tubes were found to be leaking. After some repairs and cleaning, it was found that 10 more strokes (55 instead 45) could be made with the same coal consumption. After many more problems with the engines, De Ruyter reached Galle on Sri Lanka on 13 October.
In Galle, De Ruyter was visited by Gustav Semsey de Semse, commander of the Austrian corvette SMS Frundsberg. De Ruyter left Galle on 14 October. On the 15th the machine broke down completely, and so the ship continued under sail while repairs were ongoing. Under sail she reached 4-4.5 kn, but on the 16th this descreased to 2-2.5 kn. On the 19th the engine broke down again, with the same part, the high-pressure breaking. While the last reserve high-pressure was put in place, De Ruyter drifted in a windless area. On the 21st the machines were operational again. The captain now decided to continue to Batavia with 50 strokes maximum. Nevertheless, on the 24th the last high-pressure broke. Now De Ruyter had to work against a strong wind, using only the two low pressure cylinders. With these and four boilers, the machine could only make 45-48 strokes at 5,500-6,000 kg coal consumption / four hours. On the 25th the distance to Batavia was still 88 miles, and coal storage 90 tons. De Ruyter arrived in Batavia at 1 o'clock on 27 October.
In the Dutch East Indies
After arrival in Batavia on 27 October 1885, De Ruyter was inspected by the Naval commander of the Dutch East Indies on 3 November. She then continued to Onrust Island to bunker some coal at Cipir (Kuiper) Island. On 5 November she left for Surabaya, where she arrived on the 9th. The repair facilities and harbor of Surabaya were very busy, and therefore repairs were made while De Ruyter anchored in the roadstead. Repairs were so substantial that she was out of service till 16 June 1886. On that day she made a trial run for several days to get a smooth operation of the parts of the high-pressure cylinder. After that, she anchored in Semarang on 22 June. Here, the Naval commander of the Dutch East Indies embarked again on the 27th, and inspected the ship en route. De Ruyter reached Batavia on 29 June.
After bunkering coal, and some gunnery exercises, De Ruyter still required some maintenance below the water line. Normally this would have been done on Onrust Dock of 5,000 tons, but this was in repair in Surabaya from May 1886 till May 1887. De Ruyter therefore left for Singapore to have her zinc outer hull cleaned and painted. This job would take only two days, but she remained in Singapore from 12 to 24 July 1886, because of trouble in Atjeh. On receipt of a telegram from Batavia she sailed back again, arriving there on 27 July. She was then held ready in the Port of Tanjung Priok.
On 6 August 1886 De Ruyter left for Atjeh. En route she visited Penang, where the 100th anniversary of the state was being celebrated. On 14 August she reached Ulèë Lheuë (Port of Banda Aceh, known in Dutch as Oleh-Leh). Next De Ruyter cruised the coast to intimidate the locals, and to collect fines. Part of this included a landing on shore. On 23 September 1886 she was back at Ulèë Lheuë. Meanwhile, troubles with high-pressure cylinder parts were still not solved completely. De Ruyter continued at Ulèë Lheuë till 18 October. While there, she was part of a punishment expedition against a part of Aceh known as 'VI Moekims', together with Macassar and Merapi.