An item published in the newspaper Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant dated 4 January 1905 gives a good impression of what was going on. The correspondent of the newspaper Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant at Batavia telegraphed that two Japanese auxiliary cruisers were active around Java, a flotilla of Japanese destroyers was located North of Borneo while the Dutch navy was cruising along the western beaches of the Archipelago. Another newspaper the Java-Bode dated 8 December 1905 reported that the protected cruiser Utrecht left Surabaya 5 December for Amboyna probably to cruise for the Russian Baltic fleet which was expected to arrive around 18 December in the Archipelago and would pass through one of the straits between the little Sunda islands and no through Malacca Strait. Possible would part of the Russian fleet pass the Sunda Strait where probably an other Dutch protected cruiser would ‘welcome’ them.
The photo below of the Hr.Ms. Zeeland was published in the Dutch magazine De Prins dated 30 October 1920 while she was at IJmuiden juist for her departure towards Vigo.
You could wonder if the Dutch government was really expecting that a ship like the Hr.Ms. Utrecht was able to prevent a major Russian or Japanese warship entering Dutch territorial waters without permission. The Russian Baltic fleet which was renamed Russian Second Pacific Squadron was commanded by admiral Rozhvestvesnky and was underway towards Vladivostok while Port Arthur was captured by the Japanese forces. The Japanese admiral Togo knew that Vladivostok was the destination of the Russian squadron consisting of 38 ships including 8 battleships of which four of the Borodino-class. The latter were new pre-dreadnoughts with a displacement of 13,516 (design)-14,151 (in action in 1905) tons with as dimensions 121 x 23 x 7,9 metres or 397 x 76 x 26’, a crew of 782 men, an armament of 2x2-”30,5cm (12”) guns, 6x2-15,2cm (6”) guns, 20x1-7,5cm (3”) guns, 20x1-4,7cm (2”) guns and 4-38,1cm (15” ) torpedo tubes and an armour consisting of a 19cm belt, a 5,1cm deck and gun turrets protected by maximum 25cm.
And what about the protected cruiser Hr.Ms. Utrecht, did she even had a chance? No way! She was of the second series protected cruisers Holland type with as sister ships the Noordbrabant and the Gelderland. In stead of the cylindrical boilers of the first series these ships were fitted out with Yarrow water tube boilers, was the torpedo launching equipment now situated below the waterline at the bow and the bridge no longer hemisphere shaped but angular. The original Holland-design was based on the British small cruisers of the Apollo-class.
The Utrecht was laid down on 22 May 1897 at the naval yard at Amsterdam, launched on 14 July 1898 and commissioned on 1 March 1901. She arrived on 20 June 1902 at Tandjong Priok coming from the Dutch West Indies and joined her sister ships in the so-called Java division and returning on 17 June 1905 to the Netherlands arriving on 25 August at Flushing. After some other voyages was she in 1912 decommissioned to undergo major repairs which were never executed. She was sold on 28 May 1913 to be broken up. And what about her technical specifications. Her crew numbered 325 men, a maximum speed of 19,62 miles, a displacement of 4,033 tons, an armour consisting of a 5 cm deck and a conning tower protected by 10cm and an armament of 2-15cm guns, 6-12cm guns, 6-7,5cm guns, 12-3,7cm guns, 2-7,5cm mortars, 2 torpedo tubes and 2 torpedo guns.
To get an impression about the strength of the Dutch navy in 1905 in the Dutch East Indies we can use for instance the Parliament papers. In 1905 were lists made of which major ships were to serve in the Dutch East Indies. For 1905 were that the protected cruisers Holland, Utrecht, Zeeland, Koningin Regentes and the Hertog Hendrik mentioned. However the Noordbrabant and the Gelderland were also both there when the Russian fleet was to pass. The Holland and the two sister coastal defence ships Koningin Regentes and Hertog Hendrik both with an main armament of 2-24cm guns and 4-15cm guns were there also but the Zeeland arrived not earlier as 15 February 1905 in the colony. So the Dutch ‘battle fleet’ consisted of four protected cruisers and two coastal defence ships.
The Hertog Hendrik in the 30's.
During the 20th century there were many discussions in the Dutch parliament dealing what strength was necessary to protect the Dutch interests. During the meeting on 15 December 1906 one Parliament member compared the Netherlands with countries like Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Greece and made the conclusion that these countries built smaller units as the one now was proposed by the minister of navy although he voted positive. The ship he mentioned must have been the De Zeven Provinciën laid down at the navy yard at Amsterdam on 7 February 1908 and with a displacement of 6,530 tons. Her main armament consisted of 2x1-28cm guns, which were the heaviest guns on board of a Dutch warship in the years to come.
De Zeven Provinciën
1. On this weblog are several notes dealing with these Russian auxiliary cruisers.
