HNLMS Sumatra (1890)

For other ships with the same name, see HNLMS Sumatra.
History
Netherlands
NameSumatra
BuilderKoninklijke Fabriek van Stoom- en andere Werktuigen, Amsterdam
Launched1890
FateSold for scrap, 1907
General characteristics
TypeProtected cruiser
Displacement1693 tons
Length229 ft 7 in (69.98 m)
Beam37 ft 1 in (11.30 m)
Draft15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)
Propulsion2,350 ihp (1,750 kW)
Speed17 kn (20 mph; 31 km/h)
Capacity207 to 276 tons of coal
Complement181
Armament
  • 1 × 8.2 inch/35 caliber gun
  • 1 × 5.9 inch/35 caliber gun[1]
  • 2 × 4.7 inch/35 caliber guns (2x1)
  • 4 × 1-pounder guns
  • 2 × 1-pounder revolvers
  • 2 × 14-inch torpedo tubes
ArmorDeck: 1.5 in (38 mm)

The Dutch cruiser HNLMS Sumatra was a small protected cruiser with a heavy main gun. The ship was named after the island of Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). It was discarded in 1907.

Design and construction

The design resembled a smaller version of the Esmeralda concept (the 1883 protected cruiser built by Armstrong/Elswick shipyards for Chile) and is most similar in size to the Chinese protected cruiser Chi Yuan (1883) a ship built at about the same time as Esmeralda.

Sumatra was armed with: one 21 cm A. No. 2 (Krupp 21 cm L/35) forward and one 15 cm A. No.2 (Krupp 15 cm MRK L/35) aft, both in shields. On the sides were sponsons for two 12 cm L.A. The smaller guns were: one 7.5 cm A., four 3.7 cm, two 3.7 cm revolver guns, and one mr. 7.5 cm A.[1]

The Dutch Navy also built a larger protected cruiser with heavier armament, Koningin Wilhelmina der Nederlanden launched in 1892, which had an 11-inch gun forward and was most comparable to the Japanese protected cruisers of the Matsushima type.[2] These ships represented a design philosophy in which navies that could not afford first-class battleships (including the Netherlands) mounted heavy weapons on coastal defense ships or moderately sized protected cruisers with the idea these ships would pose a threat to first-class opponents.

References

  1. ^ a b Zeemacht 1900, p. 94.
  2. ^ Conways, p.376

Bibliography

  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York: Mayflower Books. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
  • "Algemeen Overzicht der Scheepen en Vaartuigen van Oorlog". Jaarboek van de Koninklijke Nederlandsche Zeemacht. Vereins deutscher Eisen- und Stahlindustrieller und der Vereins deutscher Eisenhüttenleute. 1900. pp. 69–105.