Aug-Sep-Oct 1967 - Navy League of Australia

Best wishes to Navy Personnel from . . .Fremantle Wine Saloon(Mine Hosts John Mohr and Alec Mcintosh)85 High St., Fremantle, W.A.For the Best in Australian WinesPHONE 52745Best wishes to R.A.N. Personnel from . . .CLEOPATRA HOTEL(Mine Host FRED LEIGHTON)24 HIGH STREET, FREMANTLE. W.A.A Bright Spot for an Ale with Your MatesRemember "The Cleo"Phone 5-1277Best wishes to R.A.N, personnel on Trafalgar Anniversary1967 from -Best wishes to R.A.N, personnel for Trafalagr Anniversary1967 from -THE ROSE HOTELVictoria Street, Bunbury, W.A.The very best venue in the Port of Bunbur>for a cold, refreshing ale in convivial surroundingsWell Stocked Bottle DepartmentPHONE 2988ROSELLA FOODS PTY. LTD.69 Thompson Rd., Nth. Fremantle, W.A.Manufacturers of the famous ROSELLA Brand Canned FoodsSuppliers to the R.A.NPHONE 5-2121Best wishes to R.A.N, on Trafalgar Anniversary1967 from . . .FREMANTLEPROVIDORINGCO. PTY. LTD.7/ LEAI\E1 EAIfE91QTPEETKEE 1,FREMANTLE, W.A.Quality Suppliers to R.A.N.Phone 5-1036Pag, Eighty THE NAVY Auguit-S,pl:mb,r-Octobor. 1The Cruiser DE ZEVEN PRO VINCI EN is fftfod"Terrier" guided missiles. Her 6-Inch guns Iper minute* are fully outomatic and radarelevation.admiralties which operated completelyindependently of each other andquite often thwarted each other.The rapid rise of the Netherlandsas a sea faring nation naturallygave rise to rivalry, not only intrade but also in shipping, whichinevitably led to conflict. The Netherlandsunder their famous admiralsM. A. de Ruyter, M. H. Tromp,Cornelis Tromp, Witte de With,Evertsen, Banckert, Van Galen andothers had to fight three warsagainst the English and French.They also had to fight the Dunkirkprivateers in the Channel and theAlgerian pirates in the Mediterraneanin order to ensure safe passagefor their merchant vessels. Expeditionsto the Baltic were necessaryto help the Danes against thebellicosity of the king who ruledSweden at that time.When England and France wentto war with Spain in 1676, a Dutchsquadron was sent to the Mediterraneanto aid their hereditary enemySpain. At Syracuse the Frenchwere beaten but the Netherlandssuffered a great loss as her mostfamous admiral, M. A. de Ruyter,was killed. The Netherlands wereable to keep command of the seauntil the latter half of the 17thcentury.i one twin launcher aft fora rate of Are of 15 roundsand hove 60 degreeIn April, 1675, the fleets of thegreatest sea powers were as follows:England, 92 ships with ordnanceand 3 fireships.France, 96 ships with ordnanceand 4 fireships.The Netherlands, 136 ships withordnance and 40 fireships.Owing to the shallow home watersmost of the Dutch ships however,had only two decks, while theFrench and British ships had three.It is evident that even after thewars with England the Dutch fleetwas still exceptionally powerful.Afterwards history shows a periodof deterioration in the maritimepower of the Netherlands, but inthe national interest the Netherlandshad to keep sailing and would andcould not allow itself to be sweptfrom the seas.The Royal Netherlands Navy in theSecood World W«The Netherlands took part in thesecond world war on the side ofthe allies with an excellent merchantnavy but with a Royal navywhich was far too small to protectthe home country and the overseasterritories in East and West.When the Netherlands were occupiedby the Germans in May 1940,the Royal Netherlands Navy crossedover to Britain and continued thewar from there. The largest part ofthe fleet, however, was stationed inthe Dutch East Indies awaiting theextension of the war to the Pacific.After the treacherous attack onPearl Harbour (December 1941), theNetherlands were one of the firstnations to declare war on Japanand in the early stages of the war.Dutch submarines and aircraft (FleetAir Arm), were able to inflict heavylosses on the enemy.In the first days of the Pacificwar the Dutch submarine squadronoperated independently in Indonesianwaters, intercepting Japaneseconvoys and helping the Britishon Malacca, but latei it was joinedby American, English and Australianships from the ABDA fleet. Atthe end of February, 1942, this"striking force" under the commandof Rear-Admiral Karel Doormanfought the Japanese in the JavaSea battle. Most of the alliedships went down fighting, includingthe Dutch cruisers H.Nl.M.S.'sJava and De Ruyter.Though the Allies brought thewar to a successful conclusion, itwas found that the Royal NetherlandsNavy had paid dearly inlives and material.About 3000 naval personnel and3000 merchant seamen were killed.The Merchant Navy lost 1.8 milliontons of the original 3 milliontons of shipping, while the RoyalNetherlands Navy lost 69 ships(tonnage 74,000) of the prewar 88ships (tonnage 95,000).After Germany and Japan hadcapitulated in 1945 and the NetherlandsNavy could sail home at last,only a small part of the pre-warfleet was still in existence, andthis was so old and worn that itcould hardly be called a fleet.We had to renew our fleet completelyif we wanted to take ourplace once again as a maritimenation, and also be prepared forthe new threat which was loomingfrom the East.The Fleet of TodayThis new fleet was built inabout ten years (1945-1955). Thegreater part of this fleet was builtat our own expense in our owndockyards, some of the ships wereacquired from the United StatesAugvst-September-October. 1967 THE NAVY Page Eighty-one