HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen (1936)

HMAS/HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen
History
Netherlands
NameHNLMS Abraham Crijnssen
NamesakeAbraham Crijnssen
BuilderWerf Gusto, Schiedam, The Netherlands
Laid down21 March 1936
Launched22 September 1936
Commissioned27 May 1937
Decommissioned26 August 1942
FateTransferred to the RAN
Australia
NameHMAS Abraham Crijnssen
Commissioned26 August 1942
Decommissioned5 May 1943
FateReturned to RNN
Netherlands
Recommissioned5 May 1943
Decommissioned29 May 1961
ReclassifiedNet-defence ship
StatusPreserved as museum ship
General characteristics
Class and typeJan van Amstel-class minesweeper
Displacement525 tons
Length184 ft (56 m)
Beam25 ft (7.6 m)
Draught7 ft (2.1 m)
Propulsion
Speed15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement45
Armament

HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen is a Jan van Amstel-class minesweeper of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN).

Built during the 1930s, she was based in the Dutch East Indies when Japan attacked at the end of 1941. Ordered to retreat to Australia, the ship was disguised as a tropical island to avoid detection, and was the last Dutch ship to escape from the region. On arriving in Australia in 1942, she was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as HMAS Abraham Crijnssen and operated as an anti-submarine escort. Although returned to RNN control in 1943, the ship remained in Australian waters for most of World War II. After the war, Abraham Crijnssen operated on anti-revolution patrols in the East Indies, before returning to the Netherlands and being converted into a boom defence ship in 1956.

Removed from service in 1960, the vessel was donated to the Netherlands Sea Cadet Corps for training purposes. In 1995, Abraham Crijnssen was acquired by the Dutch Navy Museum for preservation as a museum ship.