German Hulls Barking English and Speaking Dutch
In 1919 the three Mackensen class battlecruisers lay at anchor unfinished. The treaty of Versailles denied them to the Germans and the French not only wanted them disposed of; they also wanted the cost of disposing of them to come out of Germany to boot. The Brits also wanted them gone but did not quite harbor the hate to equal their Gallic counterparts.
Enter the Dutch. The Netherlands were well aware that their present navy was inadequate to defend their empire in the East Indies and that Japan with its far larger navy had designs on the DEI. But what to do? Ships are expensive and the Dutch are cheap. Building the needed navy from scratch just was not going to happen.
The Dutch made overtures to the British and the Americans and learned to their dismay that neither country felt obligated to defend Dutch colonies just because the Dutch were fine bunch of blonde, blue eyed people. The Dutch realized when they looked at it honestly that they with history of being traders were asking the Americans and the Brits to commit to giving them everything in return for nothing. The Dutch wouldn’t do it; so why should the USA and the UK.
Then an enterprising Dutch politico remembered the Mackensens. The Dutch approached the Germans who were ecstatic to sell the Mackensens to the Dutch and make some money rather than spend it to scrap the ships. The fly in the ointment was the French. Letting the Germans off of any hook was not what they wanted. Just the opposite was what they wanted in fact.
The Dutch approached the Americans and the British about using their influence with the French. They tried to sell idea that if they had the ships, they would be used to defend the DEI and not based in European waters except for repair and refitting. As there was no imaginable scenario in which the Dutch would go to war with the USA or the UK and given the USA’s and the UK’s concerns about Japanese intentions in the Pacific this offered three more capital ships that the USA and UK would not have to pay for, nor would they affect the Major navies capital ship ratio.
The French were not for any reason going to allow the Germans to complete the ships and they still had no armament. But the Brits could finish them and arm them and would profit from doing so. That sold the Brits and they offered some economic incentives to the French as did the Americans and the deal went through with a great deal of grousing from the French. The Brits were so happy with the deal that they offered Lion to the Dutch in 1931 but the Dutch passed.
Thus, the Mackensens were towed to and completed in England. Their machinery was updated and they were converted to oil firing as the DEI had a lot of oil and little or no coal.
Twenty some odd years on, VAdm Helfrich who had been recently gained the nick name “Ship a Day Helfrich” was appreciative of that action as he steamed North into the Makassar Strait at the head of the DEI Fleet at 25 knots.
It was noon in the first half of January 1942 and the war with Japan was three weeks old. Intel said there was an invasion convoy aimed at Ambon in the Celebes. Helfrich intended to intercept.
The wind was Force 2 from the West at 4 knots. Smoke would last a bit in these conditions. There were no squalls or fog in sight. It was in fact a clear day with hardly a cloud in the sky. Visibility was 20,000 yards.
The sortie was an all Dutch affair. The Dutch acquisition of capital ships had given them the clout needed to keep their command of their navy in house. They intended to cooperate with the joint Allied command being put together, but on their terms.
The Dutch were in a column except for DesGrp 2 (Banckert, Kortenaer, Piet Hein & Witte de With) ahead in line abreast as a sub screen. The battle squadron (Amsterdam FF & Rotterdam) was followed by RAdm Dormann’s cruiser squadron (De Ruyter SF, Java & Sumatra). RAdm Stavren brought up the rear with the rest of the DesFlot, Tromp and DesGrp 1 (Evertsen, Van Ghent and Van Nes). The third Mackensen, De Zeven Provincien had been refitting in Holland on 10 May 1940. The Germans had nearly sunk her and she had been towed to England where she languished while waiting for repair. Ok it’s been a long story so far but I’m just trying to explain how German hulls with British guns ended up with Dutch speaking crews.
1254 hours DesGrp 2 reports enemy in sight off the starboard bow. Now the enemy in this case are Japanese from the Eastern Attack Force (EAF) under RAdm Takagi. The Japanese were at 11 knots.
Takagi was in fact escorting an invasion convoy against Ambon. The force consisted of Cruiser Sqdn 5 (Myoko FF & Nachi), a section (1st) of Battle Sqdn 3 (Kongo SF & Haruna) and DesFlot 4 (RAdm Nishimura) Naka DF and DesDivs 2 (Murasame, Harusame, Samidare & Yudachi), 9 (Asagumo, Minegumo, Natsugumo & Yamagumo) & 24 (Umikaze, Kawakaze, Suzukaze & Yamakaze).
DesFlot 4 was leading with the DesDivs arrayed from West to East 2, 9 and 24. Naka was in front of DesDiv 9 and the cruiser and battle squadrons followed in a column. A gaggle of 8 APs were behind the warships with the CV Chitose.
The sight of the Dutch angered Takagi. What was Naval Air up to, he had no warning that anything Allied was at sea. He later found out that the Targeting Officers for the 21st and 23rd Naval Air Flotillas had rolled a 12 for contact. He would buy them a new D12 if he lived to do so. He didn’t.
Both Helfrich and Takagi ordered their forces to flank speed and turned 45 degrees to the East to open their broadsides. Both sides wanted to close the range. Takagi as an after though had the APs and Chitose turn 90 degrees to starboard and ordered Flags to remind him to see to their safety.
But the Dutch being already at 25 knots were quicker off the mark and immediately began to head the IJN. Both sides prepared their FP for launch. Takagi ordered Nishimura to attack with torpedoes.
1312 hours The bats could now see each other and opened fire as did the cruisers. The bats and cruisers paired off. Amsterdam and Kongo, Rotterdam and Haruna, Myoko and De Ruyter, Nachi and Java, Sumatra and Naka.
Amsterdam missed, but Rotterdam hit Haruna once. The Kongos return fire missed. Haruna lost her starboard fore secondary. De Ruyter and Java missed. Nachi also missed but Myoko hit De Ruyter once. And she lost her fore turret. Sumatra missed but Naka hit her once. Sumatra took an engine hit. Tromp opened on the Umikaze (and you thought that I forgot her? I did.) and missed her.
1318 hours Sumatra failed to repair her engine hit and slowed to 20 knots falling out of the column. DesGrp 2 had gotten into line ahead and led the Dutch line of battle. Tromp over took Sumatra and passed her to port blanking her arc of fire.
The ships engaged as before except that it was Tromp and Naka. The destroyers were not in range. Amsterdam missed again, but Rotterdam again hit Haruna once knocking out a tertiary mount. The Kongos missed again. De Ruyter hit Myoko once causing minor hull damage and Java missed. Myoko missed but Nachi hit Java thrice, damaging her hull twice and third hit went in search of a nonexistent secondary. Java slowed to 20 knots and fell out of line. Tromp hit Naka once knocking out her fore gun mount. Naka missed.
1324 hours Sumatra repaired her engine hit and accelerated to 25 knots. The range had closed to under 18,000 for the bats and cruisers and 15,000 for the destroyers. The bats and cruisers engaged as before.
Amsterdam missed and Rotterdam hit Haruna once again knocking out her fore turret. Kongo missed but Haruna hit back once on Rotterdam, causing minor damage to her hull. De Ruyter hit Myoko once causing minor hull damage, but enough to slow her to 30 knots. Java hit Nachi once but bounced off her belt. The Myokos both missed. Tromp hit Naka once knocking yet another fore gun mount. Naka missed.
Evertsen and Piet Hein missed but Witte de With hit Umikaze once damaging a bulkhead. Japanese destroyer return fire was a whiff.
1330 hours Umikaze failed to fix her bulkhead and suffered further hull damage slowing her to 27 knots and retarding the entire DesFlot 4 accordingly. Nevertheless, the range continued to close for the bats and cruisers but was still over 15,000 yards. The Destroyers separation actually opened up a bit.
The bats and cruisers engaged as before except that Sumatra was able to target Naka. Amsterdam hit Kongo twice, damaging her hull and a starboard secondary again. De Ruyter hit Myoko once knocking out her fore turret. Java missed. Myoko missed but Nachi hit Java twice knocking out her fore gun mount and damaging a bulkhead slowing her to 14 knots. Tromp and Sumatra both hit Naka once each, knocking out another gun mount and damaging her engines slowing her to 21 knots. Witte de With hit Umikaze once knocking out a gun mount. Umikaze missed and the rest of the destroyers were just out of range.
1336 hours Java asked for and received permission to retire under smoke. Umikaze fixed her bulkhead as did Naka. Nishimura ordered DesDivs 2 & 9 to pass up 24; they accelerated back up to 34 knots. Naka turned away under smoke.
The range for the bats and cruisers was now down to 15,000 yards. Amsterdam hit Kongo once but Rotterdam missed. Kongo lost her fore turret. Kongo missed but Haruna hit Rotterdam once knocking out her fore turret. De Ruyter hit Myoko thrice causing minor damage to her hull, bouncing off her belt and jamming her rudder to starboard. Myoko turned out of line towards the Dutch. Tromp missed Nachi. Myoko hit De Ruyter once damaging her engines. Nachi missed. Amsterdam and Rotterdam targeted the Myokos with their secondaries and missed as did Sumatra. The destroyers were still out of range.
1342 hours Neither Helfrich or Takagi was happy with engagement so far. Helfrich did not feel any closer to breaking through to the convoy then when he started. Takagi could not seem to get his destroyers engaged. They were within torpedo range but the Dutch would be out of arc when they arrived. Also, it appeared that the Dutch were whittling the Kongos down faster than the Kongos could keep up with and now that Dutch bats were engaging with their secondaries it was as if they had two more cruisers.
Myoko failed to fix her rudder and continued to circle to starboard. De Ruyter failed to fix her engine hit and slowed to 21 knots and fell out of line.
Amsterdam hit Kongo again and Rotterdam missed again. Kongo lost her FP and was set afire. Kongo hit Amsterdam once and Haruna missed. Amsterdam lost her fore turret. Amsterdam’s secondary missed but Rotterdam’s secondary hit Nachi twice, knocking out a fore turret and causing minor damage to her hull that slowed her to 30 knots. De Ruyter missed but Tromp hit Nachi once causing more minor hull damage. Sumatra missed. DesGrp 1 missed as did DesDiv 9.
Myoko fixed her rudder jam and De Ruyter fixed her engine hit. Amsterdam hit Kongo twice knocking out her last fore turret and another secondary. Rotterdam missed. The Kongos missed. The Dutch bats secondaries missed as did the cruisers. The Myokos missed. Kortenaer hit Minegumo once damaging her hull and slowing her to 32 knots which slowed DesDivs 9 and 2. DesDiv 9 missed.
1348 hours Helfrich at last realized that he had his bats within 15,000 yards and made a two-point turn to starboard to open the range. Amsterdam missed but Rotterdam hit Haruna twice knocking out an aft turret and another secondary. Kongo hit Amsterdam once at just over 15,000 yards knocking out her FP and setting her afire. Haruna hit Rotterdam once at just under 15,000 yards knocking out a secondary. Amsterdam’s and Rotterdam’s secondaries each hit Myoko and Nachi twice. Myoko lost her FP and was set afire as well as another fore turret. Nachi suffered more minor hull damage slowing her to 26 knots and a bounce off her belt. De Ruyter missed but Tromp hit Myoko once knocking out a TT and setting her afire that slowed her to 21 knots. Sumatra hit Nachi thrice, knocking out a TT, setting her afire that slowed her to 21 knots and caused more minor hull damage, in addition to bouncing off her belt. Evertsen missed but Kortenaer and Witte de With hit Minegumo and Natsugumo once each. Minegumo lost a TT and Natsugumo lost a gun. DesDiv 9 missed except for Minegumo who hit Kortenaer twice, knocking out a gun and damaging her hull, slowing her and DesGrp 1 to 30 knots.
1354 hours Myoko failed to put either fire and the resultant damage slowed her to 15 knots. Nachi put her fire out. Amsterdam put her fire out.
The range was again over 15,000 yards. Amsterdam missed but Rotterdam hit Haruna once in the hull slowing her to 26 knots. The Kongos missed. Amsterdam’s secondary hit Myoko once and bounced while Rotterdam’s secondary missed. De Ruyter and Tromp missed but Sumatra hit Nachi once and knocked out a secondary. The DesGrp 1 and DesDiv 9 were now within 12,000 yards. The Dutch went to rapid fire and whiffed completely as did DesDiv 9 except for Minegumo who hit Kortenaer once in the hull slowing her to 23 knots and allowing DesGrp 1 to leave her behind.
1400 hours. Myoko again failed to repair and sank. Kortenaer turned away under smoke. Amsterdam and Rotterdam each hit Kongo and Haruna once. Kongo and Haruna each suffered hull damage that slowed them to 20 knots. The Kongo missed but Haruna hit Rotterdam once for minor hull damage. The Dutch 5.9” hit Nachi 4 times, knocking out another turret, damaging her hull enough to slow her to 15 knots and bouncing off her belt. DesGrp 1 firing rapidly whiffed again except for Witte de With hitting Minegumo once, damaging her DC and setting her afire. DesDiv 9 hit Evertsen once and Witte de With twice. Evertsen had bulkhead damaged and she slowed to 30 knots. Witte de With lost a gun and hull damage that slowed her to 30 knots.
1406 hours Helfrich looking to end this decided that the Kongos and cruiser’s ability to destroy destroyers had been attenuated enough and ordered DesGrp 2 to torpedo attack the Kongos. DesGrp 2 turned 90 degrees at 35 knots and moved to cross the Japanese Tee.
Amsterdam and Rotterdam each hit Kongo and Haruna once each. Both hits damaged the Kongos hulls and they slowed to 14 knots. Kongo and Haruna missed. Kongo and Haruna starboard secondaries were destroyed and they had nothing to engage DesGrp 2 with. Amsterdam and Rotterdam’s secondaries each hit Nachi once while the cruisers missed her. They knocked out a FP and set her afire and bounced off her belt again. DesGrp 1 had turned away under smoke and the way to the Dutch line was clear but the destroyers of DesDivs 9 & 2 were not yet in range.
1412 hours Nachi put her fire out. DesGrp 2 fired all their TT at the Kongos. They were not bow shots yet but probably would be by the time they arrived. Kongos without the speed to evade turned as needed to make DesGrps 2 attack bow on. Kongo took one hit and Haruna took two. Kongo took a hull hit slowing her to 9 knots. Haruna took 5 hull and sank. There was other damage but you would need to dive to figure it out. Amsterdam and Rotterdam hit Haruna twice sinking her. The cruisers hit Nachi thrice but only the hit on her TT and the fire it caused mattered. Nachi slowed to 10 knots. The Japanese failed their morale and tried to break off.
1418 hours Nachi put her fire out. It did not save her. Rotterdam put her under with 6 hits. The convoy was aborted and Ambon saved.
WMC
