.jpg) HNLMSDe Ruyter (F804) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Netherlands | |
| Name | De Ruyter |
| Namesake | Michiel de Ruyter |
| Builder | Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding |
| Laid down | 1 September 2000 |
| Launched | 13 April 2002 |
| Commissioned | March 2004 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In active service |
| Badge | .svg) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate |
| Displacement | 6,050 t (5,950 long tons) (full load) |
| Length | 144.24 m (473 ft 3 in) |
| Beam | 18.80 m (61 ft 8 in) |
| Draft | 5.18 m (17 ft 0 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Complement | 174 (227 incl. command staff) |
| Sensors & processing systems |
|
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 1 xNH90 NFH[3] helicopter |
HNLMSDe Ruyter (Dutch:Zr. Ms. De Ruyter) is aDe Zeven Provinciën-classfrigate of theRoyal Netherlands Navy. She waslaid down in 2000,launched in 2002, andcommissioned in 2004, the third ship of her class to enter service. The frigate is named afterDutchadmiralMichiel de Ruyter (1607–1676).[4]
From 2005 until 2007De Ruyter was commanded byRob Bauer, during which period she was deployed to the Mediterranean as part ofStanding NATO Maritime Group 2 as part of the NATO Response Force inOperation Active Endeavour. In late 2006, Bauer was deployed to Bahrain for five months as Deputy Commander ofCombined Task Force 150 inOperation Enduring Freedom.[5] From 12 January 2007 to July 2009De Ruyter was commanded by CommanderJeanette Morang, the first woman to command a frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy.[6][7] Commander Harold Liebregs wasDe Ruyter's commanding officer from December 2012.[8]
In September and October 2007, satellite television channels in Israel were plagued with signal disruptions, with the north of the country particularly badly affected. Eventually theMinistry of Defense intervened, and with the help of theIsrael Defense Forces andIsraeli Sea Corps, discovered that the problems had been caused by the radar systems of DutchUNIFIL ships patrolling off the coast ofLebanon.[9]De Ruyter, anchored off the coast of the Lebanon, allegedly transmitted signals onto frequencies adjacent to those used by the satellite operator.[10]
On 12 January 2012De Ruyter sailed from herhome port ofDen Helder to take up the role offlagship forStanding NATO Maritime Group 1. The group, led by Dutch Commodore Ben Bekkering, was under Dutch command for the remainder of the year, beginning on 23 January whenDe Ruyter assumed the flagship role in the Italian port ofTaranto.De Ruyter took part in maritime operations andexercises in the Mediterranean and counterpiracy operations around theHorn of Africa, before being replaced by her sister shipHNLMS Evertsen in April.[11]
In early 2013De Ruyter deployed withOperation Atalanta, the EU'santi-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa. On 19 FebruaryDe Ruyter was tasked to locate a group of suspected pirateskiffs reported by a Panamanian merchant ship.[12]De Ruyter located twoskiffs 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) north east ofEyl, which split up when approached. One was stopped and detained by theDe Ruyter, the other was apprehended by the Spanish frigateMéndez Núñez. Nine suspected pirates were then detained aboard theDe Ruyter.[12] The suspected pirates were transferred to authorities in theSeychelles on 25 February for prosecution.[13] On 27 MarchDe Ruyter'sNH90 NFH helicopter carried out a series of exercises involving landing on the Spanish patrol vesselRayo, the "first helicopter from another Operation Atalanta unit to land on the Spanish warship".[14]
On 9 April 2013De Ruyter hostedDutch Prime MinisterMark Rutte,Defence MinisterJeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and theChief of Defence GeneralTom Middendorp on an official visit whileDe Ruyter was operating off the Somali coast.[15]De Ruyter served as the flagship for the maritime component of theNATO exercise "Steadfast Jazz 2013", which took place in the Baltic Sea in October and November 2013.[16]
In September 2016 she became flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 in the Aegean Sea, replacing the German frigateKarlsruhe in the role.[17]De Ruyter was in turn replaced in December 2016 by the German frigateSachsen.[18]
On 29 January 2016De Ruyter assisted two lifeboats of theRoyal National Lifeboat Institution with the rescue of the cargo vesselMV Verity. Following engine failure the strickenVerity was drifting towards the coastline and had to be taken under tow by the lifeboats to keep it clear of the coast. Shortly afterDe Ruyter arrived and took over the tow, the captain maintained the position of the stricken vessel with before it could be towed out to anchor prior to the arrival of a tug.[19]De Ruyter was then involved in Exercise Formidable Shield off the Scottish coast in 2017.[20][21]De Ruyter was tasked with providing data from herThales NederlandSMART-L long-range air and surface surveillance radar to a US destroyer launching aSM-3 missile against a ballistic missile target.[22]
On 3 July 2018De Ruyter once again became the flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2, taking over from theRoyal Navy'sHMS Duncan, with Dutch Commodore Boudewijn G.F.M. Boots succeeding British Commodore Mike Utley.[23] In September 2018De Ruyter and Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 took part in theHellenic Navy's biennial multinational naval Exercise Naias 2018.[24] On 25 October 2018, the frigate was scheduled to take part in the NATO exerciseTrident Juncture which was held in and around Norway in 2018.[25]
On 28 January 2020,De Ruyter leftNieuwe Haven to join the French-Led Task Force,European-led Maritime Awareness in the Strait of Hormuz (EMASOH), in the Persian Gulf.[26][27][28][29] Between 7 and 8 February 2020, the vessel participated in a joint training operation with theMaritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta which involved various scenarios at sea. She was joined by the Maltese patrol vesselP62. The onboardNH90 NFH was joined in the air by the MalteseAW139.[30]
During its mid-life upgrade theDe Ruyter was equipped with an improved Thales SMART-L multi-mission radar that can spot incoming ballistic missiles.[31][32]
On 12 March 2025,De Ruyter fired aTomahawk off the coast ofNorfolk, becoming the first Dutch vessel to do so.[33]
_NATO_Gdynia_25_05_07_200.jpg)
