K-class sloop

HNLMS Van Speijk (K3) after World War II
Class overview
NameK class
Builders
Operators
Built1939–1941
Planned7
Completed3
Lost2
Retired1
General characteristics
TypeSloop
Displacement
  • As designed:
  • 1,267 tons
  • 1470 tons (full load)
  • As completed:
  • 1,200 tons
  • 1420 tons (full load)
Length77.9 m (255 ft 7 in)
Beam10.3 m (33 ft 10 in)
Draught3.4 m (11 ft 2 in)
Propulsion
  • As designed:
  • 3,500 ihp (2,600 kW), two shafts
  • As completed:
  • 2,770 ihp (2,070 kW), two shafts (K1)
  • 3,500 ihp (2,600 kW), two shafts (K2 and K3)
Speed
  • As designed:
  • 19 knots (35 km/h)
  • As completed:
  • 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h) (K1 and K2)
  • 18 knots (33 km/h) (K3)
Complement
  • As designed:
  • 99
  • As completed:
  • 161-184
Armament
  • As designed:
  • 4 × 12 cm (4.7 in) (2 × 2)
  • 4 × 4 cm (1.6 in) (2 × 2)
  • 4 × .50 MG
  • As completed:
  • 4 × 12 cm (4.7 in) (2 × 2)
  • 4 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) (2 × 2)
  • 12 × 2 cm (0.79 in) (2x4 and 2x2)
Armour
  • 2 cm (0.79 in) to 3.5 cm (1.4 in) deck
  • 3.7 centimetres (1.5 in) to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) Belt
  • 6 centimetres (2.4 in)Turrets

The K class was a class of three sloops designed in the late 1930s to replace the aging Brinio-class gunboats of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Originally seven ships were planned of which three ships were laid down and two more ordered (which were canceled after the German invasion). Still incomplete at the start of the German invasion of the Netherlands and not yet launched, the ships were found undamaged by the German forces. The Kriegsmarine ordered the completion of K1, K2 and K3, then commissioned them for service in Norwegian and German home waters. After the war only K3 entered Dutch service as the Van Speijk.