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The De Ruyter was a Dutch light cruiser launched in 1935 as the sole ship of her class. The initial project envisioned a displacement of 5250 tonnes and
an armament of six 150-millimeter cannons in three twin turrets, one forward and two backward, but it was soon seen that this would be insufficient for what was
needed in the East Dutch Indies, so a larger project was made to increase the speed and install a catapult for two aircraft.
At the same time it was possible to add an extra 150-millimeter cannon in a single turret forward without having to enlarge the hull, but a twin turret would
have been the most adequate. Extra weight was saved by not installing heavy antiaircraft armament, however the fire control was excellent for the 40-millimeter pieces
installed. But in the end, the armament resulted overall insufficient. On the other hand, the habitability of this ship destined to operate in the
Indian Ocean was excellent. The tower-like bridge loosely reminded of the contemporary German cruisers of the Deutschland class, but the appearance was rather gawky in comparison.
The De Ruyter was sunk during the Battle of Java Sea the 27th February 1942, two hours after she were hit by a 610-millimeter torpedo launched by the Japanese
cruiser Haguro, with the loss of more than 200 crewmen. The illustration shows the De Ruyter as she was completed; note the single turret in the
position B, the two seaplanes Fokker CW-1 in the centerline catapult and the antiaircraft armament concentrated in the quarterdeck superstructure.
Class: De Ruyter (1 unit - De Ruyter)
Type: Light cruiser
Length: 171 meters
Beam: 15.7 meters
Draught: 5 meters
Displacement (standard): 6545 tonnes
Propulsion: 2 x shaft, 3 x steam turbine Parsons, 6 x boiler Yarrow, 66000 horsepower
Speed: 32 knots (59.2 kilometers/hour)
Range: 6800 nautical miles (12600 kilometers) at 12 knots
Fuel: 1320 tonnes of petrol
Complement: 435
Armament: 7 x 150-millimeter 50-caliber cannon, 10 x 40-millimeter cannon, 8 x 12.7-millimeter machine gun, 2 x aircraft
Armor: 30-50 millimeters in belt, 30 millimeters in deck, barbettes and main turrets
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