Joint Logistic Support Ship Karel Doorman Commissioned Into Royal Netherlands Navy

[Gabriel92]

@Penguin

The Joint Logistic Support Ship (JSS) Karel Doorman was officially put into service in the Royal Netherlands Navy on 29 April. The largest ship of the Dutch navy is now called His Majesty (Zr. Ms.) Karel Doorman.

"The Karel Doorman is impressive in size, but also because of the number of functionalities. This ship is literally a multi-tool, "said Commander of Naval Forces lieutenant-general Rob Verkerk at commissioning. "It can be used for strategic transport of our armed forces, our allies and international organizations like NATO and the UN. Both military and humanitarian. That Doorman already proved recently in the fight against Ebola. With this combination of features, the Karel Doorman delivers a truly international niche capability. "

JSS Karel Doorman during trials conducting an underway replenishment with the frigate F803 Tromp. Picture: Royal Netherlands Navy


The new logistical support vessel can be deployed to supply units at sea, for strategic sea transport, and for logistical support from the sea (“seabasing”), with the ship acting as a seaborne base for implementing and supporting land operations. It must be possible to perform these duties worldwide, and anywhere within the spectrum of force. In addition to a below-deck transport deck, medical facilities, and its own loading and unloading facilities, the new vessel also has a helicopter deck with two landing pads for different types of helicopters.

The Karel Doorman replaces two supply ships, the HNLMS Zuiderkruis (decommissioned in 2012) and the HNLMS Amsterdam (to be decommissioned this year). The new vessel was largely built at Damen’s shipyard in Romania, but has been fitted out in Vlissingen.

The ship has a cargo deck area of 1730 square meters to house combat and transport equipment (including tanks Leopard 2A6), a vast hangar for the permanent home of six helicopters, NH90 helicopters and two CH-47 Chinook, a flight deck with two runways for heavy helicopters, as well as significant volume for cargo and fuel - 7700 cubic meters of fuel oil, 1,000 cubic meters of aviation fuel, 450 tons of water and 400 tons of ammunition and other goods, with the possibilities to transfer them while underway at sea (at a rate of 680 cubic meters of liquid per hour).

It is fitted with an integrated mast I-Mast 400, a Sea Master 400 radar and a Sea Watcher 100 by Thales Nederland. Armament consists of two seven-barreled 30mm anti-aircraft gun systems Goalkeeper by Rheinmetall and six remote-controlled turret units - two Oto Melara Marlin WS 30 mm cannons and four Oto Melara Hitrole NT with 12.7-mm machine guns

Joint Logistic Support Ship Karel Doorman Commissioned Into Royal Netherlands Navy

 

[Taygibay]

Great concept for navies like the Dutch one. My only bug is that it replaces two others.
Does it come with a cape of ubiquity???

Good day all, Tay.

 

[Penguin]

On 24 April 2015 JLSS Karel Doorman was formally commissioned. Hence forward, she's 'HNLMS Karel Doorman', pennant A833.

Even though Karel Doorman had just finished sea trials and had not yet been commissioned, on 6 November 204 she was sent on a three-month deployment to West Africa to deliver aid to Ebola-struck countries. She was loaded with different goods in 91 containers and 155 vehicles, including ambulances. On 18 November the ship arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone, for her first offload. After her third offload in Liberia and the replenishment of RFA Argus, the ship returned to the Netherlands to pick up another load.

She's the largest ever ship in Dutch naval service. Larger even than former Colossus class light aircraft carrier Karel Doorman aka ARA Veinticinco de Mayo, of Falkland war fame.

Great concept for navies like the Dutch one. My only bug is that it replaces two others.
Does it come with a cape of ubiquity???

Good day all, Tay.

Actually it doesn't. It replaces HNLMS Amsterdam (AOR) in the replenishment role. It ADDS sea lift capability. For the RAS role, she has 2 statoins and a the holding capacity of approx 8000 m3 of fuel, more than 1000 m3 of helicopter fuel, approx 450 m3 of potable water and approx 400 tonnes of ammunition and other supplies. In her additional sea lift role, shee has 2000 lane meters for transport of material such as tracked & wheeled vehicles or containers, an elevator and crane for up to 40 tons, a roll on/roll off facility for vehicles, and a steel beach stern construction for accommodating cargo transfer via landing craft (she carries two LCVP's on davids) plus, for sea-basing operations, she has a large helicopter deck with landing spots for operating two Chinooks simultaneously, and a hangar with a storage capacity of up to 6 medium sized helicopters, including NH-90, CH-47F and AH-64D Apache.

Kick *** IMHO. (I'll even stick an Thales I-mast 500 on her and arm her proper with ESSM from Mk48 or Mk41, and NSM)
Euronaval 2014: Thales Nederland showcases I-Mast 500 - IHS Jane's 360

 

[Taygibay]

Actually it doesn't. It replaces HNLMS Amsterdam (AOR) in the replenishment role.

Interesting precision!
I was going by this from the piece given by Gab :

The Karel Doorman replaces two supply ships, the HNLMS Zuiderkruis (decommissioned in 2012) and the HNLMS Amsterdam (to be decommissioned this year).

So could you clarify when you have the time? Is there no replacement for the Zuiderkruis or is another vessel planned or already inducted?
There was no criticism of the concept itself in my remark; she's a beast and the sea-basing is a good added capability.

Read you later, Tay.

 

[Penguin]

Zuiderkruis (commissioned 1975) was up for replacement by Doorman. But Doorman turned out €140 million more expensive than planned (€407m versus €265m). Zuiderkruis is an 11-year younger diesel powered variant of Poolster (1964), which was sold to PN (aka PNS Moawin). Poolster was replaced in NL service by Amsterdam The much newer Amsterdam (commissioned 1995) was sold off 2014, as an economy measure, to facilitate the larger, more multirole Doorman entering service (JSS would have been sold otherwise, without ever serving in the Dutch Royal Navy: we have budget rules here which allow departments to make changes in their budgets, so long as they are budget neutral. So, with a more expensive Doorman, cost savings were necessary to remain within Defence/Navy budget. Hence Amsterdam sold to Peru, which is one of three nations that form our traditional market for used navy ships in South America). In terms of AOR capability, hence, there has been a downsizing from 2 to just 1 ship, but that ship can work much better with our pair of LPDs.

 

[Taygibay]

Thanks @Penguin mate, coherent and complete answer, Tay.

 

[Penguin]

With an LCF (Zeven Provimcien class)

With RFA Argus

 

[Agent_47]

It costs more than a frigate.
@Penguin Is there any comparable ships other than brave class ?

 

[Penguin]

It costs more than a frigate.
@Penguin Is there any comparable ships other than brave class ?

An LCF frigate costs €600 million a pop
De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canada’s ill-fated JSS program had similar or larger ambitions, but the 3-ship, C$ 2.9 billion program was ultimately suspended when contractors couldn’t supply what Canada wanted at the prices demanded.

German Berlin class,
Berlin-class replenishment ship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Ceonwulf]

It costs more than a frigate.
@Penguin Is there any comparable ships other than brave class ?

Future British MARS SSS will be similar to the Dutch JSS, but much larger

 

[Penguin]

Future British MARS SSS will be similar to the Dutch JSS, but much larger

Solid Support Ships, previously Fleet Solid Support (FSS) - Non-bulk consumables - Food, ammunition and general stores. Solid cargo which is transferred in unit loads, either ship to ship or ship to shore. Solid Support Ships, previously referred to as Fleet Solid Support and Amphibious Combat Stores [or Amphibious Combat Support (AFS(A)) ] ship, will provide non bulk consumables and forward aviation support to the maritime task group.

NO FUEL! NO SEABASING,
Liquid support
Wave Tanker (already in service) (bulk ship fuel, aviation fuel, oil, fresh water)
MARS Fleet Tanker (bulk ship fuel, aviation fuel, oil, fresh water)

MARS Fleet Solid Support
Solid support to carrier groups
(bulk ammunition, food, stores)

MARS Joint Sea-Based Logistics
Solid support to amphibious groups
(bulk ammunition, food, stores)

 

[Penguin]

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