HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen (1936)

The steel minesweeper HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen was built by the Gusto Shipyard in Schiedam, Netherlands and launched on 2 September 1936.  Commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy on 27 May 1937, she was the third of eight Jan van Amstel-class minesweepers constructed in the late 1930s.  Abraham Crijnssen was named after the Dutch naval hero made famous for his daring capture of the English colony of Suriname in February 1667 and its recapture from the English the next year.  From 2 November 1937, the minesweeper was stationed in the Dutch East Indies.  

In March 1942, with Imperial Japanese forces rampaging through the Pacific, including the Dutch East Indies, Abraham Crijnssen's captain, Lieutenant-Commander Anthonie van Miert, determined that he would not allow his ship to fall into enemy hands and would instead attempt an escape to Australia.  To evade patrolling Japanese ships and aircraft, the Abraham Crijnssen's crew of 11 officers, 48 ratings, and a female nurse camouflaged the minesweeper as a tropical island.  They sailed by night and moored offshore of real islands during the day.  After nine tense days, Abraham Crijnssen arrived safely at the coastal town of Geraldton, Western Australia on 15 March, being the last Dutch ship to escape the region.  This feat of daring seamanship and clever deception made an otherwise unremarkable vessel a legend in Dutch naval history.  

After arriving in Australia, the ship was refitted with new ASDIC (sonar) equipment and reclassified as an anti-submarine convoy escort.  Commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on 26 August 1942 as HMAS Abraham Crijnssen and under the command of a RAN lieutenant, the ship was used for anti-submarine patrols, as well as a tender for the Dutch submarines that had escaped to Australia.  On 5 May 1943, Abraham Crijnssen was returned to Royal Netherlands Navy control, though she remained in Australian waters for the duration of the Second World War.        

Following the war, Abraham Crijnssen was assigned to anti-revolution patrols in the Dutch East Indies, guarding against attacks by Indonesian nationalists.  Returning to the Netherlands in August 1951, she was converted into a boom defence ship in March 1956 and served in this capacity until being decommissioned in 1961.  Thereafter, Abraham Crijnssen was donated to the Netherlands Sea Cadet Corps as a training vessel, being based in The Hague from 1962 to 1972 and in Rotterdam thereafter.  In 1995, Abraham Crijnssen was listed for preservation by the Royal Netherlands Navy museum and joined the museum's collection of historic vessels in Den Helder on 11 July 1997.

Specifications: HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen (1936)

Displacement: 460 tons (normal load) 

Length: 55.8 metres (183.1 feet)

Beam: 7.8 metres (25.6 feet)

Draught: 2.2 metres (7.2 feet)

Propulsion: 2 x Yarrow 3-drum boilers generating steam for 2 x Stork triple-expansion steam engines producing 1,600 horsepower each and driving twin screws

Fuel capacity: 110 tons of fuel oil 

Maximum speed: 15 knots (27.7 km/h; 17.2 mph)

Range: 2,575 kilometres (1,600 miles) at maximum speed

Armament: 1 x 75mm (3-inch) gun; 2 x 20mm Oerlikon cannons; depth charges

Complement: 45 officers and ratings

Photos taken 30 April 2026

HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen docked in the Nette Dok (Wet Dock) of the former Willemsoord Royal Dockyard in Den Helder, adjacent to the Royal Netherlands Navy museum (Marinemuseum).  The former minesweeper is part of the collection of historic vessels on display at the museum.

A view of Abraham Crijnssen's bow, bridge, and funnel.  The photo was taken through a security fence dividing the Marinemuseum's property from the Royal Netherlands Navy College campus, which is not open to the public.

After boarding Abraham Crijnssen and entering the aft deckhouse, a ladder leads down to the lower deck accommodation spaces for officers and chiefs and petty officers.

A view of the passageway in the lower deck accommodation spaces.

Bunks for junior officers or senior non-commissioned officers in the aft accommodation spaces.

The pantry, where food from the galley was plated before being served to the officers in the wardroom.

The mess for chief petty officers and petty officers, where these senior non-commissioned officers ate their meals and relaxed when off duty.

Another view of the chiefs and petty officers mess, with a radio on a small table.

A wardrobe in one of the officer's cabins, with a representative sample of uniform items, footwear, and personal effect (Bible, cigarettes).

The wardroom, where the ship's officers ate their meals and relaxed when off duty.  A portrait of Dutch Queen Wilhelmina hangs between the two scuttles.

While there is no signage identifying this space, it was likely a lounge for officers or non-commissioned officers, given its location in the aft accommodation spaces.  Today, it is used by museum volunteers working aboard Abraham Crijnssen.

The engine room, located amidships.  Abraham Crijnssen's two triple-expansion steam engines were manufactured by Stork, the engineering firm located in the eastern Dutch town of Hengelo.  Each engine generated 1,600 horsepower.  Triple-expansion engines were famous for their high energy output, though this did not yield high speeds.  Given that minesweeping did not require high speeds, this was not a problem for Abraham Crijnssen, whose top speed was 15 knots (27.7 km/h).

Looking up at the skylights at the top of the engine room.  The operation and maintenance of the ship's propulsion systems, including engines and boilers, was the responsibility of the chief engineer (a chief petty officer by rank) and his crew of 18 men. 

On the starboard side of the engine room is a workbench for repairing mechanical items and stowage space for equipment used to maintain the engines.  A blue-painted auxiliary pump or compressor is mounted on the deck next to the workbench.

A closer look at the piston rods and crankshaft of one of the two triple-expansion steam engines that powered Abraham Crijnssen.  Given that steam in a closed cylinder will expand, a triple-expansion steam engine features a row of three progressively larger cylinders.  This reflects the fact that the expansion volume of steam increases as the steam pressure decreases.  High pressure steam is therefore fed into the first, smallest cylinder to drive a piston connected to the crankshaft.  The steam, now at a lower pressure, continues into the second, intermediate pressure cylinder and similarly drives a piston before flowing into the third, low pressure cylinder to drive that cylinder's piston.  Although the pressure decreases in each successive cylinder, the expanding stream is able to drive bigger pistons, giving each piston the same amount of energy.

The upper level of the engine room.  Forward of the engine room is the boiler room, where two oil-fired Yarrow 3-drum watertube boilers generated steam which was fed to the engines via steel piping.  Oil fuel for the boilers was stored in several fuel tanks on the lower decks of the ship.  After travelling through the three cylinders of the triple-expansion engines, steam from the boilers flowed through a condenser, where it was converted into water and returned to the boilers.  Fresh water for the boilers was stored in four tanks near the boiler room, with an evaporator in the engine room being used to heat and distil the water before it was fed into the boilers.  Firing the boilers from a cold state to generate sufficient steam for propulsion took around four hours.

The ship's galley, located in the deckhouse amidships, was where meals for the crew were prepared.

Looking forward along the port side breezeway on the main deck, towards the door leading into the superstructure.

The port side passageway, looking forward.

The crest of the Kortenaer-class frigate HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen (F816).  The ship was commissioned in 1983, decommissioned in 1997, and sold to the United Arab Emirates, in whose navy it served under the name Abu Dhabi until retired in 2008.

Two views of the shelves in the ship's canteen, where the crew could purchase small luxuries, such as bars of soap, hair cream, shoe polish, tobacco, cigarettes, and beer.

The ship's infirmary, located at the forward end of the superstructure, on the port side.  It contains two bunks and storage space for medicines and medical equipment.

The workshop, located at the forward end of the superstructure, on the starboard side.  It was here that the ship's skilled machinists could repair parts of malfunctioning equipment or, in some cases, manufacture new ones using the available tools.

The lavatory, located on the starboard side.  It contains sinks and shower stalls (not pictured).

One of the ship's heads (toilets).

The 'administrative cabin', where the ship's paperwork was completed and records stored.

The starboard passageway, looking forward.

A ladder leads down through a hatch to the former boiler room on the lower deck.

Having had her boilers removed, Abraham Crijnssen's boiler room is now home to a permanent exhibit on the ship's history, with a special focus on the minesweeper's daring wartime escape from the Japanese in March 1942.  The deck in this room was added after the boilers were removed, as the room was originally a double-height space spanning two decks.

Looking forward in the boiler room, where displays of artefacts, paintings, and scale models now occupy the space which previously housed the ship's two large Yarrow 3-drum watertube boilers.  One of the crew messes can be seen through the door at the forward end of the boiler room.

A display holding an assortment of artefacts, including:

1. A War Commemoration Cross medal with the 'Naval Warfare 1940-1945' clasp.  This medal was awarded to every member of Abraham Crijnssen's crew after the war.
2. Royal Netherlands Navy buttons from 1940.
3. The last Dutch tricolour flag flown aboard the minesweeper HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst (a sistership of Abraham Crijnssen) following her departure from Surabaya, en route to the Netherlands, in August 1951.
4. The rank epaulettes of a Lieutenant-Commander, the rank held by the captain of Abraham Crijnssen. 
5. A sailor's cap from 1941.
6. A non-commissioned officer's peaked cap from 1941.  

One the right is the biography and medals of Cornelis Jan Van Eijk (1919-2015), Navigator 1st Class aboard Abraham Crijnssen during the March 1942 escape to Australia.  Van Eijk was the longest-surviving crew member who served aboard the ship during the escape.  After Abraham Crijnssen arrived in Australia on 15 March 1942, Van Eijk transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy's Submarine Service, serving aboard HNLMS O 24 and being awarded the Bronze Cross, one of the navy's highest distinctions, in 1944. 

The brass bell and clapper of HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen.

A painting of HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen as a museum ship at the Marinemuseum in Den Helder, by Joop Henneveld of Rozenburg, 2000.

A scale model of HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen as she appeared during the Second World War.  The model was built for the Friends of the Marinemuseum Foundation in 2004.

A diorama depicting Abraham Crijnssen during her epic escape from the Japanese in March 1942.  The ship's boat is hauling tropical foliage from shore to permit the crew to camouflage Abraham Crijnssen as an island.  During the tense, nine-day escape, the minesweeper's camouflage was replaced several times.  For extra safety, she sailed by night and spent the daylight hours moored just offshore of real islands so as to blend in with the background.  Having evaded marauding Japanese naval vessels and aircraft, Abraham Crijnssen entered the Indian Ocean via the Alas Strait on 9 March and arrived safely at Geraldton, Western Australia on 15 March.

Small scale models of different classes of Dutch minesweepers: Van Straelen (M872), built in 1960; Dokkum (M801), built in 1954; Beemster (M845), built in 1952; Borndiep (M831), built in 1943; Abraham van der Hulst, built in 1937; and A, built in 1929.

The crew mess, where Abraham Crijnssen's ratings slept, relaxed when off duty, and ate their meals.  To sleep, the crew slung hammocks from the deckhead; these were taken down and stowed when not being used. 

A smaller crew mess just forward of the main mess.  Located very near the bow, the bulkheads of this mess curve in sharply, in line with the sheer of the ship's hull.  This is the farthest forward section of the ship open to museum visitors.

Looking forward on the starboard side of the main deck, amidships.  A ladder leads up to the deck with the wheelhouse and wireless room.

Looking forward from the aft portion of the main deck.  The raised platform aft of the deckhouse accommodates the ship's largest armament, the 75mm (3-inch) gun, which is covered to protect against the elements. 

In addition to sweeping mines, Abraham Crijnssen could also lay mines.  Contact mines were launched from the stern, with each mine's weighted base anchoring the mine to the seabed.  Tethered to the base by a steel cable, the mine itself floated just below the surface of the water.  As soon as a passing ship struck the floating mine, acid held in vials within the mine's protruding horns was released and, mixed with seawater, created an electrical charge that triggered the mine to detonate.

Looking forward from the top of the aft deckhouse.  The engine room skylight is in the foreground, with ventilator cowls, the mainmast, the funnel, and the forward mast visible beyond.  The ship's motor cutter would have been stowed on davits on the port side of this deck, abaft the funnel and mainmast.

The wheelhouse, sparsely furnished with a wheel, telegraph, binnacle with compass, radar display, and a voice-pipe.  Commands to the engine room to increase or decrease speed were given using the telegraph.  The telegraph in the wheelhouse was connected to a similar telegraph in the engine room.  If the wheelhouse telegraph was operated, a loud bell rang in the engine room and the engineer on duty checked the telegraph to see what speed had been ordered.  The order was confirmed by the engineer pushing the lever of the telegraph to the ordered position; this caused the pointer on the wheelhouse telegraph to move to its new position.      

The view from the port side deck adjacent to the  wheelhouse, overlooking Abraham Crijnssen's bow.  One of the ship's 20mm Oerlikon guns (covered by a canvas) sits on a platform forward of the wheelhouse.

The small wireless room, aft of the wheelhouse, where incoming wireless messages were received and outgoing messages transmitted.

A signal lamp on the starboard wing of the open air compass platform immediately above the wheelhouse.

L9525, one of the Netherlands Marine Corps' five Mk I landing craft utility (LCU), temporarily moored alongside HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen.  The 225-ton Mk I LCUs are 36.3 metres (119 feet 1 inch) in length, with a beam of 6.85 metres (22 feet 6 inches).  The LCUs have a top speed of 11.6 knots (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph) and can carry 130 troops or three trucks, or two armoured vehicles, or one beach recovery vehicle.  With a crew of seven, the Mk I LCUs are armed with two Browning M2 12.7mm machine guns.  The Netherlands Marine Corps' five Mk I LCUs have been in service since 2005.

A kite, part of a minesweeping device trailed behind a mine countermeasures vessel.  The kite allowed the rigging to fan out as widely as possible on either side of the vessel.  Contact mines were cleared with a sweep, the so-called 'A rigging'.  This process involved two minesweeping vessels sailing abreast of each other and towing a steel cable between them.  Knives attached to the cable would cut the anchoring tethers of the mines, causing the mines to bob to the surface.  Crewmen aboard the minesweepers would then detonate the mines using rifle or machine gun fire.  To keep the minesweepers from colliding with mines ahead of them, each vessel had a small sweeping device at the bow. 

A paravane, one part of a minesweeping rig.  The paravane is a glider connected to the mine countermeasures vessel by a cable.  The special construction of the paravane steers it away from the towing ship, with the cable thus becoming positioned largely abeam the ship.  The anchor cables of floating mines are snagged by the towing cable and guided to the cutting blade on top of the paravane.

Another type of paravane float used to ensure depth control of the minesweeping rig being trailed behind a mine countermeasures vessel.

An acoustic minesweeping device called a 'hammer box'.  Towed by a mine countermeasures vessel, the hammer box emits sound waves underwater to detonate acoustic mines. 

A final look at the minesweeper HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, moored at the Marinemuseum in Den Helder.