HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen (1936)

Abraham Crijnssen was the third of eight s constructed for the RNN during the late 1930s. The standard ship's company was 45. ==Operational history==

Early service The ship was based at Surabaya in the Netherlands East Indies when Japan invaded in 1941. Following the Allied defeats at the Battles of the Java Sea and Sunda Strait in late February 1942, all Allied ships were ordered to withdraw to Australia. To escape detection by Japanese aircraft, against which Abraham Crijnssen could not defend herself, she was heavily camouflaged with jungle foliage, giving the impression of a small island. Abraham Crijnssen was used for mine-clearing sweeps of Kupang Harbour prior to the arrival of a RAN force to accept the Japanese surrender of Timor. Post-war After World War II, the minesweeper was used on anti-revolution patrols of the Netherlands East Indies. She left for the Netherlands in August 1951, and was converted into a boom defence vessel in March 1956. ==Decommissioning and preservation==

Abraham Crijnssen was removed from the Navy List in 1960. After leaving service, she was donated to the Sea Cadet Corps (Zeekadetkorps Nederland) for training purposes. She was docked at The Hague from 1962 to 1972, after which she was moved to Rotterdam. The ship was also used as a storage hulk during this time. In 1995, Abraham Crijnssen was marked for preservation by the Dutch Navy Museum at Den Helder. She was retrofitted to her wartime configuration. ==Citations==