Shipbucket

!Spelling and Grammar mistakes imminent!

Background
The construction of the Mackensen class began in the mid 1910s, but due to the war's outcome and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which imposed strict limitations on the size and capabilities of the German Navy, the construction of these battlecruisers was halted. This left the collection of unfinished hulls in a state of limbo. Coincidentally, due to their plans to build a fleet of battleships being scuppered by the war, the Dutch were looking to continue this idea with the acquisition of capital ships to strengthen the fleet in the east indies; the currentrcollection of oboslete cruisers had no chance against any potential enemy. The Dutch learned of the unfinished battlecruisers and saw an opportunity. They eventually decided on purchasing the Mackensen as it was the most complete. The ship was officially purchased on the 17th February 1920 for 24 million marks, 18 million of which was made via public donations. The entente initially tried to block the purchase as under Versaille, Germany was not allowed to sell warships. Dutch lawyers managed to argue that as the ship had not yet been fitted with guns, it did not form the full legal definition of a warship. A such, the purchase was allowed to proceed. Mackensen was towed to the Rijkswerf in Amsterdam, arriving on 3 April 1920, where it was renamed De Ruyter (after the famous admiral). Work to complete the ship immediatly began. The original design was seen as insufficient; The Japanese Amagi, British G3 and the US Lexingtons were all reportetd to have speeds in excess of 30 knots, whilst the Mackensen design could only reach 28 knots. It was decided that the ship would sacrifice 'C' turret for extra engines aswell as floatplane facilities.

Interwar
De Ruyter was officially completed on 18 June 1923, and commisoned on the 18 November, becoming the flagship of the Koninklijke Marine. It acted as something of foreign ambassador for the Netherlands, making various port visits including ones the the US, Japan, Germany, France, Brazil and Italy. By 1933, the ships engines which were buiilt in 1915, were in poor condition; the ship could only make 26 knots. It was decided that in order to remain a front line unit, the ship needed a comprehensive rebuild. Thsi was begun in March 1934. It included a new bow for better sea keeping, as well as the refurbishment of machinery, athe superstructure was rebuilt to make space for new fire control and a very early radar (added late in the refit). It also indluded new DP AA guns in addition to various light caliber AA guns.
The rebuild was completed in April 1937, and the ship was immediateley sent to represent the Netherlands at the 1937 Spithead Coronation review. It spent the rest of the interwar period conducting small training cruises in the North Sea.

1940-1941
Upon the German invasion, De Ruyter was docked in the Rijkswerf undergoing the replacement of her radar with a new, better radar. She was quickly readied to sail and departed Amsterdam, carrying the royal family, government and 3/4 of gold reserves, along with materials for her new radar aswell as blueprints for the 40mm Bofors Hazemeyer mount and blueprints for the shells of her 13.8 inch, 6 inch and 4.7 guns. Her voyage to England was very uneventful, apart from shooting down 3 Stukas that tried a bombing attempt. She was made part of the home fleet and escorted various Atlantic convoys and a role in the hunt for the Bismarck (in this reality it was her Fokker C.XI-W that spotted the Bismarck instead of the Catalina the historically did.) On 25 October 1941 it was deployed along with Prince of Wales and Repulse to the east indies as part of Force Z. When Japan declared war, the ship wasd docked in Singapore with the rest of Force Z. It was part of the force defending Malaya when Japanese bombers attacked the Force on December 10. Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk. Due to its modern AA battery and FC, De Ruyter avoided the same fate but still took damage from 2 torpedoes, downing 8 aircraft in return. It was returned to Singapore after picking up survivors.

1942
The damage was determined to be repairable upon inspection. The ship was repaired by 15 February and departed for Soerbaja. It fought at the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February where it sank the Jintsu and disabled the Haguro. However, it was not enough to secure victory as the rest of ABDACOM was taking heavy damage. De Ruyter was hit by 2 torpedoes and 9x 8 inch shells before it could turn the tide of the battle. Soerbaja did not have the facilities to repair such a big ship so it was decided it would be repaired in the US. The ship arrived at Newport News shipyard on 4 March, avoiding the fate of many ABDACOM ships. De Ruyter was in repair until August 1942. During this time it recived alot of new equipment, including a Mk37 fire director aswell as the removal of the flooatplane facilities to accomodate more AA guns. It deployed to the Guadalcanal campaign and took part in the Battle of Tassafaronga, sinking the Yugumo. It then took part in retaking the Gilbert and Marshall Islands

1943-1945
The ship started 1943 by taking part in retaking the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. It then moved onto the Phillipines campaigns and fought at the Battle of the Phillipines sea in which she shot down 19 aircraft, aswell as the Battle of Surigao Strait, damaging Yamashiro. Its last offensive actions in WW2 was bombarding the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The ship was present in Tokyo Bay following the surrender of Japan.

Postwar
The ship returned to Amsterdam on 11 December 1945 and had a brief refit. She then deployed to the east indies in August 1946 and bombarded Indonesian seperatists. These efforts wrapped up when De Ruyter suffered an engine breakdown and was withdrawn back to the netherlands. Repairs to the two inner turbines (the ones that had broken down) were deemed uneconomical for the cash-strapped government, as such De Ruyter was repurposed as a training ship that sailed between the home waters and the ABC islands. She was finally decommisioned in 1954 after her costs became too much. She was docked at Den Helder until 1961, when she was purchased by the DRPS and turned into a museum ship in Amsterdam and was restored to her 1937 rebuild condition, a state she is still in today.

Battle Honours
Atlantic 1939-1945
Bismarck 1941
Malaya 1941
Java Sea 1942
Tassafaronga 1942
Gilbert Islands 1943
Marshall Islands 1943
Phillipines Sea 1944
Surigao Strait 1944
Iwo Jima 1945
Okinawa 1945
East Indies 1945-1949

Thank you for reading my first post!