Dutch Navy
Admiralen Class Destroyer
Prewar
Laid Down
August 24 1925
Launched
April 24 1927
Commissioned
September 3 1928
Dimensions
560.5' | 51.5' | 16.7'
Tons
1,680 tons
Armament
7 x 120mm Bofors
2 x 75mm
4 x .50 cal MG
6 torpedos
4 x depth charge
Sunk
February 27, 1942 by torpedo and loss of 60 crewmen.
Ship History
Built by Wilton Fijenoord Dock in Rotterdam,
in March 1935, and started in October 1936. Named for Kortenaer,
an officer in the Dutch Navy.
Sinking History
During the Battle
of the Java Sea, hit by torpedoes from Japanese
heavy cruiser Haguro and sunk. 113 survivors were rescued by the HMS Encounter.
Shipwreck
Discovered by divers from MV Empress on December 8, 2004.
One
of the divers involved, Kevin Denlay, reports:
"We first discovered
what we believed to be the forward section of the Dutch destroyer
Kortenaer, the final 'missing' wreck from the Battle of the Java
Sea laying completely upside down on August 12, 2004.
However at the time we could find nothing to positively identify that the wreck was actually Kortenaer, so we did not want to say/publicize the discovery at the time that we found the wreck, in case it turned out not to be her. The only indication at the time that it was a warship was a very large searchlight laying on the seabed next to the jagged break. The visibility was VERY bad, about 2 to 3 mtrs or so and the depth was approximately +/- 52mtrs.
However, while currently back in the Java Sea, about six weeks ago we did another dive on the upside down section, and while several of us were searching for clues to positively identify the wreck, the owner/skipper (Vidar Skoglie) of the dive vessel we operate from (MV Empress), 'swam', with the aid of a diver propulsion vehicle or underwater scooter, about 30 to 40 mtrs away from the upside down section (again in very poor/ even worse visibility) to a 'lump' that had previously shown up on the side scan sonar. Sure enough it was the stern section of Kortenaer laying well over on its starboard side, with her propellers and rudder visible and one set of triple torpedo tubes also visible amongst the large amounts of fishing net that is draped over the wreckage. This was finally THE positive identification we were looking for!
However I must say we were very surprised to find the two halves so close together as many reports/books seem to indicate that one half (the stern?) stayed afloat for a long time and then drifted away after the bow sunk? Obviously not!
Regretfully, although I was this time prepared to take some photos or video I could/did not as the visibility was even worse than the first time (when I also did not take photos/video), probably only 1 to 2 mtrs or even less in parts, what we refer to as 'braille diving', which is simply hopeless for photography."
References
Thanks to Kevin
Denlay for discovery information.
52m
