The Royal Netherlands Navy are regular visitors to London and have brought a variety of different vessel types to the capital over the years but December 2022 saw the first visit of HNLMS Karel Doorman which is a Joint Support Ship.
The vessel is equipped to undertake a number of roles as it has fuel storage tanks and Replenishment-at-Sea transfer rigs as well as a large helicopter deck and hanger in addition to a vehicle deck and space for two Landing Craft.
On this visit the HNLMS Karel Doorman was accompanied by the Frigates HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën & HNLMS Van Amstel and the Offshore Patrol Vessel HNLMS Groningen. The four ships having been conducting various exercises under the ‘Atlantic Archer 2022’ operational name.
A fifth Dutch Navy vessel, in the form of mine countermeasures vessel HNLMS Schiedam, was also visiting London. It had arrived from it’s homeport in the Netherlands in the early hours of the morning with the other four ships arriving during the afternoon.
Whilst having five vessels from the same Navy in London at the same time is rare it certainly isn’t the only time London has had a large group of visitors for example the French Navy visited with all eight of their Léopard-class training ships back in 2013.
The German Navy have had two larger group visits with six ships visiting in 2015 (5 fast missile boats and support ship) and the previous year a mixed mine-sweeping fleet of ten vessels had visited.
A few more pictures of the ‘Atlantic Archer’ visitors can be seen here.
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