Java-class cruiser

The Java class was a series of <a href="/facts/Light_cruiser/SMwX2q99">light cruisers</a> operated by the <a href="/facts/Royal_Netherlands_Navy/2jttkYgw">Royal Netherlands Navy</a> during the <a href="/facts/Interwar_period/EWLuS41R">Interwar period</a> and World War II. Designed to defend the <a href="/facts/Dutch_East_Indies/1vl6kw8p">Dutch East Indies</a> against the <a href="/facts/Empire_of_Japan/gMpNKg2W">Empire of Japan</a>, the cruisers were designed in 1916 to be the best in the world. However, a series of issues due to <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>, supply chain issues, <a href="/facts/Strike_action/aCsc26tR">worker strikes</a>, instability in Germany, and a change in national policy delayed the ships for more than a decade. Of the three ships planned, one was canceled during a construction pause. 
By the time the remaining two ships were launched in the mid 1920s, their design was outdated and little work was done to address the issue. Both ships saw action during <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>. <a href="/facts/HNLMS_Sumatra_(1920)/IySE1cI6">HNLMS Sumatra</a> was in the Netherlands when the country was <a href="/facts/German_invasion_of_the_Netherlands/q81KKes7">invaded by Germany</a> in 1940, and the cruiser fled to the United Kingdom. Under British control, she sailed around the world, was disarmed, and sunk as a <a href="/facts/Breakwater_(structure)/gHBSWptv">breakwater</a> off <a href="/facts/Normandy/0NfFuSct">Normandy</a>. <a href="/facts/HNLMS_Java_(1921)/VHHmfNq7">HNLMS Java</a> was in the East Indies when the <a href="/facts/Pacific_War/yNu6op98">Pacific War</a> began in 1941, and joined <a href="/facts/Allies_of_World_War_II/YzCdtjDY">Allied</a> efforts in attempting to repulse several Japanese invasions. During the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_the_Java_Sea/qnqFG0Rw">Battle of the Java Sea</a>, she was <a href="/facts/Torpedo/RLLPpktk">torpedoed</a> and promptly sunk.

Java-class cruiser open-in-new

Java-class cruiser