HNLMS Sumatra (1920)

Sumatra sometime before 1935
History
Netherlands
Name	Sumatra
Ordered	15 November 1915
Builder	Nederlandse Scheepsbouw Maatschappij
Laid down	15 July 1916
Launched	29 December 1920
Completed	26 May 1926
Fate	Scuttled, 1944
General characteristics
Type	Java-class cruiser
Displacement	6,670 tons standard[1] 8,339 tons full load[1]
Length	155.3 m (509 ft 6 in)
Beam	16 m (52 ft 6 in)
Draught	6.22 m (20 ft 5 in)
Propulsion	82,000 shp (61,000 kW), three shafts
Speed	31 knots
Range	3,600 nmi (6,700 km; 4,100 mi) at 11 or 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)[1]
Complement	525[1]
Armament	10 × 15 cm guns 4 × 7.5 cm (3.0 in) AA 4 × 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machine guns 36 × mines
Armour	7.5 cm (3.0 in) belt 2,5 to 5 cm (2.0 in) deck 12.5 cm (4.9 in) conning tower 10 cm (3.9 in) gun shields
Aircraft carried	2 × floatplanes

HNLMS Sumatra was a Java-class light cruiser operated by the Royal Netherlands Navy. She was designed to defend the Dutch East Indies and outperform all potential rivals. She was laid down in 1916, but a series of construction delays prevented her from being completed until 1926. By the time she entered service, her design was already dated. Over the next several years, she operated in the Indonesian archipelago, protected Dutch assets during the Chinese Civil War, and escorted merchant ships during the Spanish Civil War. Following the Invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, the cruiser fled to the United Kingdom and was incorperated into the Royal Navy. After a world-wide voyage to and from the East Indies, the Royal Navy had no use for the old cruiser. In 1944, she was sunk as a breakwater as part of a mulberry harbour during the Invasion of France.