A comparison between the U. S. Navy and the Royal Netherlands Navy demands a certain knowledge about both navies and the nations to which they belong.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands with its 12 million people lies in northwestern Europe, bounded by the North Sea, Germany, and Belgium. Surinam in South America and the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean are the independent and self-governing parts of the kingdom outside Europe.
In many respects the birth of Dutch independence corresponds to early U. S. history. In the 16th century, the Low Countries were part of the Spanish Kingdom. Lack of political and economic freedom and religions discrimination caused the Dutch people in the northern part of the Low Countries to revolt, led by Prince William of Orange. The people gave him the function of stockholder, the position of hereditary head of state in a republic. The official name of the country then became “Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.” During the 17th century, Dutch economic life, especially international trade, expanded on a large scale. In this “Golden Age,” Holland was the leading province, followed by Zealand (New Zealand was so baptized by the Dutch). Trade representatives settled all over the world as the Dutch founded the colonies of New Amsterdam and New Netherlands, in America, and others in the West Indies, South America, Africa, and Asia.
Both Australia and New Zealand were first explored by the Dutch. The vital young republic, however, encountered the inevitable competition and enmity of other countries. The main opponent at sea was Great Britain, and four violent sea wars were fought between the two countries throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. During the fourth Anglo- Dutch war, the Netherlands were the allies of the revolting 13 colonies in America. After the Napoleonic wars and the French occupation of the Netherlands, the country was again placed under the government of the Orange- Nassau dynasty. Prince William VI became King William I and, in 1815, the Kingdom of the Netherlands was founded. In consequence of strict neutrality, the new kingdom hardly took part in European history until 1940, when the Nazi armies invaded the country and the Luftwaffe destroyed Rotterdam. For five years, German forces occupied the Netherlands, while Japan took possession of the Dutch East Indies in 1942.
After World War II, the Netherlands were rebuilt, partly with American help. Indonesia became an independent republic, and in 1954, Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles became self-governing parts of the kingdom. Prewar neutrality was totally abandoned as the Netherlands joined NATO and many European and international economic and political organizations.
Ever since the early existence of the Dutch republic, seafaring has played a vital role in the history of the country. During the independence war, the national navy arose; it was actually composed of five navies, for the seaside provinces and Amsterdam and Rotterdam maintained their own fleets. Whereas, during the 17th and 18th centuries, the East Indies Company and the West Indies Company fought in Asia and the New World, the Republican Navy defended the Dutch interests in Europe against the Spaniards, Portuguese, French, Swedish, and British.
The Netherlands most famous admiral, Michel de Ruyter (1607-1676), who is generally considered the peer of Britain’s Horatio Nelson, defended the cause of his country in 40 sea fights and 15 major sea battles, in seven of which he held chief command. In the violent Anglo-Dutch sea battles during the 17th century, nearly 100 ships on both sides were involved; more than 20,000 British sailors fought over 20,000 Dutch sailors.
During World War II, the navy participated in the Allied war at sea in the Atlantic and the Pacific, and lost the greater part of her ships during the campaign against Japan. After the war a new fleet was to be built, and in those postwar years, two cruisers, 12 destroyers, four submarines, one fleet oiler and 48 minesweepers were constructed in several Dutch civilian shipyards. The Netherlands merchant navy lost nearly half of all its ships in World War II, but, 20 years after V-J Day, ranked eleventh on the list of the largest merchant fleets.
The table below, from Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1965, shows the relative sizes of the world’s merchant fleets.
Nation |
Ships |
Tons Gross |
United States (sea) |
3,222 |
20,351,334 |
United States (Great Lakes) |
315 |
2,078,915 |
United Kingdom |
4,538 |
21,489,948 |
Liberia |
1,117 |
14,549,645 |
Norway |
2,732 |
14,477,112 |
Japan |
5,401 |
10,813,228 |
Soviet Union |
1,674 |
6,957,512 |
Greece |
1,290 |
6,887,624 |
Italy |
1,421 |
5,707,817 |
West Germany |
2,504 |
5,159,186 |
France |
1,532 |
5,116,232 |
Netherlands |
1,889 |
5,110,002 |
Sweden |
1,167 |
4,308,042 |
Panama |
691 |
4,269,462 |
Denmark |
901 |
2,431,020 |
Spain |
1,741 |
2,047,715 |
Of the two most important harbors in the Netherlands, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the latter is the biggest and busiest in the world. In 1965, 28,103 ships (73,727,000 tons gross) entered the harbor, averaging one ship entering and one ship leaving the harbor every 20 minutes, day and night.
The Koninklijke Marine (Royal Netherlands Navy) now consists of one light aircraft carrier, extensively modernized in 1955-1958; one guided missile cruiser and one light cruiser (both commissioned in 1953); 12 destroyers, commissioned in 1955-1958; 18 frigates (DDE), of which six are under construction; six submarines, four of which are of Dutch triple hull design and completed in 1960-1966; 62 minesweepers, and several tenders, patrol vessels, landing craft, and other auxiliaries. A first installment for the construction of the first nuclear-powered submarine was approved in 1965.
Belonging to the navy is the Fleet Air Arm and one of the oldest Marine Corps in history. The largest naval base is at Den Helder in North Holland, and the only remaining overseas base is at Willemstad, Curasao.
Navy personnel total 22,000 officers and men, of whom approximately 20 per cent are conscripts or naval reserves.
The following table, reproduced from Jane's Fighting Ships 1965-66, indicates the strength of the Royal Netherlands Navy in relation to some of the other leading navies of the world.
Nation |
Carriers |
Cruisers |
DD, DDE, Corvettes |
Submarines |
United States |
57 |
40 |
717 |
200 |
United Kingdom |
7 |
5 |
89 |
44 |
France |
4 |
2 |
50 |
19 |
Netherlands |
1 |
2 |
30 |
6 |
Canada |
1 |
|
37 |
2 |
Italy |
|
3 |
41 |
5 |
West Germany |
|
|
41 |
11 |
Turkey |
|
|
17 |
10 |
Portugal |
|
|
13 |
3 |
Greece |
|
|
12 |
3 |
Denmark |
|
|
10 |
4 |
Norway |
|
|
8 |
5 |
Belgium |
|
|
4 |
|
Soviet Union |
|
22 |
250 |
425 |
Australia |
2 |
|
17 |
|
Sweden |
|
1 |
20 |
21 |
Japan |
|
|
48 |
7 |
Notes: Figures include vessels in reserve, but not ships under construction. |
I arrived on board the USS Lloyd Thomas (DD-764) onl5July 1966, being the seventh Dutch participant in an American-Dutch exchange program which started in 1963. The program gives officers of the U. S. Navy and the Royal Netherlands Navy the opportunity of getting acquainted with the allied navy by serving aboard a destroyer for half-a-year.
During the first two weeks on board the Lloyd Thomas, the ship stayed in Newport and I had the opportunity to familiarize myself with the U. S. Navy. Naturally, I was particularly interested in the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of the officers as well as in their education, both inside and outside the Navy. It took me some time to discover the many paths leading to a commission as an officer in the Navy. The U. S. Naval Academy offers only one of several possibilities and this is not even the most common one. The majority of the officers on board the Lloyd Thomas were commissioned after Officer Candidate School and after graduating from college through Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program. Other possibilities are offered to enlisted men; a Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program graduate was an example of an officer up from the ranks on board the Lloyd Thomas. The obligated service period in the U. S. Navy varies from two to four years after commissioning.
In the Netherlands, the education and training of all professional and reserve officers takes place at the Royal Institute for the Navy (Koninklijk Instituut voor de Marine). The professional officer’s education requires five years—three years of theoretical studies as a midshipman, one year of practical duty, and another year of theory. Commissioning occurs after the first three years of theoretical studies. Basically, there is not much difference between the U. S. Naval Academy education and the education at the Royal Institute for the Navy.
Future reserve officers go to the Royal Institute for an indoctrination course of almost one year and on completion stay in the navy for approximately one year of active duty in shore billets or in minesweepers. The obligated contract period for professional officers is ten years after commissioning.
The distribution of various tasks and duties for U. S. officers is based on a type of management system. The executive officer is the real “executioner” of all activities; he is advised and assisted by the department heads. Except for the supply officer, department heads have at their disposal two or more division officers who are in charge of specific areas of the department. By attending various courses at different schools the junior officer obtains the required knowledge to accomplish his duties, whereas he must rely on his shipboard experience for knowledge of higher functions, including those of junior officer of the deck and officer of the deck.
The Koninklijkc Marine (K.M.) has a division of tasks which appear similar but differ basically from the American principle. The executive officer is the head of the ship’s internal organization, controls the daily routine, and is the final authority for all personnel interests. Senior in rank next to the executive officer is the chief engineer, who usually holds the same rank as the executive officer. He belongs to another officer corps, the technical service. On board a Dutch destroyer, the chief engineer has two other technical officers as his assistants. He is responsible to the commanding officer, and the engineering department is neither supervised nor advised by the executive officer. Engineering officers have only technical duties, do not stand watches on the bridge when underway, and are not supposed to stand watches in port, nor may they get command at sea, which is the privilege only of the so-called sea officers (line officers). Similarly, the head of the electro-technical department, an officer of the electro-technical branch, is entirely independent, responsible only to the commanding officer. The supply officer, a member of the fourth officer corps (a marine officer is the fifth type of naval officer) is in charge of his department and also works independently and without supervision of the executive officer. The sea officers form the operational group on board. They specialize in and are responsible for artillery (gunnery), navigation and combat information, antisubmarine warfare (ASW) and communications. They all hold the equivalent rank of lieutenant, U. S. Navy, which rank is obtained five years after commissioning. They also complete one year of study in their specialities. Three or four unspecialized junior officers act as assistants to the lieutenants and only sea officers stand watches underway and in port.
Evidently there is a remarkable difference between officers’ duty assignments in the two navies. The U. S. destroyer operates with younger officers who execute their administrative and operational tasks under the supervision of the department heads, but the executive officer also takes part in operational activities of the ship.
The Netherlands destroyer chiefly has lieutenants who are all more or less department heads. During exercises they alone have control of their departments, whereas the executive officer does not have any operational duties with the exception of his command of the deck force during replenishment at sea. Therefore, it is strange to a Dutch officer to meet a communications officer on board a U. S. destroyer who is an ensign or lieutenant junior grade with an OCS and communications course education and practically no experience at sea. Americans consider it an advantage that the executive officer and the commanding officer usually have training and experience in every field of the ship’s activity. From a Dutch point of view, it seems that the U. S. officer at least has a general knowledge of all departments but does not specialize in any specific field. The department head considers himself more as being the general manager of his department than as the professional craftsman in his speciality. Since the specific Navy education is relatively meager for OCS and NROTC graduates, the result is that these junior officers in some cases do not feel tied to the Navy. The Dutch midshipman finishes a long indoctrination period, specializes as an officer, and signs a contract which obliges him to serve in the Navy for ten years. Hence, the Dutch naval officer often feels more bound to the Navy. He considers himself a professional officer, and usually expects to stay in the Navy after the first ten years. If he does not like his chosen profession, the long contract period is, of course, a disadvantage not existing in the U. S. Navy. The short first term of obligated service in the latter lends a temporary character to the profession of naval officer, so that the junior officer does not always think of it as a lifetime career. Nonetheless, the U. S. officer is hard-working and industrious, and he does not allow his personal opinion about the Navy to interfere with his personal performance.
Two weeks after my arrival, the Lloyd Thomas headed for Boston for a docking period of three weeks. I still had many opportunities to become familiar with the daily routine on board. The plan of the day and most daily events were well known to me, and did not differ much from those of the Koninklijke Marine. Dutch quarters for muster are different, though—the whole crew assembles on the fantail or other appointed place and the petty officers report peculiarities (such as absentees) to the senior chief petty officer, who in turn reports these data to the duty officer, who holds the position of command duty officer. (The OOD in port is an unknown function in the K.M.) The duty officer reports the number of absentees (and the reasons) at quarters to the executive officer. There is no officer’s call in the K.M. Although the American quarters for muster requires more time, I think this method of beginning the day makes more sense than the Dutch quarters.
After quarters, the U. S. officer starts his own work and the enlisted men have their jobs in their compartments, led by their petty officers. The difference and distance between petty officers and nonrated men in both grade and age is not significant and the P03 and P02 have difficulties in maintaining their authority. (The same problem exists in the K.M., where there is only one PO grade instead of three.) Thus, to effect fairly good control of personnel, the division officer (or his chief petty officer) has to exercise the supervision and inspection. In fact, it is the duty of the CPO but the young division officer often shrinks from the idea of pushing his CPO, with the result that some POs and their nonrated personnel are too often left to themselves. The co-operation between officers is very good and pleasant relations do exist because of the informal atmosphere in the wardroom. The commanding officer takes a friendly approach to his officers and is well informed of their family circumstances and personal interests. The informal way of fife is initially hard to accept for a Dutch officer, but in the course of time he understands and appreciates the profitable and attractive aspects of it. Yet, U. S. officers are not often seen together in the wardroom—properly speaking, only during meals, conferences, and the movies. The fact that the wardroom is hardly used for social meetings is due to the lack of a wineshop on board. Much has been said about this subject and undoubtedly the U. S. Navy will never reintroduce liquor on board, any more than the K.M. will abolish the wineshop. The absence of liquor prevents troubles that do certainly occur now and then, but having no beer (which is the only drink available to POs and nonrated men in the K.M.) deprives the crew of a certain pleasure. During my stay on board, I found the absence of a wineshop no problem. Now that the U. S. Navy is used to the situation, I think it is preferable to continue the prohibition of liquor.
For the rest, the impossibility of having a drink is compensated for by an excellent mess. Compared with the Dutch meals, the American has a rich variety and abundance of food. For that matter, the general care for personnel is excellent in many fields. Not only are meals very attractive, but there is also an efficiently working laundry and a good postal service. Career counsellors give information to the Navy man about the various possibilities of education and training inside as well as outside the navy. And to his salary the serviceman can add the advantages of the Navy exchange and the almost free medical care. The same opportunities and advantages also exists in the K.M., but on a smaller and less profitable scale.
Naturally, the real sailor always has something to complain about, and as far as leave regulations are concerned, he may have some reason to. In the K.M., practically the entire crew goes on leave during the same period, three weeks in summertime and ten days during winter. The U. S. Navy man is allowed to request leave in a period most convenient to him, but he never knows whether by that time the opportunity will be there; to officers, it is hardly possible to go on leave for a period greater than two weeks.
After the drydock period in Boston, the Lloyd Thomas took part in ASW exercises together with the other ships of Destroyer Squadron Ten, the carrier Wasp (CVS-18), and a submarine.
When leaving harbor, the American destroyer bridge is crowded with people; Commanding Officer, OOD, JOOD, navigator, assistant navigator, helmsman, lee-helmsman, quartermaster, bearingtakers and phone- talkers,—about 13 persons. The Dutch destroyer operates with Commanding Officer, OOD, JOOD, navigator, communications officer, Chief Engineer, and two signalmen on the bridge. (The helmsman and the lee-helmsman are in the pilot house which is beneath the bridge.) The U. S. system provides for a relative separation of the navigation (for which the navigation team is responsible) from the maneuvering of the ship (which is the primary duty of the OOD). The OOD is finally responsible for all ship’s movements to the captain. The Dutch OOD, assisted by his JOOD, is in charge of both navigating and maneuvering and there is no navigation team. The safety of the ship plays a vital role in navigation in the U. S. Navy. From a Dutch viewpoint, the taking of a fix every two minutes in restricted, but nonetheless well known and surveyable waters is superfluous. The OOD should be well informed about the channel or restricted waters in such a manner that the taking of a fix every five minutes by the JOOD is sufficient. In Netherlands ships, the officers execute navigation functions and every fix on the chart is put there by an officer personally, in restricted waters as well as at sea. During the night watches the OOD navigates without supervision. He is not supposed, as is his U. S. colleague, to ask the permission of the captain to make changes in course and speed. Because of this, the Dutch OOD is more independent and therefore his function is more interesting. A Dutch officer would consider it a mark of distrust if the navigator entered the bridge during the mid-watch to recommend any changes in course or speed. The U. S. junior officer, who is, as I said before, more a general manager instead of a professional Navy man, has had a shorter education in navigation and therefore the American method is probably necessary. When steaming in formation, it is a remarkable advantage to the OOD and the JOOD not to be bothered with navigation. On the other hand, they themselves handle the radio communications, a job taken care of by signalmen on a Dutch ship. Radio communications were difficult to understand, because my ears are used to the slowly spoken and more articulated English used by the K.M. Since English is not the mother tongue in many NATO navies, its use on tactical lines, especially when rapidly spoken, may cause some confusion during operations with those navies.
During the exercise period ASW and gunnery exercises were held and ships were replenished underway. ASW exercises made it clear that the detection equipment, in spite of highly developed possibilities, still trails the weapons system, even in the U. S. Navy. On board the Lloyd Thomas, ASW exercises were executed by two attack teams, called the blue and gold teams. The executive officer and the operations officer act as evaluator, each on his own team. The evaluator recommends changes of course and speed to the OOD via a sound-powered telephone; the OOD is safety officer. In the K.M. the specialized officer (the ASW officer) is the evaluator and firing officer both. His substitute is the navigator. On board a Dutch destroyer the ASW officer gives his orders directly to the helmsman and lee-helmsman via a microphone with loudspeakers on the bridge and in the pilot house. If the OOD on the bridge, in his function of safety officer, does not concur with any change of course and speed, he gives his reverse orders to the helmsman via the voice tube. The personnel in the pilot house know that the voice tube overrules the loudspeaker. The Dutch system makes a quicker execution of orders from the evaluator possible, while the U. S. method is again, in navigation, considered safer. The Dutch ASW officer, as in the U. S. Navy, decides the moment of firing his weapons and he himself gives the order to fire. The American evaluator leaves this solution about the exact moment of firing to his ASW officer in Underwater Battery Plot. Naturally, in both navies the complete attack is under supervision of the commanding officer and all measures are taken with his consent. To me, it is unusual that the executive officer or operations officer is the evaluator and not the weapons officer or the ASW officer. During gunnery exercises the executive officer again is evaluator and target designator and the weapons officer the visual observer. In the K.M., the artillery officer is the evaluator, his station is in Combat, and from there he is in communication with the mounts and the director. An assistant artillery officer acts as visual observer.
In the K.M., the specialist, who can be compared with the American department head, is more the tactical employer of his department. In general, the evaluator in the U. S. Navy is the tactical employer of all weapons. The duty of the American division officer is mostly administrative, and at sea he holds only a minor tactical function. The ASW and gunnery exercises were executed with enthusiasm, the atmosphere in Combat was quiet (the noise level was kept down), and people knew what they were doing. The gunnery exercises took place while the crew was at general quarters which is quite unusual in the K.M. As a matter of fact, the U. S. Navy is at general -quarters for long periods at regular times compared to the K.M., where only the required total of personnel takes part in every exercise. In this respect the U. S. Navy works in a more realistic way. But for the rest of it, there are only a few differences between the two navies in the course of the exercises, and this is how it should be, because both the U. S. Navy and the K.M. are basically exercising according to NATO procedures. Very often people asked me: “Does your Navy operate in the same way?” and almost always my answer would be in the affirmative.
Replenishment at sea is the most realistic exercise executed in any modern navy— realistic because of the necessity in wartime and peacetime alike of refueling. U. S. Navy ships show an excellent skill in making the required maneuvers, and on board the Lloyd Thomas, the connection of the refueling rig took place in a rapid and very organized way. The refueling itself, mostly via two different connections on board the receiving ship, reflected much efficiency. Using two refueling rigs at the same time requires co-operation on board each ship and between ships. Good shiphandling was always displayed by senior officers during replenishment operations as well as when making landings in port.
In September, the Lloyd Thomas received two DASH drone helicopters on board and began her DASH qualification trials. To my amazement, eight civilian technicians arrived on board to execute the DASH test program. The U. S. Navy co-operates with civilian companies on higher as well as on lower levels. In the Netherlands, the K.M. makes great efforts to educate and train Navy personnel in order to avoid the residence on board of civilian experts and to be as self-supporting as possible. During the test period at sea, one of the drones had to be replaced as soon as possible and I noticed with admiration that a few hours after entering harbor the new drone was delivered on board.
As far as logistics and maintenance are concerned, the U. S. Navy operates quite efficiently. I gained this impression especially during the tender availability period. The amount of papers and forms is rather large, though. The same results could possibly be obtained with less paperwork. As an OOD on the quarterdeck, I once had to sign the orders, with 17 copies, of a seaman who went to attend a school on the base for one day. A single written order would be more than sufficient in the Netherlands in this case.
The method of administrative inspection in the U. S. Navy is also different from that in the K.M. A destroyer in a squadron is inspected by the officer in command of this squadron together with his staff officers. In the U. S. Navy, the Division Commander inspects the ship with the assistance of the commanding officer and officers of another destroyer of the same squadron. It certainly is not a pleasant job to inspect your fellow- officer and to judge his work, but most probably this is the only way of inspecting.
In addition, competitive exercises are unknown in the K.M., although some prizes in the field of gunnery and communications can be obtained. A great advantage of these competitive exercises is a better possibility of evaluating ships and crews as well as providing incentive for the men (although I do not firmly believe in this latter theory). A disadvantage is the constant quest for observers. Very unusual to me is the fact that these observers are often junior officers who are supposed to evaluate the performance of officers senior to them and with more experience in naval exercises. Nevertheless, the competitive exercises are fitting in the American atmosphere, where approval and a pat on the back are more frequently given than in the K.M.
Later, I had the opportunity to be present during the presentation of the Squadron Battle Efficiency Award. The military ceremony was less stiff and regulated than it would be in the K.M. The presentation itself was preceded by the chaplain’s invocation. I believe this to be a good custom. Religion takes a most distinctive and respected place in the U. S. Navy and concerning this there is no difference between the U. S. Navy and the Koninklijke Marine.
I consider the opportunity given to me to serve on board a U. S. destroyer as an extremely rich experience. I learned to understand the Americans and their Navy and I surely came to appreciate them. Although the way of life was at first rather unusual to a Dutchman, I finally began to realize the pleasant advantages.
It seems to me that people in the U. S. Navy are aware of the necessity of hard work, but that they also want to offer everyone the possibility of a happy life and the opportunity of being oneself and of enjoying one’s own life. I understand that the “freedom for all,” of which the U. S. Navy is the mighty guardian, is not a myth but a reality.