Royal Netherlands Navy

The Royal Netherlands Navy (Dutch: Koninklijke Marine) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.^[2]

During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world and played an active role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the Franco-Dutch War, and wars against Spain and several other European powers. The Batavian Navy of the later Batavian Republic (1795–1806) and Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810) played an active role in the Napoleonic Wars, though mostly dominated by French interests.

After the establishment of the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands, it served an important role in protecting Dutch colonial rule, especially in Southeast Asia, and would play a minor role in World War II, especially against the Imperial Japanese Navy. Since World War II, the Royal Netherlands Navy has taken part in expeditionary peacekeeping operations.

The main naval base is in Den Helder, North Holland. Secondary naval bases are in Amsterdam, Vlissingen and Willemstad (Curaçao). Netherlands Marine Corps barracks are in Rotterdam, Doorn, Suffisant on Curaçao, and Savaneta on Aruba.

Officers of the Nederland Navy are trained at the Royal Naval Institute (Koninklijk Instituut voor de Marine), which is part of the Netherlands defence academy (Nederlandse Defensie Academie) in Den Helder.^[3]Around 100–120 people start training every year.

An international prefix for ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy is HNLMS (His/Her Netherlands Majesty's Ship).^[4] The Netherlands navy itself uses the prefixes Zr.Ms. (Dutch: Zijner Majesteits, lit. 'His Majesty's') when a king is on the throne, and Hr.Ms. (Dutch: Harer Majesteits, lit. 'Her Majesty's') when there is a queen. This happens automatically at the moment the previous monarch ceases to reign.^[5]