List of major World War II warships built by minor powers

Summary

This is a list of major World War II surface warships built by the belligerent minor powers. Each entry into this list is a purpose-built naval ship with a displacement greater than 1,000 tons. If her full displacement exceeds 1,000 tons but the standard displacement is below this number, the warship is marked with an asterisk at the end of her name. Only vessels in commission by the end of the war qualify for this list.

A minor power in the context of the Second World War is any country that was not one of the era's Great Powers. A major warship of the Second World War is any naval vessel with a displacement greater than 1,000 tons, as opposed to minor warships.

Allies edit

Brazil edit

Class Picture Type Ships Displacement (Standard/Full) Note
Marcílio Dias class   Destroyer Marcilio Dias
Mariz e Barros
Greenhalgh
1,500/2,200 tons Last ship of the class stricken 1972.

Denmark edit

Class Picture Type Ships Displacement (Standard/Full) Note
Herluf Trolle class   Coastal defence ship Peder Skram 3,500/- tons Scuttled in August 1943[1]
Niels Juel class   Coastal defence ship Niels Juel 3,800/- tons After refit her standard displacement increased by 400 tons; scuttled in August 1943[2]
Hekla class   Protected cruiser Hekla 1,322/- tons Survived the war, decommissioned in 1954[3]
Hvidbjørnen class* Fishery protection vessel Hvidbjørnen 914/1,050 tons Scuttled in August 1943
Ingolf class Fishery protection vessel Ingolf 1,180/1,357 tons Captured by Germany in August 1943 and renamed Sleipner

Netherlands edit

Class Picture Type Ships Displacement (Standard/Full) Note
Jacob van Heemskerck class   Coastal defence ship Jacob van Heemskerck 4,920/- tons Survived the war, decommissioned in 1974 and subsequently scrapped
De Zeven Provinciën class   Coastal defence ship De Zeven Provinciën 6,530/- tons Captured by Japan in 1942, sunk by Allied aircraft in 1943
Koningin Regentes class   Coastal defence ship Hertog Hendrik 5,002/- tons Survived the war, decommissioned in 1968 and subsequently scrapped
Java class   Light cruiser Java
Sumatra
6,670/8,087 tons Neither survived the war, Java was sunk during the Battle of the Java Sea while Sumatra was scuttled in June 1944
De Ruyter class   Light cruiser De Ruyter 6,650/- Sunk during the Battle of the Java Sea
Tromp class   Light cruiser Tromp
Jacob van Heemskerck
3,404/- Both survived the war and were decommissioned in the late 1960s
Admiralen class   Destroyer Van Ghent
Evertsen
Kortenaer
Piet Hein
Van Galen
Witte de With
Banckert
Van Nes
1,316/1,640 All eight were sunk during the war
Gerard Callenburgh class   Destroyer Gerard Callenburgh
Isaac Sweers
1,604/2,228 Both were sunk during the war
Van Kinsbergen class   Sloop Van Kinsbergen 1,760/2,388 Scrapped in 1974
Johan Maurits van Nassau class   Gunboat Johan Maurits van Nassau 1,457/1,793 Sunk in May 1940
K class   Sloop K1
K2
K3
1,200/1,420 K1 was sunk near the end of the war, the other two were scrapped after the war
Flores class   Gunboat Flores
Soemba
1,480/1,822 Both survived the war and were decommissioned in 1968 and 1985 respectively
Prins van Oranje class   Minelayer Prins van Oranje
Gouden Leeuw
1,291/- tons Both were sunk in 1942
Willem van der Zaan class   Minelayer Willem van der Zaan 1,422/- tons Survived the war, scrapped in late 1970
Arend class* Patrol ship Arend
Valk
748/1,011 tons Seaplane-carrying patrol vessels, both scuttled in March 1942
Krakatau class* Minelayer Krakatau 982/1,160 tons Scuttled in March 1942
Rigel class Minelayer Rigel 1,378/1,631 tons Scuttled in March 1942

Norway edit

Class Picture Type Ships Displacement (Standard/Full) Note
Olav Tryggvason class   Minelayer Olav Tryggvason 1,596/- tons Captured by Germany in April 1940 and renamed Albatros II, wrecked on dry dock by the Royal Air Force in April 1945
Fridtjof Nansen class Fishery protection vessel Fridtjof Nansen 1,219/1,563 tons Wrecked on rocks in November 1940

Yugoslavia edit

Class Picture Type Ships Displacement (Standard/Full) Note
Beograd class   Destroyer Ljubljana
Zagreb
1,210/1,655 tons Ljubljana was captured by Italy in April 1941 and lost off the Tunisian coast in April 1943; Zagreb was scuttled in April 1941

Axis edit

Finland edit

Class Picture Type Ships Displacement (Standard/Full) Note
Väinämöinen class   Coastal defence ship Väinämöinen
Ilmarinen
3,900/- tons Ilmarinen was mined and sunk in 1941 during Operation Nordwind

Romania edit

Class Picture Type Ships Displacement (Standard/Full) Note
Amiral Murgescu class*   Minelayer Amiral Murgescu 812/1,068 tons First sea-going warship built by Romania, survived the war and was scrapped in 1988

References edit

  1. ^ Sir John Alexander Hammerton Amalgamated Press, The War Illustrated, Volume 7, Issues 156-180, 1943, p. 230
  2. ^ Sir John Alexander Hammerton Amalgamated Press, The War Illustrated, Volume 7, Issues 156-180, 1943, p. 230
  3. ^ "HEKLA (1891-1954)". Archived from the original on 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2018-05-19.