HNLMS Jan van Brakel (1936)

As patrol vessel Jan van Brakel monitored fisheries in the North Sea.^[1][6]

On 12 May 1940 the ship laid 80 mines in the waters west of Haaksgronden.^[8] Two days later, on 14 May 1940, Jan van Brakel left for England.^[7] There the ship was made ready in Portsmouth to be able to lay British mines.^[9]

On 1 June 1940 Jan van Brakel left Portsmouth for the River Tyne to lay mines if needed.^[9] Later it also performed escorting duties for allied convoys in British waters.^[7] In April 1942 the ship left for Curaçao to escort allied convoys in the waters of the Caribbean.^[1] After two years of being active in the West Indies, Jan van Brakel returned at the end of 1944 to England and was rebuilt as a mother ship for minesweepers.^[7]

After the Netherlands was liberated Jan van Brakel functioned as mother ship for other minesweepers and was stationed at Terschelling.^[10] However, this was only for a short duration as the ship left on 14 October 1945 for the Dutch East Indies together with eight minesweepers.^[11] On 28 January 1946 they arrived and began clearing minefields that were still present in the territorial waters of the Dutch East Indies.^[12] Later Jan van Brakel was also used as hydrographic survey vessel.^[13][14]

In 1951 the ship returned to the Netherlands and was rebuilt as a small frigate, among other modifications her front cannon was replaced by a 10.5 cm cannon.^[14] After being taken back into service in April 1953 it fulfilled the same duties as it did before the Second World War.^[15]

In June 1955 the ship left for Dutch New Guinea and performed patrol duties.^[14]

On 1 August 1957 Jan van Brakel was decommissioned and afterwards used as target ship near Biak.^[3]

• Mark, Chris (1997). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II (in Dutch). Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 90-6013-522-9.
• von Münching, L.L. (1978). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in de Tweede Wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Alkmaar: Alk. ISBN 90-6013-903-8.
• Raven, G.J.A., ed. (1988). De kroon op het anker: 175 jaar Koninklijke Marine (in Dutch). Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw. ISBN 90-6707-200-1.
• van Amstel, W.H.E. (1991). De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine vanaf 1945 (in Dutch). Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 90-6013-997-6.
• Roetering, B., ed. (1997). Mijnendienst 1907-1997 90 jaar: feiten, verhalen en anekdotes uit het negentigjarig bestaan van de Mijnendienst van de Koninklijke Marine (in Dutch). Roetering. ISBN 90-90-10528-X.