HNLMS Orkaan
Tugboat of the Royal Netherlands Navy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HNLMS Orkaan (A837) was a tugboat of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN).[2] She served in the RNN between 1949 and 1961.[1] It was at the time the largest tugboat to be built in the Netherlands for the RNN.[3]
Orkaan | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Netherlands | |
| Name | Orkaan |
| Operator |  Royal Netherlands Navy |
| Builder | Gebr. Fikkers, Martenshoek |
| Laid down | 1948 |
| Launched | 27 January 1949 |
| Commissioned | 7 November 1949 |
| Decommissioned | 23 May 1961 |
| Identification | IMO number: 5402887 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Tugboat |
| Displacement | 238 t (234 long tons) |
| Length | 28.60 m (93 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 6.60 m (21 ft 8 in) |
| Draught | 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Armament | 1 x 20 mm machine guns |
Design and construction
Orkaan was laid down in 1948 and launched on 27 January 1949 at the shipyard of Gebr. Fikkers in Martenshoek, Groningen.[1][4] She was commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy on 7 November 1949.[1]
The boat was equipped with a 1200 horse power MAN diesel engine.[5] This made it possible to reach a speed of up to 12 knots.[6]
Service history
Besides acting as tugboat the Orkaan could also be used as salvage ship when necessary and was equipped with firefighting equipment.[2][7]
In 1954 Orkaan helped tow the light ship Terschellingerbank to Rotterdam after it collided with a ship.[8]