The Last Gun Cruiser
History of HNLMS De Ruyter
Laid down in 1939, this De Zeven Provinciën-class ship was partially constructed by the Germans during their occupation of The Netherlands and launched in 1944. The Dutch resumed building duties after the Germans kindly went back home and HNLMS De Ruyter was finally commissioned in 1953!
This class of ship had been designed in the 1930s for service in the Dutch Indies… This never happened. Nevertheless, De Ruyter served the Dutch Navy and NATO for two decades before being retired from Dutch service and sold to Peru.
Service in the Peruvian Navy
In the Peruvian Navy, De Ruyter sailed under the name Almirante Grau.
Modernised by the Dutch in the late 1980s, Almirante Grau went on to serve up until 2017, by which point she had become the last gun cruiser in active service in any Navy.
Retirement and Scrapping of Almirante Grau
Retired in 2017, she was supposed to be preserved and turned into a museum. Instead, the decision was taken to scrap her in 2022.
-RBM.
