Java-class cruiser

Java soon after her commissioning, evident with her tall, slender, masts
Class overview
Name	Java class
Builders	Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde, Flushing Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij, Amsterdam Wilton-Fijenoord, Schiedam (planned)
Operators	Royal Netherlands Navy
Succeeded by	De Ruyter
Built	1916–1926
In commission	1925–1944
Planned	3
Completed	2
Cancelled	1
Lost	2
General characteristics as built
Type	Light cruiser
Displacement	6,776 t (6,669 long tons) standard 8,339 t (8,207 long tons) full load
Length	155.3 m (509 ft 6 in) oa
Beam	16 m (52 ft 6 in)
Draught	6.1 m (20 ft)
Installed power	8 boilers 73,000 shp (54,000 kW) (Java) 82,000 shp (61,000 kW) (Sumatra)
Propulsion	3 steam turbines 3 propellers
Speed	31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph)
Range	3,600 nmi (6,700 km; 4,100 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	525
Armament	10 × 15.0 cm (5.9 in) guns 8 (Java) or 6 (Sumatra) × Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns 8 × .5 in (13 mm) machine guns
Armour	7.5 cm (3 in) belt 2.5 to 5 cm (0.98 to 1.97 in) deck 12.5 cm (4.9 in) conning tower 10 cm (3.9 in) shields
Aircraft carried	2 × floatplanes

The Java class was a series of light cruisers operated by the Royal Netherlands Navy during the interwar period and World War II. Designed to defend the Dutch East Indies against the Empire of Japan, the cruisers were designed in 1916 to be the best in the world. However, a series of issues due to World War I, supply chain issues, worker strikes, instability in Germany, and a change in national policy delayed the ships for more than a decade. Of the three ships planned, one was canceled during a construction pause.

By the time the remaining two ships were launched in the mid 1920s, their design was outdated and little work was done to address the issue. Both ships saw action during World War II. HNLMS Sumatra was in the Netherlands when the country was invaded by Germany in 1940, and the cruiser fled to the United Kingdom. Under British control, she sailed around the world, was disarmed, and sunk as a breakwater off Normandy. HNLMS Java was in the East Indies when the Pacific War began in 1941, and joined Allied efforts in attempting to repulse several Japanese invasions. During the Battle of the Java Sea, she was torpedoed and promptly sunk.