HNLMS Kortenaer (1927)

HNLMS Kortenaer was an Admiralen-class destroyer operated by the Royal Netherlands Navy between 1928 and 1942. Equipped to also operate as a minelayer, she was built to defend the Dutch East Indies and to safeguard Dutch colonial possessions throughout the world. The first decade of her service was largely routine, with alternating periods in the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and Europe. In 1929, she was a part of the Dutch response to an attack on Curaçao by Venezuelan rebels, although she arrived too late to have an effect.

By 1938, she operated in Asia and protected colonial waters even after the Netherlands had capitulated to Germany. Following Japanese attacks throughout Asia in 1942, Kortenaer joined the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command fleet to aid in the defense of the East Indies. While she was intended to participate in the Battle of Badung Strait, she ran aground when leaving port. After suffering damage to her boilers and having her maximum speed reduced, she rejoined the fleet for the Battle of the Java Sea. During the action, she was torpedoed when the Allied battle line collapsed, and she quickly sank. Her wreckage was later illegally salvaged for metal in the 2010s, which destroyed parts of the ship.