HNLMS Witte de With was an Admiralen-class destroyer, named after the 17th-century Dutch admiral of the same name. She served during World War II.

Service history

The ship was laid down on 28 May 1927, at the shipyard of Feijenoord, in Rotterdam, and launched on 11 September 1928. The ship was commissioned on 20 February 1930. On 16 November 1935, Witte de With, her sister HNLMS Van Galen (1928), and the cruiser HNLMS Sumatra (1920), made a visit to Saigon. On 23 August 1936, Sumatra, her sister HNLMS Java (1921), and the destroyers Van Galen, Witte de With, and HNLMS Piet Hein (1927), where present at the fleet days held at Soerabaja. Later that year on 13 November, both Java-class cruisers and the destroyers HNLMS Evertsen (1926), Witte de With, and Piet Hein, made a fleet visit to Singapore. Before the visit they had practiced in the South China Sea.

World War II

The ship took part in the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February 1942. HMS Exeter (68) was damaged in the battle and escorted back to Soerabaja by Witte de With. A few days later Witte de With was attacked and damaged by Japanese planes on 1 March 1942. The next day she was scuttled.