HNLMS Heiligerlee, formerly known as Panter, was a monitor built in England for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the 1860s. Among the new ships built for the Dutch navy Heiligerlee was the first true monitor: a ship with shallow draught, only a few (heavy) guns and decent armor. These characteristics made her very suitable to operate way inland in the Dutch delta.
Construction and handover
Heiligerlee was originally named Panter. She was ordered from Laird Brothers in May 1867, and was to be delivered in 9 months. On 14 January 1868 Panter was launched. On account of the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Heiligerlee she was renamed for the 1568 Battle of Heiligerlee. This renaming was published on 23 May, the actual anniversary of the battle.
On 20 May 1868 Paddle steamer HNLMS Valk commanded by Captain-lt J.F. Koopman had already left the Netherlands to transport the prospective crew of Heiligerlee to Birkenhead, where Heiligerlee would be taken into service. In the evening of 24 May the Valk arrived in Liverpool. Heiligerlee was taken into service on 26 May 1868, when the yard handed over control to Lieutenant 1st class H.A. Ridder van Rappard.
By 10 June 1868 the English press mentioned that Heiligerlee had completed her trial cruise. During this cruise she had on board her guns and ammunition, 75 officers and men, their luggage, six weeks of stores and 5 days of coal. Her quarters were described as very spacious and well ventilated. In the afternoon of the 10th Heiligerlee left Birkenhead for the Netherlands.
Service record: 1st Term 1868–1877
Initial voyages in the Netherlands
In the early afternoon of the 15 June 1868 Heiligerlee arrived in the Nieuwe Diep near Den Helder. On 5 July the Secretary for the Navy arrived to see the new ship. With some ceremony he made a short trip on the monitor on the 6th, sailing on the Marsdiep.
On 8 September Admiral Prince Hendrik arrived in Den Helder. He also made a trip to the Marsdiep on Heiligerlee. On 10 September Heiligerlee left Texel to sail to Delfzijl. On the 11th Heiligerlee arrived in the harbor of Delfzijl. While there, the ship was visited by the Secretary for War, the governor of Groningen province, and a lot of local dignitaries and civilians. On 19 September Heiligerlee was back in Den Helder.
Heiligerlee is based in the south
On 11 October Heiligerlee left the Den Helder dockyard Willemsoord. She steamed along the coast and reached Hellevoetsluis in the morning of the 12th. Some subsequent trips show that the Heilgerlee could indeed penetrate way inland: From Hellevoetsluis she would steam on the 'Kanaal door Voorne' to reach its new base at Rotterdam. On 21 October the royal yacht 'Leeuw' with the Queen and Prince Alexander on board made a small detour to view Heiligerlee while she was stationed across the park on the Meuse. On 27 October Heiligerlee was back in Hellevoetsluis. From there she left for Brouwershaven on the 31st, and returned to Hellevoetsluis on 2 November. On 6 November she left for Dordrecht. From there she left for Rotterdam on the 11th, got stuck for some time and had to be pulled loose by tugboats.
On 16 March 1869 Heiligerlee arrived in Hellevoetsluis from Rotterdam. She would enter Hellevoetsluis Dry Dock to be checked and cleaned. While in Hellevoetsluis, she was inspected together with the Schorpioen on 21 April. On 5 June the Heilgerlee left for Rotterdam. She sailed upstream as far as Gorinchem and left there on 21 June. By sailing to Gorinchem, Heiligerlee demonstrated that monitors could play a role in defending the new Water Line. Heiligerlee next went to Hellevoetsluis and from there to Brouwershaven. In August Heiligerlee and Ram Turret ship Schorpioen exercised on the Haringvliet. Later Heiligerlee steamed to Rotterdam, and from there to Dordrecht, where she got stuck again. In October she went into the dry dock to clean and paint the hull.
During the Franco-Prussian War
On 30 April 1870 Commander Ridder van Rappard abandoned the command of Heiligerlee, and was replaced by Lieutenant 1st class J.A.E. Dinaux. This might have to do with the navy opting to have a commander experienced with monitors to command the new Cerberus. In effect, the drastic increase in Dutch defense spending was vindicated when the Franco-Prussian war started. It created the severe risk that it would provide one of the parties with a pretext to invade the Netherlands if it could easily do so. To prevent this the garrison of Hellevoetsluis was reinforced and Heiligerlee and Tijger were posted before the harbor.