BAP Almirante Grau (CLM-81)

BAP Almirante Grau (CLM-81) leaves the harbor of Curaçao, June 1973.
History
Netherlands
Name:	De Ruyter
Builder:	Wilton-Fijenoord, Schiedam
Laid down:	5 September 1939
Launched:	19 December 1941
Commissioned:	18 November 1953
Out of service:	Sold to Peruvian Navy in March 1973
Peru
Name:	Almirante Grau
Namesake:	Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario
Acquired:	7 March 1973
Commissioned:	23 May 1973
Decommissioned:	26 September 2017
Homeport:	Callao
Motto:	Poder y Gloria (Power and Glory)
General characteristics
Class and type:	De Zeven Provinciën-class cruiser
Displacement:	9,681 tons standard 12,165 tons full load
Length:	187.32 m (614.6 ft)
Beam:	17.25 m (56.6 ft)
Draught:	6.72 m (22.0 ft)
Draft:	11.65 m (38.2 ft)
Propulsion:	4 Werkspoor-Yarrow three-drum boilers 2 De Schelde Parsons geared steam turbines 2 shafts; 85,000 shp (63,000 kW)
Speed:	32 kn (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range:	6,900 nmi (12,800 km; 7,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	47 officers, 606 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems:	Signaal SEWACO Foresee PE CMS Signaal LW-08 early warning Signaal DA-08 surface search Signaal STIR-240 fire control Signaal WM-25 fire control Signaal LIROD-8 optronic Decca 1226 navigation
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Signaal Rapids ESM system CME Scimitar ECM system 2 Matra Défense Dagaie decoy launchers 1 Matra Défense Sagaie decoy launcher
Armament:	8 Otomat Mk 2 SSM 4 × 2 Bofors 152/53 guns 2 × 2 OTO Melara 40L70 DARDO guns
Armor:	50-76 mm belt 50-125 mm turrets 50-125 mm conning tower

BAP Almirante Grau (CLM-81) was a De Zeven Provinciën-class cruiser in service with the Peruvian Navy. Completed for the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1953 as HNLMS De Ruyter (C801), she was acquired by Peru in 1973 and served as fleet flagship. Almirante Grau underwent a major modernization program between 1985 and 1988 during which she was fitted with new weapons and electronics. She was the last gun cruiser in service in any navy before being decommissioned on 26 September 2017.

De Ruyter was laid down by the Royal Netherlands Navy on 5 September 1939 as the cruiser HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën at the Wilton-Fijenoord shipyard at Schiedam. She and her sister-ship, later De Zeven Provinciën, were intended to replace the two Java-class cruisers in the Dutch East Indies. At the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 little had been constructed. The Kriegsmarine intended to complete her as the training cruiser KH 1 but construction was slow and she was not launched until 24 December 1944, with the intent by then to use her as a blockship in the Nieuwe Waterweg, the approaches to Rotterdam.

After the liberation of the Netherlands, the Navy completed De Zeven Provinciën with modifications, and she was commissioned as HNLMS De Ruyter (C801) on 18 November 1953.

In Dutch service both ships participated in several NATO exercises, and were frequently used as flagships for different naval task forces. Between 1962 and 1964, De Zeven Provinciën underwent a refit which included the removal of the two aft turrets and the installation of a RIM-2 Terrier SAM system, but lack of funds precluded the same modifications from being carried out in De Ruyter. After two decades in service, she was decommissioned on 16 October 1972.