Gunboat Soemba By Mulder Jantinus

HNLMS Soemba was a Flores-class gunboat built in the mid-1920s for the Royal Netherlands Navy to patrol the Dutch East Indies. She had a displacement of only 1,450 tons and was originally armed with three 150mm guns, supplemented with anti-aircraft and smaller weapons for self-defence. It was a successful design with good seaworthiness due to its high forecastle. Not heavily armoured, but designed for flexibility and manoeuvrability in coastal waters. Flores and Soemba had impressive careers and became known as the ‘Terrible Twins’ during WWII.