HNLMS Mahu - M880


Previous active commission International Radio Callsign: Papa-Alpha-Mike-Uniform

Current operational callsign: Papa-Charlie-9635

The ship was named after sergeant pilot Pieter Mahu, who on 24 February 1942 was ordered to search for survivors of HNLMS Van Nes and the merchant ship Sloet van de Beele.
He never returned from this flight. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Lion.

The shallow water minesweepers of the Van Straelen class were assigned to mine countermeasures squadron 205 and based in Hellevoetsluis.

In 1968, a major reorganization of the Minesweepers in the Netherlands took place.
The Hellevoetsluis Navy Barracks was decommissioned on 29 February of that year, while the preserved minesweepers were transferred to Den Helder.
With this, the Minesweepers disappeared from Hellevoetsluis.

The ships were also called “inshore’s” or “dinky toys” and the name “ducks” was also used regularly.
The shallow water mine sweepers were built by means of the Mutual Defence Assistance Program for American account.

The innovative addition to the Royal Netherlands Navy consisted of using high-quality materials as much as possible for the entire ship and its equipment, which made a class of virtually a-magnetic and silent ships available for sweeping magnetic and acoustic mines in shallow water.

The launch and christening ceremony took place on 15 March 1961 in Alblasserdam at the shipyard "De Noord".

Speech by the director of business management Royal Navy Rear Admiral of Administration J.M. Giel at the launch of the shallow water mine sweeper Van 'Hoff en Mahu at the shipyard De Noord in Alblasserdam.

The launch was performed by Mrs. E.M.V. Giel-Erfmann. On the same day, the shallow-water minesweeper Hr. Ms. Van ’t Hoff was also launched at the same shipyard.

On March 1, 1983 HNLMS Mahu, simultaneously with 11 other ships of this class taken is decommissioned. The Mahu however does not go to the scrapyard, but remains at her berth until March 20, 1985 to be moored at the Naval Barracks Amsterdam on that day for the benefit of the Technical Training.

As of 1 March 1995, HNLMS Mahu was loaned to the Marine Museum in Rotterdam. For this purpose, the ship was towed from Amsterdam over the inland waterways to the Rotterdam Waalhaven using a tugboat.
In a letter dated 22 November 1995, the proposal was made to change the name of the ship to HNLMS Houtepen with the associated name sign M 882, which was permitted as of 7 December.

Nevertheless, on 17 August 1995, while the ship had been in the Rotterdam Waalhaven for quite some time, the name sign on the bow and transom was changed to M 882. For quite some time, volunteers worked hard to give the ship a better appearance, after which the ship, now renamed Houtepen, was towed on Monday 4 December 1995 with the assistance of a tugboat from the municipal harbour service towards Parkkade, opposite the restaurant De Ballentent, well-known to navy people, and from there on Wednesday 6 December via the Boerengat and the Haringvliet to her mooring in front of the Marine Museum in the Wijnhaven.

In July 1997, the M 882 was moored as HNLMS Houtepen during the fleet days in Den Helder. It had already left the Wijnhaven in Rotterdam on 1 April for the river and the next day the journey was sailed inland over the rivers to Amsterdam where it spent the night. From here the next day the journey was continued via the IJsselmeer and via Den Oever around 20:00 that evening it moored in Den Helder for general major maintenance.
On 2 July the ship was moved to jetty 5 between the sailing ships for participation in the national fleet days, which was a great success, given the large number of visitors.
On 7 July the ship went to the Rijkswerf where a general thorough overhaul followed.

In the early morning of 12 November it left Den Helder under its own power to spend the night in Scheveningen. The next day, Thursday 13 November, Scheveningen was left to return as quickly as possible at full power to the Wijnhaven, where the ship returned to her familiar place in the course of the afternoon. A warm welcome awaited the volunteer crew here.

In the spring of 2003, the naval leadership in The Hague decided, due to budget cuts, to dispose of Hr.Ms. Houtepen (Mahu) and to sell the ship for scrapping.
For approximately eight years, the ship was moored as Houtepen at the Marine Museum on the Wijnhaven in Rotterdam.
Thanks to the decisive action of the Foundation for the Promotion of Maritime Traditions, in close consultation with the Commander of the Naval Forces at the Admiralty in The Hague, the ship was saved from scrapping and the contract for the transfer was signed on 22 October 2003.

Now owned and operated by the Promotion of  Maritime Traditions Foundation (PMT), the ship got her original name and pennant back: HNLMS Mahu - M880, and is now docked and operated from NDSM Pier 4 in Amsterdam.

Sources:
https://www.vriendenvandemahu.nl/Historie-jaren-80/index.php/
https://onzemarinevloot.weebly.com/hrms-mahu.html

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