However, the contract was cancelled with 30 tons of material already prepared (a new ship, HNLMS De Ruyter was later built to fill that requirement).

However, these were not turret-mounted, and by the time the cruisers were finally launched after all the delays caused by the upheaval of World War I (Sumatra in 1920, Java in 1921), the ships had already become outdated.

Both vessels were lost in the war, with Java torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese in 1942 in the Dutch East Indies and Sumatra scuttled as a breakwater during the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944.

The naval policy of the Netherlands in the early 20th century was focused on the colonial territories the nation had gathered, primarily the Dutch East Indies.

However, with the onset of World War I and the rise of the Empire of Japan as a naval power in the Pacific, the Dutch could no longer match richer nations in the construction of large, powerful warships and instead focused their fleet policy on vessels capable of carrying out delaying and harassing actions until reinforced.

[1] The design of the new cruisers was completed in 1916, produced by Dutch naval architects with technical supervision from the German military supplier Krupp and reflected the era's layout of guns on a cruiser-sized ship.

[4] With their planned service in the Dutch East Indies, the Java class was designed with this in mind, as they were intended to be the most powerful ships on station in the area.

As designed, the cruisers were to have machinery consisting of a three-shaft system of Germania geared turbines powered by steam created from eight oil-fired Schulz-Thornycroft boilers.

[4] The vessels carried 1,200 t (1,200 long tons) of oil giving the Java class a range of 3,600 nautical miles (6,700 km; 4,100 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).

Displacing 7,321 t (7,205 long tons) and a length overall of 158.3 m (519 ft 4 in),[3] the design was intended for the ship to act as the squadron's flagship and be able to accommodate a flag officer and their staff.

[4] During a major refit in 1934–1935 the two cruisers had their pole foremast replaced with a tubular one that had a director tower atop with a searchlight platform.

[3] The design was completed in 1916 and orders were placed with the keel of the first ship of the class, Java, laid down on 31 May 1916 at the Schelde naval shipyards.

Material shortages following the end of World War I, labour issues, political interference in the construction all led to delays.

During the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February 1942, she was sunk by a Long Lance torpedo from the Japanese cruiser Nachi and sank with heavy loss of life.