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Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy

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Commander of the
Royal Netherlands Navy
Commandant Zeestrijdkrachten
Rank flag for vice admiral
Incumbent
Vice Admiral René Tas
since 9 September 2021
 Royal Netherlands Navy
TypeService chief
AbbreviationCZsk
Member ofAdmiral Benelux
Reports to Chief of Defence
SeatThe Hague
PrecursorCommander of the Naval Forces
Formation5 September 2005
First holderJan-Willem Kelder

The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy (Dutch: Commandant Zeestrijdkrachten) (CZsk) is the highest-ranking officer of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The CZsk reports directly to the Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff.

The position of CZsk was created on 5 September 2005, following a large overhaul of the command structure of the Dutch armed forces. In this overhaul the position of Bevelhebber der Zeestrijdkrachten was dropped and the position of Commander of the Naval Force in The Netherlands was upgraded to the current CZsk position. Ever since the integration of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps into the Navy, the former Commander of the Marine Corps has held the position of Deputy Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

In addition to being the commanding officer of the Dutch Navy, under the terms of the BENESAM Treaty the CZsk is also the Admiral of the Benelux (the commanding officer of the integrated command of the Dutch and Belgian fleets). This means the CZsk is the commanding officer of the operational units of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Belgian Naval Component. Also, the CZsk shares command responsibility with the Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff for units that have been deployed on international missions (under the colors of the United Nations).

The position of CZsk is statutorily held by a Vice Admiral or Lieutenant General of the Marines (NATO OF-8). The current CZsk is Vice-Admiral Rene Tas, who succeeded Vice Admiral Rob Kramer in the position in September 2021.

Units

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The Commander of the Royal Dutch Navy is Director of four Directorates:

  • Directorate Planning & Control
  • Directorate Operational Support
  • Directorate of Operations
  • Directorate of the Caribbean

List of officeholders

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Commander of the naval forces

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Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy

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No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
1 Vice Admiral
Jan-Willem Kelder
(1949–2021) 		5 September 2005 31 August 2007 1 year, 360 days
2 Lieutenant General
Rob Zuiderwijk
(born 1951) 		31 August 2007 22 January 2010 2 years, 144 days
3 Vice Admiral
Matthieu Borsboom
(born 1959) 		22 January 2010 26 September 2014 4 years, 247 days
4 Lieutenant General
Rob Verkerk
(born 1960) 		26 September 2014 22 September 2017 2 years, 361 days
5 Vice Admiral
Rob Kramer
(born 1962) 		22 September 2017 9 September 2021 3 years, 352 days
6 Vice Admiral
René Tas
(born 1964) 		9 September 2021 Incumbent 3 years, 73 days [1]

Deputy commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy

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  • Major General of the Marines Rob Zuiderwijk (5 September 2005 – 27 August 2007)
  • Rear Admiral Wim Nagtegaal (27 August 2007 – 13 January 2010)
  • Major General of the Marines Ton van Ede (13 January 2010 – 9 April 2012)
  • Major General of the Marines Rob Verkerk (9 April 2012 – 26 September 2014)
  • Rear Admiral Ben Bekkering (26 September 2014 – 27 May 2016)
  • Rear Admiral Rob Kramer (27 May 2016-11 September 2017)
  • Major General of the marines Frank van Sprang (11 September 2017-11 November 2019)
  • Rear Admiral Huub Hulsker (11 November 2019-present)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Karremann, Jaime (17 March 2021). "Marine krijgt nieuwe commandant: René Tas". marineschepen.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 November 2021.
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