Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy

This article does not cite any sources. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (June 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy Commandant Zeestrijdkrachten
Rank flag for vice-admiraal
Incumbent Vice Admiral René Tas since 9 September 2021
Royal Netherlands Navy
Abbreviation	CZsk
Reports to	Chief of Defence
Precursor	Commander of the Naval Force in The Netherlands
Formation	5 September 2005
First holder

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-admiraal Rob Kramer, who succeeded Lieutenant general Rob Verkerk in the position in September 2017.

Units[]

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

Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Navy[]

• Vice Admiral (5 September 2005 – 31 August 2007)
• Lieutenant General of the Marines (31 August 2007 – 22 January 2010)
• Vice Admiral Matthieu Borsboom (22 January 2010 – 26 September 2014)
• Lieutenant General of the Marines Rob Verkerk (26 September 2014 – 22 September 2017)
• Vice Admiral Rob Kramer (22 September 2017– 9 September 2021)
• Vice admiral René Tas (9 September 2021 – present)

Deputy Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Navy[]

• Major General of the Marines (5 September 2005 – 27 August 2007)
• Rear Admiral (27 August 2007 – 13 January 2010)
• Major General of the Marines (13 January 2010 – 9 April 2012)
• Major General of the Marines Rob Verkerk (9 April 2012 – 26 September 2014)
• Rear Admiral (26 September 2014 – 27 May 2016)
• Rear Admiral Rob Kramer (27 May 2016-11 September 2017)
• Major General of the marines (11 September 2017-11 November 2019)
• Rear Admiral (11 November 2019-present)

See also[]

• Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army
• Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force

References[]