The Van Speijk-class frigates were built for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the 1960s. They were versions of the British Leander-class frigates with Dutch radars. The British design was chosen in order to enable rapid construction in order to replace elderly destroyer escorts and take up part of the NATO patrol duties of the decommissioned anti-submarine warfare carrier Karel Doorman. The ships were modernised in the late 1970s. All six ships were sold to the Indonesian Navy in 1986–1989 and five are still in service as the Ahmad Yani-class frigates.

The Royal Netherlands Navy is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is one of the four Netherlands Armed Forces. It was founded on 8 January 1488, making it the third-oldest naval force in the world.