The Jan van Amstel-class ships were 55.8m (183.1feet) long, with a beam of 7.8m (25.6feet) and a draught of 2.2m (07.2feet) at deep load. They displaced was 450LT at normal load, which increased to 585LT at deep load. A pair of Yarrow boilers fed steam to two triple-expansion steam engines that each drove a single propeller shaft. The engines were rated at 1690ihp which gave the ships a speed of . They carried up to of fuel oil and had a complement of 45 officers and ratings.[1]
Jan van Amstel was damaged by an air attack at Surabaya on 6 March 1942, which killed 23 of her crew.
After the capitulation of all forces on Java Jan van Amstel attempted to escape to Australia, but was intercepted and engaged by the Japanese destroyer Arashio on 8 March 1942 in the Madura Strait. She was sunk with heavy loss of life and her surviving crew taken prisoner.