Ocean escort was a type of United States Navy warship. They were an evolution of the World War II destroyer escort types. The ocean escorts were intended as convoy escorts and were designed for mobilization production in wartime or low-cost mass production in peacetime. They were commissioned from 1954 through 1974, serving in the Cold War and the Vietnam War. [1] [2]
The ocean escorts' hull classification symbol was DE, a carryover from the World War II era when vessels of similar size and role were classified as destroyer escorts. DEs were ASW vessels; DEGs were ASW and AAW vessels with the short-range Tartar guided missile added. Ships similar or identical to the World War II destroyer escorts and the Cold War ocean escorts were called "frigates" in most other navies.
Outside the US Navy, no other navy appears to have used the ship type of "ocean escort". The closest equivalents in type name are the Soviet Riga and Petya classes, built circa 1954-65. These classes' Russian designation of storozhevoi korabi translates to "escort ship", "sentry ship", or "guard ship". [3] [4] These were smaller than any of the US ocean escorts, at 1,416 tons (Riga) and 1,150 tons (Petya) full load, compared with Dealey at 1,877 tons full load. [5] Many USN ocean escorts were transferred to foreign navies following USN service; they received pennant numbers beginning with "D", "DE", "F", or (in the Mexican Navy) "E". [6] The "E" designator was also used for ex-USN Fletcher-class destroyers in that navy. [7]
The ocean escort type corresponded to other nations' frigates (convoy escorts). Until 1975, the US Navy used the term "frigate" for destroyer leaders (DL, DLG, DLGN). [1] [2]
The 1975 ship reclassification changed the ocean escorts (DE/DEG) to frigates (FF/FFG) to be in line with other nations' classifications. The DLG-type "frigates" became either destroyers or cruisers, depending on tonnage. [1] [2]
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
A frigate is a type of warship, having various sizes and roles over time.
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.
Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a 20-knot (23 mph) warship designed with endurance to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Kaibōkan were designed for a similar role in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Royal Navy and Commonwealth forces identified such warships as frigates, and that classification was widely accepted when the United States redesignated destroyer escorts as frigates (FF) in 1975. From circa 1954 until 1975 new-build US Navy ships designated as destroyer escorts (DE) were called ocean escorts. Destroyer escorts, frigates, and kaibōkan were mass-produced for World War II as a less expensive antisubmarine warfare alternative to fleet destroyers. Other similar warships include the 10 Kriegsmarine escort ships of the F-class and the two Amiral Murgescu-class vessels of the Romanian Navy.
The Flower-class corvette was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II, specifically with the Allied navies as anti-submarine convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic. Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers, hence the name of the class.
Garcia-class frigates were United States Navy warships. These frigates were originally ocean escorts bearing the hull classification DE until 1975. The ships were commissioned between 1964 and 1968 and decommissioned between 1988 and 1990.
The United States Navy reclassified many of its surface vessels in 1975, changing terminology and hull classification symbols for cruisers, frigates, and ocean escorts.
The Sea Control Ship (SCS) was a small aircraft carrier developed and conceptualized by the United States Navy under Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Zumwalt during the 1970s. Currently the term refers to naval vessels that can perform similar duties. The SCS was intended as an escort vessel, providing air support for convoys. It was canceled after budgetary cuts to the US Navy.
The Farragut-class destroyer was a group of 10 guided missile destroyers built for the United States Navy (USN) during the 1950s. They were the second destroyer class to be named for Admiral David Farragut. The class is sometimes referred to as the Coontz class, since Coontz was first to be designed and built as a guided missile ship, whereas the previous three ships were designed as all-gun units and converted later. The class was originally envisioned as a Destroyer Leader class, but was reclassified as Guided Missile Destroyers following the 1975 ship reclassification.
Destroyer leader (DL) was the United States Navy designation for large destroyers from 9 February 1951 through the early years of the Cold War. United States ships with hull classification symbol DL were officially frigates from 1 January 1955 until 1975. The smaller destroyer leaders were reclassified as destroyers and the larger as cruisers by the United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification so destroyer escorts could be reclassified as frigates (FF) in conformance with international usage of the term.
The St. Laurent-class destroyer was a class of destroyer escorts that served the Royal Canadian Navy and later the Canadian Forces from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s.
The Type 16 frigates were a class of British anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers that had been rendered obsolete by rapid advances in technology. They were similar in concept to the Type 15 frigate, but were a far more limited design rendered necessary by budget constraints.
The Claud Jones-class destroyer escorts were four destroyer escorts built for the United States Navy in the late 1950s. These ships were a diesel-powered version of the earlier Dealey class and were designed with the aim of producing a cheaper ship suitable for rapid production in wartime. These ships also had reduced armament and speed compared to their predecessors. They were not seen as effective anti-submarine warfare vessels by the United States Navy and were sold after only 15 years service to the Indonesian Navy.
The Riga class was the NATO reporting name for class of frigates built for the Soviet Navy in the 1950s. The Soviet designation for these ships was Storozhevoi KorablProject 50 Gornostay. The Riga class was analogous to World War II era destroyer escorts.
The Kola class was the NATO reporting name for a group of frigates built for the Soviet Navy in the 1950s. The Soviet designation was Storozhevoi Korabl Project 42. These ships were analogous to World War II era destroyer escorts or German Elbing-class torpedo boats. The programme consisted of only 8 ships as these vessels were considered to be too expensive for series production and the smaller and cheaper Riga-class frigate was built instead. Radars and sonars were fitted.
HMCS Skeena was a St. Laurent-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later the Canadian Forces from 1957–1993. Skeena was constructed as a destroyer escort and was converted in the 1960s to a helicopter-carrying destroyer. In 1972, the ship was designated a French Language Unit, the second in Canadian service. Discarded in 1994, the ship was broken up in India.
The Shimushu-class escort ships were a class of kaibōkan built for the Imperial Japanese Navy just prior to World War II. Four ships out of an initially planned 16 vessels were completed. The class was also referred to by internal Japanese documents as the "A-class" coastal defense vessel.
The Dealey-class destroyer escorts were the first post-World War II escort ships built for the United States Navy.
HMS Albrighton was a Type III Hunt-class destroyer built for the British Royal Navy. She entered service in February 1942, first carrying out an attack on German ships in the English Channel then taking part in the Dieppe Raid, rescuing survivors from the sinking destroyer HMS Broke. Albrighton was next assigned to search for and destroy the German auxiliary cruiser Komet, then escorted a convoy to Gibraltar in prevision of the Allied landings in North Africa. Between December 1942 and April 1943, she participated in the sinking of three more Axis ships with the First Destroyer Flotilla. During the Normandy Landings in June 1944, Albrighton served as a headquarters ship, then sank two German trawlers in the weeks after the invasion. After being converted to a destroyer in early 1945, she was damaged in a collision with a Landing Ship, then was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet. However, the war ended before she was deployed and Albrighton went into reserve.
HMS Nunney Castle was a Castle-class corvette ordered by the British Royal Navy during the Second World War. The ship was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy before completion and renamed HMCS Bowmanville. Bowmanville served with the Royal Canadian Navy in the final years of the war and was sold for mercantile use in 1946. Renamed Ta Shun, the ship sailed under a Chinese flag, later being renamed Yuan Pei. In 1949, the former corvette was taken over by the Communist-controlled government of China and rearmed and renamed Kuang Chou. Kuang Chou was listed until 1976 and was stricken in 1986.