High-speed transports were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used in US Navy amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. They received the US Hull classification symbol APD; "AP" for transport and "D" for destroyer. In 1969, the remaining ships were reclassified as "Fast Amphibious Transports", hull symbol LPR.
Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a 20-knot warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships.
USS Kleinsmith (APD-134), ex-DE-718, was a Crosley-class high speed transport for the United States Navy. She was named for Chief Watertender Charles Kleinsmith (1904–1942), who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism during the Battle of Midway.
The Buckley-class destroyer escorts were 102 destroyer escorts launched in the United States in 1943–44. They served in World War II as convoy escorts and antisubmarine warfare ships. The lead ship was USS Buckley which was launched on 9 January 1943. The ships had General Electric steam turbo-electric transmission. The ships were prefabricated at various factories in the United States, and the units brought together in the shipyards, where they were welded together on the slipways.
The Captain class was the designation given to 78 frigates of the Royal Navy, constructed in the United States, launched in 1942–1943 and delivered to the United Kingdom under the provisions of the Lend-Lease agreement. They were drawn from two classes of the American destroyer escort classification: 32 of the GMT (Evarts) Type and 46 of the TE (Buckley) Type. Upon reaching the UK the ships were substantially modified by the Royal Navy, making them distinct from the US Navy destroyer escort ships.
The Caldwell class was a class of six "flush deck" United States Navy destroyers built during World War I and shortly after. Four served as convoy escorts in the Atlantic; the other two were completed too late for wartime service. Two were scrapped during the 1930s, but four survived to serve throughout World War II, three of these in service with the Royal Navy under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement and the fourth as a high speed transport.
USS Walter X. Young (DE-723) was a proposed United States Navy Rudderow-class destroyer escort that was never built.
USS Blessman (DE-69/APD-48), a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Lieutenant Edward Martin Blessman (1907–1942), who was killed in action in the Pacific on 4 February 1942.
The 3-inch/50-caliber gun in United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile 3 inches (76 mm) in diameter, and the barrel was 50 calibers long. Different guns of this caliber were used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard from 1900 through to 1990 on a variety of combatant and transport ship classes.
HMS Balfour was a Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy which served during World War II. She was built as a TE (Buckley) type destroyer escort in the United States and delivered to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease arrangement.
HMS Bentley was a Captain-class frigate which served during World War II. The ship was named after Sir John Bentley who entered the Royal Navy in 1720. Between 1744 and 1761 he commanded a series of ships and took part in the decisive victory at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759 while commanding a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line HMS Warspite.
Crosley-class high speed transports were high speed transport ships that served in the United States Navy during World War II. Some stayed in commission long enough to serve in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. All of them were converted from Rudderow-class destroyer escorts during construction except for USS Bray (APD-139), which was converted a year after her construction. After World War II ended, several of the ships were sold to Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, and Colombia.
USS Francovich (APD-116) was a United States Navy Crosley-class high speed transport in commission from 1945 to 1946. She was sold for scrap in 1965.
USS Kinzer (APD-91), ex-DE-232, was a United States Navy high-speed transport in commission from 1944 to 1946.
USS Truxtun (APD-98) was a Crosley-class high-speed transport commissioned in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. In 1965, she was transferred to the Republic of China Navy and served as ROCS Fu Shan (PF-35) until 1996. Afterwards, she was scrapped.
USS Tollberg (APD-103) was a United States Navy high-speed transport in commission from 1945 to 1946. In 1965, Tollberg was transferred to Colombia and served as ARC Almirante Padilla (DT-03) until being stricken and scrapped in 1973.
USS Myers (APD-105), ex-DE-595, was a United States Navy high-speed transport in commission from 1945 to 1947.
USS Ruchamkin (APD-89), ex-DE-228, later LPR-89, was a United States Navy high-speed transport in commission from 1945 to 1946, from 1951 to 1957, and from 1961 to 1969. She subsequently served as ARC Córdoba in the Colombian Navy, until 1980; although scrapped, her hull and superstructure were re-erected in a leisure park near Bogotá.
The Van Amstel class was a class of six frigates that were built during the Second World War in the United States and served as Cannon-class destroyer escort during that war. After the war the destroyer escorts were loaned to the Dutch navy as part of the MDAP and from 1950 to 1967 served as the Van Amstel-class frigates.
