Allied Warships

Destroyer Escorts


The Evarts class destroyer escort USS Mitchell (DE 43) of the US Navy.

503 destroyer escorts (DE's) (The Royal Navy had similar ships called frigates) were commissioned by the allies between Jan 1943 and May 1945. The first 3 came in Jan 1943 and they peaked at 48 being commissioned in October that year. 4 more were completed postwar, two of them in 1955.

The destroyer escort was not nearly as expensive as the fleet destroyer (DD) and much better suited for convoy escort duties. They were slower than the DD's (21 knots against 35 knots), well armed and most important of all, they could be built much faster. These vessels became the most common U-boat hunters from middle of 1943 on wards.

All Destroyer Escort classes

The list is divided by navy, then ordered by commissioned date of each class (oldest first).

Commissioned

US Navy

 Buckley (102)1943 - 1944
 Edsall (85)1943 - 1944
 John C. Butler (83)1943 - 1955
 Evarts (65)1943 - 1944
 Cannon (64)1943 - 1944
 Rudderow (22)1943 - 1944

6 ship classes.


Please note that we list the classes by navies that initiated/owned the class. Often vessels of certain classes were then built for other nations (or lent), those ships are not visible here but only through the navies pages or by looking into each class.

War losses: Destroyer Escorts


 DateVesselClass

1944

US Navy9 Mar 1944USS Leopold (DE 319)Edsall 
US Navy11 Apr 1944USS Holder (DE 401)Edsall 
US Navy5 May 1944USS Fechteler (i) (DE 157)Buckley 
US Navy8 Jun 1944USS Rich (i) (DE 695)Buckley 
US Navy2 Aug 1944USS Fiske (i) (DE 143)Edsall 
US Navy3 Oct 1944USS Shelton (i) (DE 407)John C. Butler 
US Navy25 Oct 1944USS Samuel B. Roberts (i) (DE 413)John C. Butler 
US Navy28 Oct 1944USS Eversole (i) (DE 404)John C. Butler 

1945

US Navy24 Apr 1945USS Frederick C. Davis (DE 136)Edsall 
US Navy25 May 1945USS Bates (DE 68)Buckley 
US Navy24 Jul 1945USS Underhill (DE 682)Buckley 

11 Destroyer Escorts lost. See all Allied Warship losses.

See all Allied Warship types



Where Divers Dare

Randall Peffer

Books dealing with this subject include:

The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War, Collingwood, Donald, 1999
The Court-Martial of Ensign Mason, Nash, Edgar M., 2001
Destroyer Escort Sailors, Destroyer Escort Sailors Assn., 1997
Destroyer Escorts in Action, Adcock, Al, 1997
Destroyer Escorts of World War Two, Walkowiak, Thomas F., 1996
Destroyers of World War Two, Whitley, M. J., 2000
Little Wolf at Leyte, J. Henry, Jr Doscher, 1996
Men of Poseidon, Graves, Richard W., 2000
Tempest, Fire and Foe, Andrews, Lewis, 1999
The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts, Bruce Hampton Franklin, 1999
USS Frost, Kerrigan, Warren J., 2001
Where Divers Dare, Randall Peffer, 2016
World War II American Destroyer Escorts, Edsall Class (FMR), Borchers, Duane D., Sr.,
World War II American Destroyer Escorts, Evarts Class (GMT), Borchers, Duane D., Sr.,
World War II American Destroyer Escorts, John C. Butler Class (WGT), Borchers, Duane D., Sr.,



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