What Was A Frigate In World War Ii?

During World War II, the term “frigate” was revived to describe a class of medium-speed anti-submarine vessels used for convoy escort work. Commonwealth frigates were specifically designed as anti-submarine escorts for trans-Atlantic convoys, offering the size, speed, and endurance of escorts. The River class was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic. The majority served with the Royal Navy.

During World War II, Great Britain revived the name “frigate” by assigning it to a small escort ship used to guard convoys from submarines. This vessel was a copy of the British River class Frigate. The list includes frigate-class ships, such as US Navy destroyer escorts and British escort destroyers.

The list also includes armed vessels that served during the war and in the immediate aftermath, including localized ongoing combat operations, garrison surrenders, and post-surrender. HMS Dakins, a Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy during World War II, was built as a Buckley-class destroyer escort intended for the United States Navy.

Frigates were the most valuable warships ever built in Canada for anti-submarine warfare. Donald Collingwood’s Captain Class Frigates is both a history of a class of escorts important in the latter stages of World War II and also details each of the 17 classes of sloops and frigates used by the Royal Navy in WW2.