Destroyer escort (DE) was theUnited States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a 20-knot (37 km/h; 23 mph)warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-oceanconvoys ofmerchant marine ships.^[1]

Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by the British need inWorld War II for anti-submarine ships that could operate in open oceans at speeds of up to 20 knots. These "British Destroyer Escort"s were designed by the US for mass-production underLend-Lease as a less expensive alternative to fleetdestroyers.^[2]

TheRoyal Navy and Commonwealth forces identified such warships asfrigates, 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 calledocean escorts. Similar types of warships in other navies of the time included the 46 diesel poweredKaibōkan of theImperial Japanese Navy,^[3] 10KriegsmarineF-class escort ships, and the twoAmiral Murgescu-class vessels of theRomanian Navy.

Postwar destroyer escorts and frigates were larger than those produced during wartime, with increased anti-aircraft capability, but remained smaller and slower than postwar destroyers.^[4] AsCold War destroyer escorts became as large as wartime destroyers, the United States Navy converted some of their World War II destroyers toescort destroyers (DDE).^[5]

Full-sizeddestroyers must be able to steam as fast or faster thancruisers and fastcapital ships such asfleet carriers. This typically requires a speed of 25–35knots (46–65 km/h) (dependent upon the era and navy). They must carrytorpedoes and a smaller caliber of naval guns to use against enemy ships, anti-aircraft guns, and antisubmarine detection equipment and weapons. While these requirements made the destroyer a fast all-around combatant, this made them too valuable to be relegated to convoy escort duties.

A destroyer escort needed only to be able to maneuver relative to a slow convoy (which in World War II would travel at 10 to 12 knots (19 to 22 km/h)), be able to defend against aircraft, and detect, pursue, and attacksubmarines. These lower requirements greatly reduce the size, cost, and crew required for the destroyer escort. Destroyer escorts were optimized for antisubmarine warfare, having a tighter turning radius and more specialized armament (such as the forward-firingHedgehog mortar) than fleet destroyers. The slower speed of destroyer escorts was not a liability in this context assonar was useless at speeds over 20 knots (37 km/h).

As an alternative to geared steam-turbine propulsion found insloops of similar purpose, size and speed (as well as full-sized destroyers and larger warships), many US destroyer escorts of the World War II period had diesel-electric orturboelectric drive, in which the engine rooms functioned as power stations supplying current to electric motors sited close to the propellers. Electric drive was selected because it does not need gearboxes (produced on special precise machining tooling available in limited quantities, which were heavily in demand for the fast fleet destroyers) to adjust engine speed to the much lower optimal speed for the propellers. The current from the engine room can be used equally well for other purposes, and after the war, many destroyer escorts were re-used as floating power stations for coastal cities inLatin America under programs funded by theWorld Bank.^{[citation needed]}.Edsall-class ships were the exception to this and they used a geared diesel engine to drive the propellers directly.John C. Butlers used the typical boiler and geared turbine propulsion system.

Destroyer escorts were also useful for coastal antisubmarine andradar picket ship duty. During World War II, seven destroyer escorts (DEs) were converted to radar picket destroyer escorts (DERs), supplementing radar picket destroyers. Although these were relegated to secondary roles after the war, in the mid-1950s, 36 more DEs wereconverted to DERs, serving as such until 1960–1965.^[6] Their mission was to extend theDistant Early Warning Line on both coasts, in conjunction with 16Guardian-class radar picket ships, which were convertedLiberty ships.

During World War II, some 95 destroyer escorts were converted by the US tohigh-speed transports (APDs). This involved adding an extra deck which allowed space for about 10 officers and 150 men. Two largedavits were also installed, one on either side of the ship, from which landing craft (LCVPs) could be launched.^{[citation needed]}

TheLend-Lease Act was passed into law in the United States in March 1941, enabling the United Kingdom to procure merchant ships, warships, munitions, and other materiel from the US, to help with the war effort. This enabled the UK to commission the US to design, build, and supply an escort vessel that was suitable for antisubmarine warfare in deep open-ocean situations, which they did in June 1941. Captain E.L. Cochrane of theAmerican Bureau of Shipping came up with a design which was known as theBritish destroyer escort (BDE). The BDE designation was retained by the first six destroyer escorts transferred to the United Kingdom (BDE 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, and 46); of the initial order of 50, these were the only ones theRoyal Navy received, the rest being reclassified as destroyer escorts on 25 January 1943 and taken over by theUnited States Navy.^[7]

When the United States entered the war, and found they also required an antisubmarine warfare ship and that the destroyer escort fitted their needs perfectly, a system of rationing was put in place whereby out of every five destroyer escorts completed, four would be allocated to the U.S. Navy and one to the Royal Navy.

Destroyer escorts were designed and built to naval construction standards, and as such could only be built at yards experienced with naval standards. TheUnited States Maritime Commission created its S2-S2-AQ1 design – which was based on the British-designed River class – for much the same role but using civilian construction standards. These ships would be classed by the Navy as theTacoma class frigates (PF).^[8] These frigates had a greater range than the superficially similar destroyer escorts, but the US Navy viewed them as decidedly inferior in all other respects. TheTacoma class had a much larger turning circle than destroyer escorts, lacked sufficient ventilation for warm-weather operations (a reflection of their original British design and its emphasis on operations in the colder North Atlantic Ocean), were criticized as far too hot below decks, and, because of the mercantile style of their hulls, had far less resistance to underwater explosions than ships built to naval standards like the destroyer escorts.^[9]

After World War II, new-buildUnited States Navy destroyer escorts were referred to asocean escorts, but retained thehull classification symbol DE. However, other navies, most notably those ofNATO countries and theUSSR, followed different naming conventions for this type of ship, which resulted in some confusion. To remedy this problem, the1975 ship reclassification declared ocean escorts (and by extension, destroyer escorts) asfrigates (FF). This brought the USN's nomenclature more in line with NATO, and made comparing ship types with the Soviet Union easier. As of 2006, no plans existed for future frigates for the US Navy.USS Zumwalt and thelittoral combat ship (LCS) were the main ship types planned in this area. However, by 2017 the Navy had reversed course, and put out a Request For Proposals (RFP) for a new frigate class, temporarily designatedFFG(X). One major problem with ship classification is whether to base it on a ship's role (such as escort or air defense), or on its size (such as displacement). One example of this ambiguity is theTiconderoga-class air-defense ship class, which is classified ascruiser, though it uses the same hull as theSpruance-class destroyers.

During theVietnam War, theRepublic of Vietnam Navy received twoEdsall-class destroyer escorts from the United States.

total ships in the table: 507DEs + 56APDs

37Buckleys listed here asBuckleys were converted to APDs after having been commissioned as destroyer escorts. All APDs listed in the table were completed as conversions.Captains were converted before commissioning as DEs.

Data from "Ship's Data U.S. Naval Vessels"^[28]

hull numbers for WGT and FMR are still incomplete, price of $2,157 for Brown/WGT DE-423 is assumed to be a typo

other classes missing (work in progress)

From the same document, List of Naval Vessels, pp. 11:

TheCaptain class was a 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 (under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom and otherAllied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945),^[29][30] they were drawn from two subclasses of the destroyer escort (originally British destroyer escort) classification: 32 from theEvarts subclass and 46 from theBuckley subclass.^[7][29] Upon reaching the UK, the ships were substantially modified by the Royal Navy, including removal of torpedo tubes, making them distinct from the US Navy destroyer escort ships.^[31]

Captain-class frigates acted in the roles ofconvoy escorts, antisubmarine warfare vessels,^[32]coastal forces control frigates and headquarters ships for theNormandy landings. During the course of World War II, this class participated in the sinking of at least 34 German submarines and a number of other hostile craft with 15 of the 78Captain-class frigates being either sunk or written off as aconstructive total loss.

In the postwar period, all of the survivingCaptain-class frigates except one (HMSHotham) were returned to the US Navy before the end of 1947 to reduce the amount payable under the provisions of the Lend-Lease agreement; the last such frigate was returned to United States custody in March 1956.^[33][34]

SixCannon-class destroyer escorts were built for theFree French Navy. Although initially transferred under the Lend-Lease Act, these ships were permanently transferred under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP).

• FFLAlgérien (F-1), ex-Cronin (DE-107)
• FFLSénégalais (F-2), ex-Corbestier (DE-106)
• FFLSomali (F-3), ex-Somali (DE-111)
• FFLHova (F-4), ex-Hova (DE-110)
• FFLMarocain (F-5), ex-Marocain (DE-109)
• FFLTunisien (F-6), ex-Crosley (DE-108)

Under theMDAP the destroyer escorts leased to the Free French were permanently transferred to the French Navy. In addition, the following navies also acquired DEs:

DE-47,DE-6

DE-1007, DE-1008, DE-1009, DE-1010, DE-1011, DE-1012, DE-1013, DE-1016, DE-1017, DE-1018, DE1019

DE-173,DE-766,DE-768,DE-193

DE-1020, DE-1031

DE-168,DE-169

DE-168,DE-169,DE-170,DE-770,DE-771,DE-251,DE-637

DE-509, DE-1032, DE-1039, DE-1042, DE-1046

DE-770,DE-771

DE-574^{[note 1][33]}

USSBurrows (DE-105),USSRinehart (DE-196),USSGustafson (DE-182),USSO'Neill (DE-188),USSEisner (DE-192),USSStern (DE-187)

DE-746

DE-166,DE-189,

The table below compares destroyer escorts and frigates designed for similar missions.

Four destroyer escorts are preserved as museum ships, while others remain in active service.

• TheEdsall-class destroyer escortUSS Stewart (DE-238) is preserved inGalveston,Texas.
• TheCannon-class destroyer escortUSS Slater (DE-766) is preserved inAlbany, New York.
• TheCannon-class destroyer escort BNSBauru (BE-4), formerlyUSS McAnn (DE-179) is preserved inRio de Janeiro,Brazil.
• The modifiedRudderow-class destroyer escort, ARCCordoba (DT-15), formerlyUSS Ruchamkin (APD-89) is preserved inTocancipa,Colombia.
• TheCannon-class destroyer escort HTMSPin Klao (DE-1), formerlyUSS Hemminger (DE-746), was decommissioned from theRoyal Thai Navy on 30 September 2025. She was the last of World War II era destroyer escort active in any navy. Her fate is yet to be determined.
• TheJapanese Maritime Self-Defense Force operates sixAbukuma-class destroyer escorts.

• The Enemy Below, a movie filmed on a DE
• List of destroyers of the Second World War
• List of escort vessel classes of the Second World War
• List of Escorteurs of the French Navy
• List of frigates
  • List of Captain class frigates
  • List of frigates of the Second World War
  • List of frigates of the United States Navy subset of above with hull numbers DE/FF 1037 and higher plus all DEG/FFGs because of theUnited States Navy 1975 ship reclassification
• Naval tactics

 This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• On the subject of a particular example of this type of ship in World War II, theUSSAbercrombie (DE-343), seeLittle Ship, Big War: The Saga of DE-343 by Edward Peary Stafford. Naval Institute Press (2000)ISBN 1-55750-890-9
• On the subject of the Captain-class frigate variant of the destroyer escort in World War II, seeThe Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War by Donald Collingwood. published by Leo Cooper (1998),ISBN 0-85052-615-9

• DESA – Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
• Destroyer Escort Historical Museum, Albany, NY
• Captains Class Frigates

• Ship types
• Escort ships

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
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• Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015
• Articles with unsourced statements from November 2016
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
• CS1: abbreviated year range
• CS1 errors: ISBN date