During World War II, the navies of both the Allies and the Axis powers built and operated hundreds of relatively small warships for the purpose of ensuring the safety of merchant convoys. These warships displaced around 1,000 tons and were typically armed with one-to-three guns of three-to-five inches in caliber, numerous smaller anti-aircraft guns and depth charge throwers.
Summary CountryNumber of escort vesselsUnited States 1014United Kingdom 522Japan 187Italy 49Germany 10Romania 1
Allied escort vessel classes United States (destroyer escorts and frigates and patrol craft) Evarts-class destroyer escort - 97 built Buckley-class destroyer escort - 148 built Cannon-class destroyer escort - 72 built Edsall-class destroyer escort - 85 built Rudderow-class destroyer escort - 22 built John C. Butler-class destroyer escort - 83 completed Tacoma-class frigate - 96 built PC-461 class submarine chaser - 343 built PCE-842 class patrol craft escort - 68 built
United Kingdom (frigates and corvettes) – 12 (original) + 25 (modified) – 151 built – 26 built (4 more completed after the end of the war) – 7 built (23 more completed after the end of the war) – 294 built – 49 built
Axis escort vessel classes Japan (Kaibōkan) – 4 built – 14 built – 8 built – 9 built – 29 built Type C escort ship – 56 built Type D escort ship – 67 built
Italy Gabbiano-class corvette - 49 built
Germany (Flottenbegleiter) F-class escort ship - 10 built
Romania Amiral Murgescu