An escort destroyer or an escort destroyer (from the English destroyer escort , abbreviated EME ) is a classification for small warships used to guard and defend formations of ships or convoys at the passage by the sea, and designed to deal with submarines , aircraft and enemy ships .
The term “destroyer escort” (abbr. DE ) first appeared in Great Britain in the late 30s of the XX century , when before the threat of war it was decided to create a new type of ship suitable for anti-aircraft (air defense) and anti-submarine defense (PLO), and also capable, if necessary, of standing up for himself and for escorted ships in battle with the enemy’s surface forces. In Russia, the term was translated as "escort destroyer" or "escort destroyer ", although both of these names are very arbitrary, since there were no torpedo weapons (as the main attribute of the destroyer ) [1] . The term "frigate" was used to designate such ships in the British Navy .
In general, the appearance of this subclass is the result of the London Treaty of 1930 , concluded between the United States of America , the British and Japanese empires . The agreement imposed restrictions on the number and displacement of destroyers, however, no limits were imposed on ships with a displacement of up to 600 tons , since they were considered coastal defense ships [2] .
First Samples
As a prototype for solving the task posed by the British Admiralty, experts settled on the Black Swan type sloops , which had been under construction since 1938 . Black Swan (1000 tons of displacement , armed with 6-8 102-mm anti-aircraft guns in twin installations). According to the new project, designers were going to “drive” four 102-mm guns, four 40-mm Bofors anti - aircraft guns and four torpedo tubes into 800 tons of displacement of the destroyer, while ensuring a speed of 31 knots (the speed of the original sloop did not exceed 20 knots )!
In 1939 , long before the calculations were completed, a series of 19 units of escort destroyers was laid. And only when the lead ship (Eterstone, from the English HMS Atherstone (L05) ) was launched, it became clear that the stability of the ship leaves much to be desired. And although during the design, it was decided to replace the torpedo tube with a third 102-mm two-gun installation, as a result, it was decided to abandon it altogether. Type received the name " Hunt " ( English Type I Hunt Class Escort Destroyer ).
Already in February 1940, the lead escort destroyer of the improved series was laid (there were 33 units of the second series - “Hunt-II”). It was supposed to solve the problem with the design load, also due to a significant increase in the width of the hull, the third 102-mm gun mount was returned.
At the end of 1940, a new order was followed for another 30 escort destroyers (Hunt-III). This time the torpedo weapon was increased: the torpedo tube (though a two-tube one) was returned, due to the fact that one 102-mm gun and one bomb were removed. In compensation for the weakening of the main armament, the stock of depth bombs was increased and three 20-mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns were added .
The Hunt-4 series was built according to a project developed by Tornicroft . The main difference of the series is an elongated forecastle and a square (“battleship”) midsection. On ships of this type, it was possible to combine three 102-mm twin launchers, a three-pipe torpedo tube, and more capacious fuel tanks, as a result of which seaworthiness and autonomy increased noticeably (though the speed was not higher than 25 knots).
US Trade
According to the Lend-Lease program , in June 1941, the United Kingdom submitted an order for patrol ships that meet the challenges of anti-submarine warfare to the US Commission for the Design, Construction and Delivery. Captain L. Cochrane drafted the ship, the design of which became known as the "British destroyer escort" (abbr. Eng. BDE ). And in the USA, they began the conveyor production of excursion destroyers.
However, a large number of ships built in an extremely short time could not compensate for their low tactical and technical characteristics . Welding was used everywhere in the hulls of the excursion destroyers supplied to the British; there was an acute shortage of turbines (especially gearboxes for them), as a result of which turboelectric units were used on some series, and diesel-electric ones on others. The speed was reduced from 24 knots to 21. Artillery weapons were three 76-mm universal guns of the old model (although the Americans preferred to install two 127-mm universal guns on their ships [1] ). Most of the shortcomings were partially offset by excellent anti-submarine equipment at that time, including a sonar , six bombers, a couple of bomb spreaders and a new, at that time, Hedgehog rocket bomb.
In total, by the spring of 1943 the Americans approved 1,005 orders for the construction of escort destroyers of various modifications. But since their number turned out to be excessive, part of the orders was canceled, and 563 units were commissioned [3] . After the United States entered the war, it was found that the new subclass fits perfectly with their needs for patrol anti-submarine ships, so a system was introduced according to which four of the five built EMEs were part of the US Navy , and only one was transferred to the Royal Navy .
Japan
In Japan, the design of similar ships (a combination of a minimum volume and a maximum of weapons) began long before that. But since the restrictions of the London Sea Treaty were still in force at that time, all efforts were concentrated on attempts to create a worthy warship within 600 tons (the maximum provided for the destroyer class).
In the years 1931 - 1932, four units of the Tomodzuru type were laid down ( English Tomozuru , 友 鶴 , also known as Chidori class torpedo boat , 千 鳥 型 水雷 艇 ). According to the project, the ships had three 127-mm guns ( Eng. 12.7 cm / 50 Type 3 naval gun ) in tower installations (one twin and one single), one three-pipe torpedo tube. The speed was 30 knots with a total of 535 tons of displacement (weapons accounted for 23 percent of the total load, which corresponded to the battleship ). However, a month after its entry into operation, the lead ship Tomodzuru, which had fallen on maneuvers in a storm, capsized, killing a significant part of the crew. As a result, the series was subjected to a significant alteration, according to which instead of the installed weapons, old single 120-millimeters with manual control were delivered; the bridge and superstructures are cut and replaced by a lower design. 100 tons of ballast was added to the holds (one fifth of the weight of an empty ship). The resulting destroyer already had 800 tons of displacement, resulting in a markedly reduced speed (up to 28 knots), and outdated weapons, similar in parameters to similar ships of the First World War .
The next series ( type “Otori” , known as Ōtori class torpedo boat , 鴻 型 水雷 艇 заказ ) was ordered under the 1934 program and included 16 units that had an increased width, lower superstructures and adjusted weapons. However, these lines did not receive proper development, and the construction of half of the ordered ships was canceled.
The Japanese returned to the issue of building destroyers after the battle of Gudalkanal in 1942 , since the conversion of obsolete units from the 1920s into escort and guard ships was practically not effective against the attack of American submarines and aircraft . The new project, the Matsu type ( Eng. Matsu , 松 型 駆 逐 艦 ) already had all the characteristic features of a destroyer: a simple hull form, widespread use of electric welding, a successful combination of combat elements. The guns had the same caliber as the destroyers, but in fact they were other cannons, short-barreled, with a small initial velocity and with the ability to conduct full-fledged anti-aircraft fire. Corresponding to the purpose and installation (single in the bow and paired in the stern), which had an electro-hydraulic drive. At the same time, the Matsu armament included a torpedo tube with the famous 610 mm “long spears” (the English Long Lance , also known as type 93 torpedo ) [4] . Also, for the first time in Japan, on such small ships from the very beginning two radars were to be installed at once.
Thus, due to savings on crew facilities and equipment, the Japanese were able to noticeably (at least by purely formal characteristics) furnish the US and British escort destroyers. However, 18 units of the Matsu type and 14 of the Tachibana type ( English Tachibana , я 型 駆 逐 艦 ), which are a further simplification of the Matsu, up to the point that they are completely welded from mild steel [5] ; could not withstand hundreds of allied escort destroyers [1] .
General Description
If an ordinary destroyer , in addition to torpedoes and weapons for use against enemy ships, as well as PLO, requires high speed (depending on the epoch and fleet: 25-35 knots), then an escort destroyer should only have the ability to maneuver, relative to escorted vehicles or convoy (during World War II, the speed of the convoy was from 10 to 12 knots), and the possibility of timely detection and protection against air attacks.
Due to these purposes, the destroyer escort (compared to EM) has a smaller size, cost and number of crew members. And although EM was more effective for anti-submarine warfare, EME had significant advantages in construction (faster and more economical). Also, escort destroyers were much larger (and therefore had more powerful weapons) than corvettes , which often performed the tasks of anti-submarine defense of a ship’s compound (convoy) or coastal facility ( naval base , port ).
During the war, about 95 destroyers were converted into the so-called high-speed transport ships ( English High speed transport , or class APD , where AP means transport, and D - destroyer). Two additional decks were added for this project, which made it possible to increase the team by 160 people (including 10 officers); and two davits were installed (one on each side of the ship), which allowed launching LCVP-type landing boats from them. This trend has been preserved in modern patrol ships (for example, in warships of the coastal zone LCS ).
After the war
After the end of World War II, all US Navy escort destroyers were reclassified into ocean escort- type ships (albeit with the designation DE). However, since the NATO countries and the USSR adhered to a different classification, there was some confusion when comparing types.
After the reclassification of 1975 , when the US Navy nomenclature was brought into line with NATO countries, the class “ocean watch escort” ( English ocean escort ) was reclassified to “frigate” (FF) . However, the classification problem still remains (for example, the Ticonderoga type is classified by designation as a URO cruiser , although by the type of hull that took the Spruence type as the basis, it corresponds to the destroyer).
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Kofman V. Escort destroyers (Russian) // Modelist Designer: Magazine. - 2002. - T. 52 , No. 2 .
- ↑ Torpedo destroyers (Torpilleurs legere) and Escort destroyers (Russian) // Ivanov V. Ships of World War II of the French Navy: The Maritime Collection magazine. - 2004, No. 11.
- ↑ Kofman V. Ships on the conveyor (Russian) // Model Designer Designer: Magazine. - 2003. - No. 11 .
- ↑ Matsu-class destroyers (Russian) // Ivanov V. Japanese destroyers 1920-1945. - Vladivostok, 1996.
- ↑ Tachibana type destroyers (Russian) // Ivanov V. Japanese destroyers 1920-1945. - Vladivostok, 1996.
See also
- Destroyer
- Patrol ship
- Corvette
- Destroyer
- Guided missile destroyer
- Frigate
Literature
- Destroyers and escort ships: Encyclopedia of military equipment. - AST , 2001. - ISBN 5-17-005060-7 .
- Gaysinsky P. United States Escort Destroyers: Marine Collection Magazine. - Model-Designer, 2008. - Issue. 1 .
Links
- Handbook Escort destroyers USA . (Russian)
- DESA (Destroyer Escort Sailors Assotiations) - A site about US Navy escort destroyers. (eng.)