A history of America's small but gallant World War II warships, which
were at the forefront of the battle against U-boats and kamikazes, and
fought some of the most dramatic actions of the war.
The Destroyer Escort was the smallest ocean-going escort built for the
United States Navy--a downsized destroyer with less speed, fewer guns,
and fewer torpedoes than its big brother, The Fleet Destroyer. Destroyer
escorts first went into production because the Royal Navy needed an
escort warship which was larger than a corvette, but which could be
built faster than a destroyer. Lacking the shipyards to build these
types of ships in Britain, they ordered them in the US. Once the US
unexpectedly entered World War II, its navy suddenly also needed more
escort warships, even warships less capable than destroyers, and the
destroyer escort was reluctantly picked to fill the gap.
Despite the Navy's initial reservations, these ships did yeoman service
during World War II, fighting in both the Atlantic and Pacific, taking
on both U-boat and Japanese submarines and serving as the early warning
pickets against kamikazes later in the war. They also participated in
such dramatic actions as the Battle off Samar (where a group of
destroyers and destroyer escorts fought Japanese battleships and
cruisers to protect the escort carriers they were shielding) and the
capture of the U-505 (the only major naval vessel captured at sea by the
US Navy). The destroyer escorts soldiered on after World War II in both
the United States Navy and a large number of navies throughout the
world, with several serving into the 21st century. This book tells the
full story of these plucky ships, from their design and development to
their service around the world, complete with stunning illustrations and
contemporary photographs.
