Evarts-class destroyer escort

USS Evarts
Class overview
Name: Evarts class
Operators:
Preceded by: N/A
Succeeded by: Buckley class
Planned: 105
Completed: 97
Cancelled: 8
General characteristics
Type: Destroyer escort
Displacement: 1,360 tons (fully loaded)
Length: 289 ft 6 in (88.2 m) (overall)
Beam: 35 ft (10.7 m)
Draft: 9 ft (2.7 m) (fully loaded)
Propulsion: Propellers: Two of solid manganese bronze 8.5 feet each
Speed: 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) (Many ships were capable of 21–22 knots)
Range: 5,000 mi (4,300 nmi; 8,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Radar: Type SL Surface search fixed to mast above yard arm and type SA Air search only fitted to certain ships.
  • Asdic (Sonar): Type 128D or Type 144 both in retractable dome.
  • Direction Finding: MF Direction Finding antenna fitted in front of the bridge and HF/DF Type FH 4 antenna fitted on top of mast.
Armament:
  • Main guns: 3 × 3 inch/50 guns in open mounts and fired fixed shot (anti-aircraft, armour piercing or starshell) and had a range of 14,600 yards at 45 degrees and an anti-aircraft ceiling of 28,000 feet.
  • Anti-aircraft guns: 7 × Oerlikon 20 mm guns positioned one in front of the bridge behind and above B gun also one each side of B gun in pods and two each side of the ship in pods just abaft the funnel (some of the ships had an extra Oerlikon fitted on top of the superstructure midships, the odd ship had a twin Bofors 40 mm gun instead of the extra Oerlikon).
  • Hedgehog:British designed ahead throwing mortar which fired 24 bombs ahead of the ship, this was situated between A and B guns.
  • Depth Charges: Up to 160 depth charges were carried. Two sets of double rails at the stern held 24 per set. Two K gun throwers each holding five charges were situated each side of the ship just forward of the aft depth charge rails. Just forward of these, double ready rails extending to midships were fitted each side of the ship holding approximately sixty charges per side (these ready rails were added after the ships arrived back in the UK).

The Evarts-class destroyer escorts were destroyer escorts launched in the United States in 1942–44. They served in World War II as convoy escorts and anti-submarine warfare ships. They were also known as the GMT or "short hull" DE class, with GMT standing for General Motors Tandem Diesel drive.

The lead ship was USS Evarts, launched on December 7, 1942. The first ship to be completed was commissioned on January 20, 1943 at the Boston Navy Yard; it was delivered to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease provisions and became HMS Bayntun. Evarts-class ships were driven by diesel-electric power with four diesel engines mounted in tandem with electric drives. The ships were prefabricated at various factories in the United States and the units brought together in the shipyards, where they were welded together on the slipways. The original design specified eight engines for 24 knots but other priority programs forced the use of only four with a consequent shortening of the hull.[1]

In all, 105 Evarts-class ships were ordered with 8 later being cancelled. The United States Navy commissioned 65 while 32 Evarts-class ships were delivered to the Royal Navy. They were classed as frigates and named after captains of the Napoleonic Wars and formed part of the Captain class along with 46 ships of the Buckley class.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Friedman, Norman, U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History, ISBN 1-55750-442-3, Chapter 7

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