The Hunt class was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

escort destroyer An escort destroyer with United States Navy hull classification symbol DDE was a destroyer (DD) modified for and assigned to a fleet escort role after World War II. These destroyers retained their original hull numbers. Later, in March 1950, th ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, particularly on the British east coast and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s. They were named after British fox hunts. The modern Hunt-class GRP hulled

mine countermeasure vessel A mine countermeasures vessel or MCMV is a type of naval ship designed for the location of and destruction of naval mines which combines the role of a Minesweeper (ship), minesweeper and minehunter in one hull. The term MCMV is also applied collec ...

s maintain the Hunt names lineage in the Royal Navy.

History

The Royal Navy had identified the need for two types of destroyer: larger vessels with heavy gun and torpedo armaments for fleet work and another type for escort duties. Although old fleet destroyers could be allocated to escort work, they were unsuitable for the task and new construction replaced them. Fleet destroyers were designed for speed and their machinery was inefficient at convoy speeds, reducing their range. Their shape made them poor sea boats at low speed, also exacerbated by additional equipment on the superstructure. Modifications were needed to ease these problems. The escort vessels forsook the heavy armament and some of the speed of the fleet type to reduce unit cost and better suit mass production and the conditions. This new "fast escort vessel" was later classified as an "escort destroyer". Eighty-six Hunts were completed, of which 72 were commissioned into the Royal Navy and the remaining 14 were transferred to allied navies; ''Bolebrooke'', ''Border'', ''Catterick'', ''Hatherleigh'', ''Modbury'', ''Bramham'' and ''Hursley'' to the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Royal Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the Navy, naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of ...

, ''Bedale'', ''Oakley'' (i) and ''Silverton'' to the Free Polish Navy, ''Glaisdale'', ''Eskdale'' and ''

Badsworth Badsworth is a village and civil parish in the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 583, increasing to 682 at the 2011 Census. The village is located south of Pont ...

'' to the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, 3 ...

and ''

Haldon The Haldon Hills, usually known simply as Haldon, is a ridge of high ground in Devon, England. It is situated between the River Exe and the River Teign and runs northwards from Teignmouth, on the coast, for about until it dwindles away north ...

'' to the

Free French Navy The Free French Naval Forces (french: Forces Navales Françaises Libres, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier. History In the wake of the Armistice a ...

Design

The Hunts were modelled on the 1938 escort sloop , a ship of 1,190 tons with on geared turbines for 18¾ knots and an armament of three twin Mark XIX mounts for the QF gun Mark XVI. The guns were controlled by a

Fuze Keeping Clock The Fuze Keeping Clock (FKC) was a simplified version of the Royal Navy's High Angle Control System analogue fire control computer. It first appeared as the FKC MkII in destroyers of the 1938 ,''Tribal Class Destroyers'', Hodges, p. 27 while late ...

AA fire control computer when engaging aircraft. The Hunt class was to ship the same armament, plus a quadruple QF 2-pounder mount Mark VII on a hull of the same length but with less beam and installed power raised to to give . The first twenty were ordered in March and April 1939. They were constructed to Admiralty standards, as were contemporary destroyers, unlike the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s, which conformed much more to mercantile practice. Clearly, the Hunts posed a major design challenge. They would be too short and narrow and of insufficient range for open ocean work, being restricted to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. This sacrifice was accepted to give any chance of meeting the requirements. The demanding specifications in an overworked Admiralty design department resulted in a major design miscalculation. When the detailed calculations were done the centre of gravity was lower than expected and the beam was increased. As the first ships were being completed it was found that the design was as much as 70 tons overweight, top-heavy, leaving them dangerously deficient in stability. The first twenty ships were so far advanced in construction that it was necessary to remove the 'X' 4-inch gun mount and add 50 tons of permanent ballast. These ships became the Type I group and had the multiple 2-pounder guns relocated from behind the funnel to the more advantageous 'X' position. The design deficiency of the Type I was rectified by splitting the hulls lengthwise and adding a 2½ foot section, increasing the beam to 31 ft 6 in and the margin of stability sufficiently for the designed armament to be shipped. These ships became the Type II group, and also had a revised design of bridge with the compass platform extending forwards to the wheelhouse face. Under the 1939 Emergency War Programme, 36 more Hunts had been ordered; three of these were completed to the original (Type I) design.

Depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

stowage could also be increased from 40 in the Type I to 110. For the 1940 building programme, torpedoes were deemed necessary. The next 27 ships were completed to a revised design, the Type III group, and were intended specifically for Mediterranean work. They sacrificed 'Y' gun for a pair of 21-inch

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s amidships, the searchlight being displaced to the aft shelter deck as a result. The Type III Hunts could be easily identified as they had a straight funnel with a sloping top and the foremast had no

rake Rake may refer to: * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (theatre), the artificial slope of a theatre stage Science and technology * Rake receiver, a radio receiver * Rake (geology), the angle between a feature on a ...

. Fourteen of them had their stabiliser fins removed (or not fitted in the first place) and the space used for extra fuel oil. A Hunt Class Destroyer in Dry Dock RMG BHC1654

A Hunt Class Destroyer in Dry Dock RMG BHC1654

The last two Hunts came from an independent lineage and were built to a private design that had been prepared pre-war by John I. Thornycroft & Company. Submitted to the Admiralty and rejected in 1938, a modified design had been accepted in 1940. They were known as the Type IV. They had a novel hull design, with a U-shaped forward section with a distinctive double knuckle and a full centre section with a square turn at the bilge. This form was intended to increase low-speed efficiency and reduce rolling without the need for ballast or stabilisers to improve the ships as gun platforms; testing showed an 8% increase in steaming efficiency at for a 2% loss full ahead. Other features included a long

fo'c'sle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

stretching for most of the length of the ship, which increased internal accommodation space (the lack of which was a perennial problem in wartime ships with enlarged crews) and allowed the crew to fight the ship almost completely undercover. As a result, 'X' gun was now at the fo'c'sle deck level rather than on a raised shelter deck. The design was large enough to carry a triple set of torpedoes, but as they too were at fo'c'sle deck level the training apparatus had to be remotely mounted a deck below. Armament was completed by a pair of single 20 mm Oerlikon guns on the bridge wings and a pair of power operated twin 0.5-inch Vickers machine guns amidships. This was quickly discovered to be ineffective and was replaced by the Mark V twin mounting for the Oerlikon guns. The level of protection afforded to the crews in these two ships was found to be beneficial in wartime, where crews were often closed up at action stations for extended periods of time in appalling weather conditions, and the design – although it was something of a dead end – heavily influenced post-war escort designs. All Hunt class except three Type II and the Type IV ''Brissenden'' had fin stabilisers forward to reduce rolling to make for a steadier gun platform. These were subsequently removed from the majority of the Type III ships to allow for an increase in bunkerage of 63 tons.

Modifications

The Hunt class was a very satisfactory design, but had limited surplus displacement to allow any major modifications. All ships had a pair of single Oerlikon guns added in the bridge wings as they became available, and

Type 285 radar The Type 285 radar was a British naval anti-aircraft gunnery radar developed during the Second World War. The prototype was tested at sea aboard the escort destroyer An escort destroyer with United States Navy hull classification symbol DDE wa ...

added to the Rangefinder-Director Mark I carried on the bridge for the main armament. The air warning

Type 286 radar Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

was added at the masthead, later replaced by Type 291, and ''Cotswold'', ''Silverton'', ''Bleasdale'' and ''Wensleydale'' had their searchlight replaced by

Type 272 radar The Type 271 was a surface search radar used by the Royal Navy and allies during World War II. The first widely used naval microwave-frequency system, it was equipped with an antenna small enough to allow it to be mounted on small ships like ...

, a centimetric target indication set. Those vessels employed on East Coast convoy work, all the Type Is, the Type IIs ''Avon Vale'', ''Blencathra'' and ''Liddesdale'' and the Type IIIs ''Bleasdale'' and ''Glaisdale'' were fitted with a single QF 2-pounder "bow chaser" gun for anti-

E-boat E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...

work. Most Type IIIs later had their single Oerlikon guns replaced with twin powered mountings Mark V, and some had two single 40 mm Bofors guns added, one each forward of the wheelhouse and on the quarterdeck.

Type I

The first ten of the following were ordered on 21 March 1939, and the other ten on 11 April 1939. Three more were ordered on 4 September 1939 (see below) were intended to be of Type II, but were actually completed to the Type I design. * ** Builder:

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

** Laid down: 8 June 1939 ** Launched: 12 December 1939 ** Completed: 23 March 1940 ** Fate: Paid off October 1945 and broken up 25 November 1957. * ** Builder:

** Laid down: 8 June 1939 ** Launched: 29 January 1940 ** Completed: 6 June 1940 ** Fate: Bombed during the

Dieppe Raid Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was an Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a regiment o ...

19 August 1942. * ** Builder:

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

Scotstoun Scotstoun ( gd, Baile an Sgotaich) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde ...

** Laid down: 9 June 1939 ** Launched: 22 February 1940 ** Completed: 22 July 1940 ** Fate:

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

26 March 1946, and broken up 2 July 1957. * ** Builder:

** Laid down: 7 July 1939 ** Launched: 24 April 1940 ** Completed: 18 September 1940 ** Fate: Paid off September 1945; sold to be broken up 1957, but wrecked en route to the scrapyard. * ** Builder:

Vickers-Armstrong Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

, Tyne ** Laid down: 8 June 1939 ** Launched: 28 December 1939 ** Completed: 28 August 1940 ** Fate: Paid off 1945 and broken up 28 May 1956. * ** Builder:

, Tyne ** Laid down: 8 June 1939 ** Launched: 25 January 1940 ** Completed: 1 November 1940 ** Fate: Sunk by

S-30, off Lowestoft, 25 February 1941. * ** Builder:

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its ...

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

** Laid down: 8 June 1939 ** Launched: 9 January 1940 ** Completed: 29 May 1940 ** Fate: Aircraft target ship August 1945 to 1947. Paid off 1947, and broken up 7 November 1956. * ** Builder:

** Laid down: 8 June 1939 ** Launched: 14 February 1940 ** Completed: 1 July 1940 ** Fate: Paid off December 1945 and broken up 15 August 1958. * ** Builder:

Swan Hunter Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three powe ...

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...

** Laid down: 8 June 1939 ** Launched: 12 December 1939 ** Completed: 8 June 1940 ** Fate: Paid off December 1945 and broken up 4 February 1958. * ** Builder:

** Laid down: 29 June 1939 ** Launched: 8 February 1940 ** Completed: 10 August 1940 ** Fate: Paid off 20 May 1946 and broken up 20 November 1956. * ** Builder:

** Laid down: 11 October 1939 ** Launched: 18 July 1940 ** Completed: 16 November 1940 ** Fate: Paid off 29 June 1946 and broken up 11 September 1957. * ** Builder:

Yarrow Shipbuilders Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also o ...

** Laid down: 12 December 1939 ** Launched: 5 September 1940 ** Completed: 29 December 1940 ** Fate: Paid off 28 February 1946. Sold to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

in 1950 as ''Ibrahim el Awal'', renamed ''Mohamed Ali el Kebir'' in 1951, scrapped. Ibrahim al-Awwal1956

* ** Builder:

** Laid down: 10 August 1939 ** Launched: 9 April 1940 ** Completed: 12 October 1940 ** Fate: Paid off 20 May 1946. Sold to Nationalist China 1947 and renamed ''Lin Fu''. Seized prior to delivery and re-sold 1949 to Egypt as ''Mohamed Ali el Kebir'', renamed ''Ibrahim el Awal'' in 1951, captured by Israel on 31 October 1956 and commissioned as INS ''Haifa'' (K-38), decommissioned 1968, used as training target and sunk by a

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

missile. * ** Builder:

** Laid down: 10 August 1939 ** Launched: 7 June 1940 ** Completed: 30 December 1940 ** Fate: Aircraft target ship 11 September 1945 to December 1946, when paid off. Sold to Ecuador 1954 and renamed ''Presidente Velasco Ibarra''. 05/05/1978: Stricken and broken up. * ** Builder:

Scotts Scotts or Scott's may refer to: Businesses and brands *Scott's (restaurant), in London *Scott's Food & Pharmacy, an American supermarket chain *Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, an American multinational corporation *Scott's Porage Oats, a Scottish bre ...

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

** Laid down: 26 July 1939 ** Launched: 13 February 1940 ** Completed: 23 October 1940 ** Fate: Paid off August 1946 and broken up 1 December 1956. * ** Builder:

** Laid down: 26 July 1939 ** Launched: 22 April 1940 ** Completed: 6 February 1941 ** Fate: Paid off December 1945. Sold to Ecuador 1954 and renamed ''Presidente Alfaro''. * ** Builder:

J. Samuel White J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White (1838–1915). It came to prominence during the Victorian era. During the 20th century it built destroyers and other naval craft for both the ...

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

** Laid down: 26 July 1939 ** Launched: 27 March 1940 ** Completed: 21 September 1940 ** Fate: Sunk by a

human torpedo Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of diver propulsion vehicle on which the diver rides, generally in a seated position behind a fairing. They were used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic concept is still in use. ...

off the Normandy beaches during the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

invasion, 2 August 1944. * ** Builder:

** Laid down: 22 August 1939 ** Launched: 5 July 1940 ** Completed: 8 November 1940 ** Fate: Aircraft target ship 8 September 1945 to 1946. Paid off 22 May 1946, and broken up 1 November 1956. * ** Builder:

Stephens Stephens is a surname. It is a patronymic and is recorded in England from 1086. Notable people with the surname include: *Alexander H. Stephens (1812–1883), Vice President of the Confederate States of America *Alison Stephens (1970–2010), Brit ...

Linthouse Linthouse is a neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly south of the River Clyde and lies immediately west of Govan, with other adjacent areas including Shieldhall and the Southern General Hospital to the west, a ...

** Laid down: 27 July 1939 ** Launched: 5 June 1940 ** Completed: 2 December 1940 ** Fate: Sunk by the German submarine ''U-593'' on 12 December 1943. * ** Builder:

** Laid down: 27 July 1939 ** Launched: 16 July 1940 ** Completed: 28 February 1941 ** Fate: Paid off October 1945 and broken up 5 April 1959.

Type II

Eighteen were ordered on 4 September 1939 and two more (''Lauderdale'' and ''Ledbury'') on the following day. Three of these were completed with the same armament as the Type I – ''Blencathra'', ''Brocklesby'' and ''Liddesdale''. A final batch of sixteen were ordered on 20 December 1939. * – John Brown, Clydebank * – To the Royal Norwegian Navy as ''Arendal'' * – sold to Norway 1956. Scrapped in 1965 * – To the Polish Navy as ''Ślązak''; reverted to Royal Navy, and sold to Indian Navy; commissioned as in 1953 * – scrapped 1956 * – To the Royal Danish Navy in 1954 as ''Esbern Snare'' (F341). Scrapped 1966 * – John Brown, Clydebank * – Cammell Laird, Birkenhead * – To the Royal Hellenic Navy as ''Themistocles'' * – Cammell Laird, sold and scrapped in 1968 * – To the Royal Danish Navy in 1954 as ''Rolf Krake'' (F342). Scrapped 1966 * – sold to the Indian Navy; commissioned as in 1953. Scrapped circa 1975 * – scrapped 1959 * – scrapped 1957 * – Lost 13 November 1943 * – sold for scrap 1946 * – To the Royal Danish Navy in 1954 as ''Valdemar Sejr'' (F343). Scrapped 1966 * – Scrapped at Blyth on 4 December 1962 * – Lost 12 June 1942 * – Lost 20 March 1942 * – To the Royal Hellenic Navy as ''Kriti'' * – Lost 22 October 1943 * – Sold to Indian Navy; commissioned as in 1953 * – Transferred on loan to the Royal Hellenic Navy as ''Aigaion'' in 1946. Discarded 1959 * – scrapped in 1958 * – Vickers-Armstrongs, Tyne, BU 1948 * – scrapped 1958 * (i) – To the Polish Navy as ''Kujawiak'' * (ii) – begun as ''Tickham'' and renamed. Sold in 1958 to West Germany where she served as the ''Gneisenau'' and was broken up in 1972 * – Lost 6 September 1943, by U-boat , 129 crew rescued * – To the Polish Navy as ''Krakowiak'' * – Lost 24 March 1942, Malta convoy MW10, Zonker Point, Malta * – scrapped 1957 * – scrapped 1959 * – Yarrow, Scotstoun * – loaned to Norway 1952. Sold to Norway in 1956. Scrapped in 1965

Type III

* – J. Brown – Lost June 1942 after aerial attack * – J. Brown – To Federal German Navy in 1959 as ''Raule'' * – Cammell Laird – Mined December 1944. * – Cammell Laird * –

Hawthorn Leslie R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982. History The company was formed ...

– Lost December 1942, torpedoed by * – Vickers-Armstrongs * – Swan Hunter – Transferred to Greece as ''Pindos'' * – Swan Hunter – Transferred to Greece as ''Adrias''. Written off after mined October 1943 * – Vickers-Armstrongs – Bought by Greece in 1946 as ''Hastings'' * – Vickers-Armstrongs – Written off after torpedoed by aircraft March 1943 * – White * – White – Sold to Federal German Navy in 1959 as ''Brommy'' * – Cammell Laird – Transferred to Royal Norwegian Navy. Torpedoed by

E boat E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a la ...

April 1943 * – Cammell Laird – Transferred to Royal Norwegian Navy. Bought by Norway 1946 as ''Narvik'' * – Fairfield – Written off after mined July 1944 * – Fairfield – Transferred to Free French as . Mined February 1945 * – Vickers-Armstrongs – Transferred to Greece as ''Kanaris'' * – Vickers-Armstrongs * – Stephens – Torpedoed by on 12 December 1943 * – Stephens – Torpedoed by T-22 October 1943 * – Swan Hunter * – Swan Hunter – Transferred to Greece as ''Miaoulis'' * – Vickers-Armstrongs – Torpedoed by

December 1942 * – Vickers-Armstrongs – Written off after hit by a

Henschel Hs 293 The Henschel Hs 293 was a World War II German radio-guided glide bomb. It is the first operational anti-shipping missile, first used unsuccessfully on 25 August 1943 and then with increasing success over the next year, ultimately damaging or sink ...

glider bomb November 1943 * – White * – White – Launched in 1943 and sold for scrapping in 1961 * – Yarrow – Bought by Greece 1946 as ''Adrias'' * – Yarrow – Written off after collision November 1944

Type IV

These very distinct vessels were built to a radically different private design by

Thornycroft Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977. History In 1896, naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its firs ...

at Southampton, ordered on 28 July 1940. * ** Laid down: 27 February 1941 ** Launched: 27 June 1942 ** Completed: 18 December 1942 ** Fate: Paid off 4 December 1945 and broken up on 17 September 1962 at Faslane. * ** Laid down: 28 February 1941 ** Launched: 15 September 1942 ** Completed: 12 February 1943 ** Fate: Paid off 19 June 1948 and broken up on 3 March 1965 at Dalmuir.

Notes

Bibliography

* * ''The Hunts: A History of the Design, Development and Careers of the 86 Destroyers of This Class Built for the Royal and Allied Navies During World War II'', John English, World Ship Society, 1987, * ''Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981'', Maurice Cocker, Ian Allan, * ''Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945'', Leo Marriott, Ian Allan, * ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946'', Ed. Robert Gardiner, Naval Institute Press, * ''Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia'',

M. J. Whitley Michael J Whitley (died 2000) or Mike J Whitley was a naval historian with a particular interest in the Kriegsmarine, who wrote and maintained several reference works on warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and p ...

, Arms and Armour Press, 1999, . * ''Nelson to Vanguard'', D. K. Brown, Chatham Publishing, 2000, * ''British and Empire Warships of the Second World War'', H T Lenton, Greenhill Books, *

External links

Czech site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt Class Destroyer Destroyer classes Frigate classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy