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Ocean escort was a type of
Ocean escort was a type of United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...
. They were an evolution of the World War II
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
destroyer escort types. The ocean escorts were intended as convoy escorts and were designed for mobilization production in wartime or low-cost mass production in peacetime. They were commissioned from 1954 through 1974, serving in the Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
and the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
Designation
The ocean escorts'hull classification symbol
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ...
was DE, a carryover from the World War II era when vessels of similar size and role were classified as destroyer escorts. DEs were ASW vessels; DEGs were ASW and AAW vessels with the short-range Tartar
Tartar may refer to:
Places
* Tartar (river), a river in Azerbaijan
* Tartar, Switzerland, a village in the Grisons
* Tərtər, capital of Tartar District, Azerbaijan
* Tartar District, Azerbaijan
* Tartar Island, South Shetland Islands, A ...
guided missile added. Ships similar or identical to the World War II destroyer escorts and the Cold War ocean escorts were called "frigates" in most other navies.
Outside the US Navy, no other navy appears to have used the ship type of "ocean escort". The closest equivalents in type name are the Soviet and classes, built circa 1954–65. These classes' Russian designation of ''storozhevoi korabi'' translates to "escort ship", "sentry ship", or "guard ship". These were smaller than any of the US ocean escorts, at 1,416 tons (''Riga'') and 1,150 tons (''Petya'') full load, compared with at 1,877 tons full load. Many USN ocean escorts were transferred to foreign navies following USN service; they received pennant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
s beginning with "D", "DE", "F", or (in the Mexican Navy) "E". The "E" designator was also used for ex-USN s in that navy.Gardiner & Chumbley, p. 263
Ocean escort classes
* (13) * (4) * (2) * (11) * (6) (DEG) * (46) * (82) total1975 reclassification
The ocean escort type corresponded to other nations'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 an ...
s (convoy escorts). Until 1975, the US Navy used the term "frigate" for destroyer leaders (DL, DLG, DLGN).
The 1975 ship reclassification changed the ocean escorts (DE/DEG) to frigates (FF/FFG) to be in line with other nations' classifications. The DLG-type "frigates" became either destroyers or cruisers, depending on tonnage.
See also
* List of destroyer escorts of the United States Navy *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 an ...
* Destroyer escort
* Corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
- Cold War French Navy term for frigate-type ships
* 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, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocean Escort Ship types