Escort destroyer

An escort destroyer was a small warship built to full naval standards which was optimised for air-defence and anti-submarine duties in wartime, but which retained many of the capabilities of a traditional fleet destroyer, enabling it to conduct operations in conjunction with main fleet units as well as carrying out convoy escort and ASW patrols. Typically, escort destroyers had a high enough speed and sufficient armament of guns and torpedoes that they were capable of skirmishing successfully with enemy destroyers and cruisers.

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, the post World War II ASW destroyer (DDK) classification was merged with the DDE classification, resulting in all DDK ships being reclassified as DDE, but again retaining their original hull numbers. On 30 June 1962, the DDE classification was retired, and all DDEs were reclassified as destroyers (DD).^[1]

Escort destroyers should not be confused with the cheaper, slower, less capable, and more lightly armed World War II destroyer escorts.