These ships would be the 'diamond' standard for the Greenlandian Navies wartime construction. The ships themselves were a reworking of the previous Ruby class, with 6x5" in twin turrets replacing the five single 5". This rework allowed for an enhanced heavy AA armament with a second 40mm mounting being fitted. These were replaced in 1942 with the new quad 40mm Bofors mounting which with radar predictors produced a lethal combination, not just against aircraft but also against enemy E-boat sized units. The quadruple torpedo tubes were replaced with quintuple sets.
The main aim with the ongoing refit process for these ships was to increase the AA value. Early 1942, at the Battle of the Coral Sea, for the first time, ships of the opposing forces never saw each other at surface level, only by air search. The dominance of aircraft as the major strike weapon only increased as the aircraft got better at delivering ordnance to the enemy. To counter this dominance, the fleet screen ships had to be as well armed with AA guns as possible. The Bofors 40mm with predictors was a good AA weapon with good knockdown capability. These guns replaced the old 40mm and 20mm during the 1942-43 period.
