Evarts Class 97 (65 US, 32 UK)
Buckley Class 148 (102 US, 46 UK)
Cannon Class 72 (66 US, 6 French)
Edsall Class 85 (All USN)
Rudderow Class 72 (USN)
John C Butler 83 (all USN)
Tacoma Class 96 (47 USN, 21 UK, 28 Soviet)
Total = 653 (Just amazing)
The Royal Navy came shopping in 1941 to see what could be ordered under Lend Lease to help with the U-Boat problem in the North Atlantic. It so happened BuShips had designs for a flush deck escort that would suit the Royal Navy's needs. The whole sets of classes of ships would be pre-fabricated in plants all over the US, the parts railed to the shipyard assembling the ships where they would be assembled and launched. The Royal Navy placed orders for over 100 ships over the period 1941-42. The first ships would become the US Evarts class and the Royal Navy Captain class. What made these ships different from the next versions was that the Evarts type had less power for 20 knots and the hull was shortened because of the reduction in machinery. There was a shortage of machinery when these ships were put into production. To me these classes came in two types - those with torpedoes were destroyer escorts, the ones without torpedoes were Frigates.
The next Buckley class had the full machinery allocation for 24 knots and provided the basic flush deck hull for the remainder of the classes. The Tacoma class Patrol Frigates were built under a different design and were mainly crewed by US Coast Guard people.
Production of the Buckley class ceased in 1944. The differences between the early and later models (within the Buckley class) was generally the replacement of the 28mm mounting with a 40mm mounting. The Buckley would provide the basic hull size and design for all the other classes (except the Tacoma class), what separated the classes was the machinery fitted to each class. Eventually the three 3" were replaced with two single 5" in the last two classes.
The Cannon class were repeats of the Buckley with a different machinery plant to power the ship.
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The Edsall type were repeats of the Buckley with a different power plant to provide the same 24 knot speed as the rest.
The Rudderow Class instituted the biggest change to the Destroyer escort type - the upgrading from three 3" to two 5"/38cal single turrets (same as the Benham Class). Probably even better for AA value, these ships mounted two twin 40mm weapons, 1 forward and the other aft in its usual site. The photo below shows clearly how the Hedgehog ASW mortar was fitted just behind the forward 5".
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The John C Butler were last class put into production and differed from the previous Rudderow type by having a smaller bridge and funnel.
The Cannon class ship USS Slater was still in existence in 2014 as a museum ship. While a Thai Navy Cannon class ship is still listed as active.
The Patrol Frigates of the Tacoma class had a stepped deck hull that actually proved superior to the other classes as it had more room for crew expansion as more electronics and armaments were added.
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In the Royal Commonwealth Navy Section I have listed my take on the Captain class ships as they were armed for service in the RN. While all of the above drawings are of real life vessels, my RN ship is fictional.
Twin 4" aft and two single 4" forward were the main armament (replacing the single 3"of the US design), with a quad pom pom for the heavy AA (replacing the original 1.1") and the single 20mm were retained as being the same as those fitted in RN ships. A triple set of torpedo tubes gave the ships teeth for use against bigger opponents. The final change was the fitting of a hedgehog spigot mortar ASW weapon in A position, replacing the single 4" there. This gave the ships a very good all round armament for use against either surface, air, or subsurface targets. Captain class ships participated in the sinking of more than 30 German submarines.
