The Buckley class destroyer escorts were 102 destroyer escorts launched in the United States in 1943–1944. They served in World War II as convoy escorts and anti-submarine warfare ships. The lead ship was USS Buckley (DE-51) which was launched on 9 January 1943. The ships had steam turbo electric drive engines. The ships were prefabricated at various factories in the United States and the units brought together in the shipyards, where they were welded together on the slipways.

Forty-six of the Buckleys were delivered to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease agreement. They were classed as frigates and named after captains of the Napoleonic Wars and formed part of the Captain class frigates along with 32 ships of the Evarts class.

Characteristics

• Length: 306 feet (overall)
• Beam: 36.5 feet
• Draught: 11 feet (fully loaded)
• Displacement: 1,800 tons (fully loaded)
• Propellers: Two of solid manganese bronze 8.5 feet each
• Bunkers and Radius: 350 tons (oil fuel); 5,500 miles at 15 knots
• Maximum Speed: 24 knots (most ships could attain 26/27 knots)
• Main guns: 3 x 3 inch /50 Mk22 dual purpose open mount, and fixed fire shot (anti-aircraft, armour piercing or starshell) and had a range of 14,600 yards at 45 degrees, and an anti-aircraft ceiling of 28,000 feet
• Anti-aircraft guns: 8 x 20mm single mount Oerlikon cannon positioned two in front of the bridge behind and above B gun also one each side of B gun in pods and two each side of the ship in pods just abaft the funnel, some of the ships had an extra one or two Oerlikons fitted on top of the superstructure amidships and some ships had twin 40mm Bofors guns.
• Hedgehog: British designed ahead throwing mortar which fired 24 bombs ahead of the ship, this was situated between A and B guns.
• Depth charges: Approximately 200 were carried. Two sets of double rails each side of the ship at the stern, each set held 24 charges, Two K gun depth charge throwers each holding 5 charges, were situated each side of the ship just forward of the stern rails and just forward of these double sets of ready racks were fitted along each side of the ship extending to midships, each set holding 60 depth charges (these ready rails were added after the ships arrived back in the U.K.
• Radar: Type SL surface search fixed to mast above yard arm and type SA air search only fitted to certain ships.
• Asdic (Sonar): Type128D or Type 144 both in retractable dome.
• Direction Finding: MF direction finding antenna fitted in front of the bridge and HF/DF Type FH 4 antenna fitted on top of mast.

See also

• List of destroyer escorts of the United States Navy
• List of frigates of the United States Navy subset of above with hull numbers DE/FF 1037 and higher plus all DEG/FFGs because of the United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification
• List of frigates

External links

• http://www.desausa.org/ Destroyer Escort Sailors Association (DESA).
• http://www.ussslater.org/ USS Slater, the Destroyer Escort Historical Museum.
• http://www.captainclassfrigates.co.uk/ the Captain Class Frigates Association.
• http://www.uboat.net/