Egret-class sloop

HMS Auckland in January 1939
Class overview
Name:	Egret class
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Bittern class
Succeeded by:	Black Swan class
In commission:	1938–1958
Completed:	3
Lost:	2
Scrapped:	1
General characteristics
Type:	Sloop-of-war
Displacement:	1,200 tons
Length:	276 ft (84 m)
Propulsion:	Geared steam turbines on two shafts 3,600 shp
Speed:	19.25 knots (35.65 km/h; 22.15 mph)
Complement:	188
Armament:	8 × 4-inch AA guns (4 × 2) 4 × .5-inch AA (1 × 4)

The Egret-class sloops were a three ship class of a long-range escort vessels used in the Second World War by the Royal Navy. They were an enlarged version of the Bittern class with an extra twin 4-inch gun mounting. They were fitted with Denny Brown stabilisers and the Fuze Keeping Clock anti-aircraft fire control system.

Ships

Service history

Three ships were built; HMS Auckland, HMS Pelican and HMS Egret. Auckland was lost on 24 June 1941, to 48 Junkers 87 aircraft dive-bombing both her and HMAS Parramatta, off the coast of Tobruk. Pelican was an effective convoy escort, and was credited with the destruction of four U-boats. She survived until the end of the war, and was broken up in 1958. Egret was lost to a guided missile. While patrolling in the Bay of Biscay, she was attacked by 18 Do 217 aircraft, one of which carried the Henschel Hs 293 guided bomb.^[1]

Notes

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475. 
• Hague, Arnold (1993). Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-67-3. 

External links

• Egret class sloops at britainsnavy.co.uk

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