Each was named after a relatively minor Crown colony or other constituent territory of the British Commonwealth and Empire.

The ships were built as United States Navy Tacoma-class patrol frigates, a design that was an adaptation of the Royal Navy River-class frigate design built in UK, Canada and Australia, with modifications made mainly to use materials and parts more readily available in the United States.

The other 20 ships served on patrol and convoy escort duties during the latter part of World War II.

The ships are mentioned in HM Frigate by Nicholas Monsarrat, a very slim volume published under wartime censorship rules.

The United States scrapped the rest between 1947 and 1949, as they were considered inferior to destroyer escorts, which the U.S. Navy had in ample numbers, in every aspect except range.