Escort Group

Early escort groups often contained destroyers, sloops, naval trawlers and, later, corvettes of differing specifications lacking the ability to maneuver together as a flotilla of similar warships, but rigorously trained in anti-submarine tactics to use teamwork emphasizing the unique sensors, weapons, speed, and turning radius of each ship.

Based on experience during World War I, the Admiralty instituted trade convoys in United Kingdom coastal waters from September 1939.

[1] During the first year of the Battle of the Atlantic British convoy protection was the responsibility of the Western Approaches Command (WAC), based first in Plymouth, then, as the focus of the campaign moved after the 1940 Fall of France, in Liverpool.

[2] The newest and most capable destroyers were assigned to screen capital ships of the Home Fleet; so, to augment the inadequate number of purpose-designed sloops, WAC was allocated a leftover array of limited production prototypes, ships built to foreign specifications, minesweepers, militarized yachts, and fishing trawlers, and survivors of elderly destroyer classes no longer considered suitable for operation with the Home Fleet.

The loss of ships from both SC 7 and HX 79 gave the impetus for Admiral Percy Noble, the commander-in-chief of WAC, to form discrete groups.

In one example, in November 1942, Convoy ON 144 of 33 ships from Britain to North America protected by the Mid-Ocean Escort Force B6 of five Flower-class corvettes, was attacked by a group of ten U-boats.

[6][7] Following this action, the Senior Officer Escort (SOE) – commander of the group – was "warmly congratulated" for preventing what could have been a major disaster,[7] and the contrast with HX 79 was apparent.

HMS Skate was one of the oldest destroyers in the Royal Navy when assigned convoy protection duty for the Western Approaches Command .
HMS Keppel was a World War I flotilla leader.
Town-class destroyers received in the Destroyers for Bases Agreement were widely distributed among the escort groups.
HMS Amazon was a unique prototype.
Flower-class corvettes became the most numerous of the ship types assigned to escort groups.
The homogeneous 9th Escort Group of Havant -class destroyers was broken up to provide group leaders for the Mid-Ocean Escort Force .
V and W-class destroyers of the homogeneous 10th Escort Group represented the most common class of World War I veteran destroyers in the escort groups.
Ships with Polish crews were assigned to the 11th Escort Group.
Hunt-class destroyers were assigned to the homogeneous 12th Escort Group.
Canadian ships like HMCS Saguenay served with Royal Navy ships in the Canadian 14th through 24th escort groups screening convoys through the western North Atlantic.
Black Swan-class sloops were among the best of the various classes forming the 36th through 44th escort groups.
Hastings-class sloops were designed and constructed between the world wars for use as convoy escorts.
Banff-class sloops were former United States Coast Guard cutters loaned to the Royal Navy in 1941.