Escorteur

The French term Escorteur (Escort Ship) appeared during the Second World War to designate a warship, of a medium or light displacement, whose mission was to protect ocean convoys and naval squadrons from attacks by submarines.

In the immediate aftermath of the war, to fulfill the task of naval escorts, the French Navy was limited to a fleet of torpilleur and contre-torpilleur (otherwise known as destroyers), along with a number of avisos.

They were later joined by several naval ships of German and Italian origin awarded as war reparations, and several escort bâtiments originated from the United Kingdom and the United States, all under different designations: Two ex-Italian light cruisers, Châteaurenault[1] and Guichen,[2] would bear their designation of escorteur d'escadre (Squadron Escorteur) from 1955 until their disarmament in 1962 and 1963.

During the years 1950–1960, France reconstituted the navy with the assistance of the United States which contributed most of the rebuilding program.

Following certain hesitations, the term « escorteur » was finally chosen for this new type of warship, instead of the traditional « torpilleur » or « contre-torpilleur », which were abandoned.