The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in the Second World War, particularly on the British east coast and Mediterranean convoys.

The modern Hunt-class GRP hulled mine countermeasure vessels maintain the Hunt names lineage in the Royal Navy.

Their shape made them poor sea boats at low speed, also exacerbated by additional equipment on the superstructure.

The escort vessels forsook the heavy armament and some of the speed of the fleet type to reduce unit cost and better suit mass production and the conditions.

The Hunt class was to ship the same armament, plus a quadruple QF 2-pounder mount Mark VII on a hull of the same length but with 8 feet (2 m) less beam and installed power raised to 19,000 shp (14,000 kW) to give 27 knots (50 km/h).

As the first ships were being completed it was found that the design was as much as 70 tons overweight, top-heavy, leaving them dangerously deficient in stability.

The first twenty ships were so far advanced in construction that it was necessary to remove the 'X' 4-inch gun mount and add 50 tons of permanent ballast.

These ships became the Type II group, and also had a revised design of bridge with the compass platform extending forwards to the wheelhouse face.

They sacrificed 'Y' gun for a pair of 21-inch torpedo tubes amidships, the searchlight being displaced to the aft shelter deck as a result.

The Type III Hunts could be easily identified as they had a straight funnel with a sloping top and the foremast had no rake.

The last two Hunts came from an independent lineage and were built to a private design that had been prepared pre-war by John I. Thornycroft & Company.