The list includes armed vessels that served during the war and in the immediate aftermath, inclusive of localized ongoing combat operations, garrison surrenders, post-surrender occupation, colony re-occupation, troop and prisoner repatriation, to the end of 1945.
Ships are designated to the country under which they operated for the longest period of the Second World War, regardless of where they were built or previous service history.
Naval warfare changed dramatically during the war, with the ascent of the aircraft carrier, and the impact of increasingly capable submarines.
Driven by the desperate necessity of keeping Britain and Japan supplied by sea, technologies for the detection and destruction of submarines were a high priority.
While Japanese efforts proved futile, the Allied use of ASDIC (SONAR) became widespread as did the installation of shipboard and airborne radar.