V & W class destroyer
The V and W class was an amalgam of very similar oil-fueled destroyer classes built around the end of the First World War for the Royal Navy. Some of the sub-classes were known by the name of their builder, e.g. "Thorneycroft V and W class", but the generic title was normally used. Most spent the period between the wars in reserve. Although designed for fairly short dashes into the North Sea they very quickly found themselves in an ocean escort role once World War II started. The shortcomings of the dsign for that purpose were recognised and a number of ships were converted to escort destroyers. Which meant removing one of the three boiler rooms and substituting increased fuel storage. The maximum speed of the conversions was around 25 knots.
Ships
Notes: Fast escort. Long range escort. Short range escort. These ships had 4.7-inch guns instead of 4-inch guns.
See also The later U and V class (sixteen launched 1942–1943) and W and Z class (sixteen launched 1943–1944) were purpose built destroyer escorts.
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