The destroyer escort (DE) was developed in response to the catastrophic Allied shipping losses of 1942, when German U-boats sank more than six million tons of merchant shipping. Smaller and less expensive than a fleet destroyer, the DE was optimized for antisubmarine warfare — fitted with hedgehogs, depth charges, sonar, and radar — and designed to be built quickly using prefabricated sections at inland yards and assembly facilities on both coasts. The Navy's May 1943 program called for 800 destroyer escorts, a production target that reflected the scale of the convoy escort problem. Ultimately more than 500 DEs were commissioned into the U.S. Navy; they served in both the Atlantic and Pacific and proved invaluable in protecting convoys and hunting submarines. This May 1943 All Hands article introduced the destroyer escort program to the fleet.
Click to enlarge
