Colony class frigates
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The Colony class frigates were a class of 21 ships constructed in the United States for transfer under lend lease to the Royal Navy. They were given the names of relatively minor colonies as the large colonies had their names used for the Crown Colony class cruisers.
The design was based on that of the Tacoma class frigates used by the United States Navy (perhaps even to the point of being the same design). That design was an adaptation of the Royal Navy River class frigate with modifications made mainly to use materials and parts more readily available in the United States. For example, American 3-inch guns were used as the main surface armament in the Tacoma and Colony class frigates instead of the British 4-inch guns of the River class.
Built on a merchant hull so as to enable their construction in shipyards that did not normally build warships, the ships were quickly decommissioned and mostly scrapped following World War II, as they were considered obsolescent even before the end of the war. The ships are mentioned in HM Frigate by Nicholas Montserrat - a very slim volume published under wartime censorship rules.
Partial list of ships
- HMS Anguilla
- HMS Antigua
- HMS Ascension
- HMS Bahamas
- HMS Barbados
- HMS Caicos
- HMS Cayman
- HMS Dominica
- HMS Lauban (ex-HMS Gold Coast)
- HMS Montserrat
- HMS Nyasaland
- HMS Papua
- HMS Pitcairn
- HMS St. Helena
- HMS Tobago
- HMS Tortola
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