Escorteur
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The French term Escorteur (Escort Ship) appeared during the Second World War to designate a warship, of a medium or light displacement, whose mission was to protect ocean convoys and naval squadrons from attacks by submarines. This role was in general handled by a destroyer escort such as the Buckley and Cannon classes built in the United States, or a Hunt-class destroyer built by the United Kingdom, or even a River class built by the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The Imperial Japanese Navy used the designation kaibokan for this type of ship.
(River-class frigate)
In the immediate aftermath of the war, to fulfill the task of naval escorts, the French Navy was limited to a fleet of torpilleur and contre-torpilleur (otherwise known as destroyers), along with a number of avisos. They were later joined by several naval ships of German and Italian origin awarded as war reparations, and several escort ships originated from the United Kingdom and the United States, all under different designations:
- Destroyer escort of 1,500 tons, constructed in the United States;
- Frigate of 1,200 tons, River-class frigate, constructed in the United Kingdom;
- Corvettes of 600 tons, Flower-class corvette, constructed in the United Kingdom;
- Coastal patrol boats of 400 tons, PC-461-class submarine chaser constructed in the United States.
Two ex-Italian light cruisers, Châteaurenault[1] and Guichen,[2] would bear their designation of escorteur d'escadre (Squadron Escorteur) from 1955 until their disarmament in 1962 and 1963.
Construction of a new fleet
During the years 1950–1960, France reconstituted the navy with the assistance of the United States which contributed most of the rebuilding program. Following certain hesitations, the term escorteur was finally chosen for this new type of warship, instead of the traditional torpilleur or contre-torpilleur, which were abandoned.
