The Colony class frigates were a class of 21 ships constructed in the United States by Walsh-Kaiser of Providence, Rhode Island for transfer under Lend-Lease to the Royal Navy in 1944. They were given the names of relatively minor colonies as names of large colonies had been used for the Crown Colony class cruisers.
The design was based on that of the Tacoma class frigates used by the United States Navy (some sources state that these vessels were identical). That design was itself 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 (76 mm) guns were used as the main surface armament in the Tacoma and Colony class frigates instead of the British 4-inch (100 mm) guns of the River class.
They were mass-produced to mercantile standards to enable their speedy construction in shipyards that did not normally build warships. They were built faster than British shipyards could build the Rivers but the quicker build required more man-hours and sterling cost was about twice that of a River.
Post-war, all were returned to the U.S. by the end of 1946 and most scrapped during 1947, as they were considered obsolescent even before the end of the war.
One ship, HMS Caicos, was used as an aircraft detection frigate, stationed in the North Sea to detect V-1 flying bombs, targeted at Britain.
The ships are mentioned in HM Frigate by Nicholas Monsarrat - a very slim volume published under wartime censorship rules.
| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Frigate |
| Displacement: | 1,264 long tons (1,284 t) |
| Length: | 303 ft 11 in (92.63 m) |
| Beam: | 37 ft 6 in (11.43 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 8 in (4.17 m) |
| Propulsion: | 3 × boilers 2 × turbines, 5,500 SHP each 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Complement: | 190 |
| Armament: | • 3 × 3 inch/50 AA guns(3x1) • 4 × 40 mm guns (2x2) • 9 × 20 mm (9x1) • 1 × Hedgehog projector • 8 × Y gun depth charge projectors • 2 × Depth charge racks |
