The W and Z class was a
class of sixteen
destroyers of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
launched in 1943–1944. They were constructed as two flotillas, with names beginning with "W-" and "Z-", respectively, although, like the preceding , two of the
flotilla leader
A flotilla leader was a warship of late 19th century and early 20th century navies suitable for commanding a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small cruiser or a large destroyer (known as a destroyer leader). The flot ...
s were named after historical naval figures (as had been Royal Navy practice during the inter-war years). They were known as the 9th and 10th Emergency Flotilla, respectively and served as
fleet
Fleet may refer to:
Vehicles
*Fishing fleet
*Naval fleet
* Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles
* Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company
Places
Canada
* Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet
England
*The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beac ...
and
convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be use ...
escorts in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. None were lost during World War II but
INS ''Eilat'' (originally HMS ''Zealous'') was sunk during the Israel-Egypt conflict in October 1967 by Egyptian missile boats and the ''
El Qaher'' (originally HMS ''Myngs'') of the Egyptian Navy was sunk at Berenice, Egypt on 16 May 1970 by Israeli Air Force aircraft during the
War of Attrition
The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...
.
Design
Repeats of the preceding U and V-class destroyers, with modified director structures. The Z class were armed with 4.5 inch guns.
[March, p.419.]
Ships
W class
Z class
See also
* The
V and W-class destroyer
The V and W class was an amalgam of six similar classes of destroyer built for the Royal Navy under the 9th, 10th, 13th and 14th of fourteen War Emergency Programmes during the First World War and generally treated as one class. For their t ...
s: World War I destroyer class.
*
Type 15 frigate
The Type 15 frigate was a class of British anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were conversions based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers built to the standard War Emergency Programme "utility" design.
History
By 1945 the wa ...
: postwar full conversion of Wartime Emergency Programme destroyers into first-rate fast
anti-submarine
An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...
frigates
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
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External links
{{WWII British ships
Destroyer classes
Ship classes of the Royal Navy