The Basset class as a risk-fleet escort

The Basset's effect on a U-boat commander's choices mattered more than its modest dimensions. The small ship cost little enough that sinking it did not compensate for the time, weapons, and exposure required. Leaving it alone was also dangerous because ASDIC and depth charges allowed the escort to hunt a submerged submarine. This risk-fleet asymmetry let a cheap vessel impose a mission-killing threat on an expensive attacker. Modest escorts gained strategic value from the choices they forced on submarines.