Small escorts, missile depth and surviving convoy attacks

Reducing a warship's size constrains its missile magazine, generating power, redundancy and ability to survive a hit. Convoy escort is a case in which the escort cannot count on passing unnoticed. The merchant ships it protects are conspicuous and noisy, reducing the operational benefit of a low-observable escort hull. Some missions therefore require enough missiles and resilience to fight through an attack. Smaller ships must compensate through numbers and sufficient total fleet tonnage. Larger hulls can devote a smaller proportion of their volume to machinery and hotel requirements, while many sensor systems are needed regardless of hull size.