The Egret-class sloops and two revealing wartime losses

The Egrets were a larger development of the Bittern class, fitted with stabilisers and the Fuze Keeping Clock general-purpose fire-control system. That equipment could direct anti-aircraft fire, although it was not limited to the high-angle role. HMS Auckland was lost to dive-bombers in 1941, when that form of attack was near its peak effectiveness. HMS Egret then became the first ship lost to a successful radio-guided gliding-bomb attack in 1943. The two losses place one small escort class across a rapid wartime change in air attack and the defences needed to meet it.