Black Swan sloops, Hunt escorts, Bittern and Grimsby classes, River-class frigates, and older V and W destroyers all enter the common-gun argument. Historically, some destroyers traded a main gun for a four-inch high-angle weapon and became more specialized anti-aircraft escorts. A true dual-purpose 4.7-inch mount would preserve their ability to fight surface craft while still covering the fleet. Operation Claymore makes the aggregate effect concrete: across four destroyers, the number of twin high-angle mounts could rise from six to fifteen. The result is a whole formation with dense high-angle fire instead of one specialist anti-aircraft escort.
Chapter · 52:18-55:46
Escort conversions and Operation Claymore
Sloops, escort destroyers, frigates, and older V and W classes could retain useful surface firepower while supplying far denser high-angle cover to a task group.