Why the Hunt class were escort destroyers

The Hunt design grew out of the Royal Navy's interwar development of sloops for anti-submarine and escort work. The original form was meant to exceed the treaty speed associated with sloops, yet it lacked torpedoes and was smaller and less adaptable than a conventional destroyer. The ships were nevertheless assigned destroyer crews and used the destroyer officer pipeline, making a revival of the frigate label an awkward fit. Escort destroyer therefore described their role and personnel: they were purpose-built escorts with destroyer speed and manning rather than fleet destroyers in miniature.