The modest ships assigned to a vast escort problem included small patrol craft with a gun or torpedoes, several related trawler classes, and hundreds of fishing vessels taken up from trade. Typical armament combined a 12-pounder or four-inch gun, light anti-aircraft weapons, and depth charges. The mix shows why coastal protection depended on converting whatever suitable hulls were available rather than waiting for ideal escorts.
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Small warships formed the coastal convoy escort pool
Armed trawlers, patrol craft, gunboats, and small purpose-built classes supplied the numbers needed to protect Britain's many simultaneous coastal convoys.