Egret-class sloop

HMS Auckland in January 1939
Class overview
Name:	Egret class
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	Bittern class
Succeeded by:	Black Swan class
In commission:	1938–1958
Completed:	3
Lost:	2
Scrapped:	1
General characteristics
Type:	Sloop-of-war
Displacement:	1,200 tons
Length:	276 ft (84 m)
Propulsion:	Geared steam turbines on two shafts 3,600 shp
Speed:	19.25 knots (35.65 km/h; 22.15 mph)
Complement:	188
Armament:	8 × 4-inch AA guns (4 × 2) 4 × .5-inch AA (1 × 4)

The Egret-class sloops were a three ship class of a long-range escort vessels used in the Second World War by the Royal Navy. They were an enlarged version of the Bittern class with an extra twin 4-inch gun mounting. They were fitted with Denny Brown stabilisers and the Fuze Keeping Clock anti-aircraft fire control system.

Three ships were built; HMS Auckland, HMS Pelican and HMS Egret. Auckland was lost on 24 June 1941, to 48 Junkers 87 aircraft dive-bombing both her and HMAS Parramatta, off the coast of Tobruk. Pelican was an effective convoy escort, and was credited with the destruction of four U-boats. She survived until the end of the war, and was broken up in 1958. Egret was lost to a guided missile. While patrolling in the Bay of Biscay, she was attacked by 18 Do 217 aircraft, one of which carried the Henschel Hs 293 guided bomb.