Egret class sloop

300px HMS Auckland in January 1939
Class overview
Operators:	Royal Navy
Lost:	HMS Pelican HMS Egret
Retired:	HMS Auckland
General characteristics
Type:	Sloop-of-war
Displacement:	1200 Tons
Length:	276 ft (84 m)
Propulsion:	Geared steam turbines on two shafts 3,600 shp
Speed:	19.25 kt
Complement:	188
Armament:	Eight 4" AA guns (4x2) Four .5" AA (1x4).

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 sloop with an extra twin 4 inch gun mounting. They were fitted with Denny Brown stabilisers and the HACS fire control system

Ships

Ship	Builder	Launched	Fate
HMS Auckland, (ex Heron)	William Denny and Brothers	30 June 1938	Sunk 24 June 1941 by dive bombers near Tobruk
HMS Pelican	John I. Thornycroft & Company	12 September 1938	Broken up 1958
HMS Egret.	J. Samuel White	31 May 1938	sunk by guided bomb in Bay of Biscay 27 August 1943

Three ships were built; HMS Auckland, HMS Pelican and HMS Egret. 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. 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 survived until the end of the war, and was broken up in 1958.

See also

• Media related to Egret class sloop at Wikimedia Commons

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.