Bay class AA Frigates

Name	Pennant	Completed	Fate
Bigbury Bay	K606	Nov. 1944	To May 1959 Portugal as Pacheco Pereira, Broken up July 1970
Enard Bay	K435	Oct. 1944	Broken up Nov. 1957
Largo Bay	K423	Oct. 1944	Broken up July 1958
Luce Bay	K427	n/a	Formerly Loch Glass
Gerrans Bay 1945	K436	Mar. 1945	Converted to Surprise, C-in-C yacht, Broken up June 1965
St Brides	K600	Jan. 1945	Bay Broken up Sept. 1962
Start Bay	K604	Feb. 1945	Broken up July 1958
Tremadoc Bay	K605	Mar. 1945	Broken up Sept. 1959
Padstow Bay	K608	Aug. 1945	Broken up Aug. 1959
Herne Bay	K611	n/a	Formerly Loch Eil
Widemouth Bay	K615	Oct. 1944	Broken up Nov. 1957
Wigtown Bay	K616	Apr. 1945	Broken up Apr. 1959
Burghead Bay	K622	Mar. 1945	To May 1959 Portugal as Alvares Cabral, Broken up June 1971
Morecambe Bay	K624	Nov. 1944	To May 1961 Portugal as Dom Francesco De Almeida, Broken up Sept. 1970
Mounts Bay	K627	June 1945	To May 1961 Portugal as Vasco Da Gama, Broken up Dec. 1971
Cardigan Bay	K630	Dec. 1944	Broken up Mar. 1962
Whitesand Bay	K633	Dec. 1944	Broken up Feb. 1956
St Austell Bay	K634	Nov. 1944	Broken up July 1959
Carnarvon Bay	K636	Mar. 1945	Broken up Aug. 1959
Pegwell Bay	K638	n/a	Formerly Loch Mochrom
Thurso Bay	K640	n/a	Formerly Loch Muick
Cawsand Bay	K644	Feb. 1945	Broken up Sept. 1959
Dundrum Bay	K647	July 1945	Converted 1945 to Alert, C-in-C yacht, Broken up Oct. 1971
Porlock Bay	K650	Mar. 1962	To Finland, as Matti Kurki, Broken up 1975
Veryan Bay	K651	Nov. 1944	Broken up July 1959

In 1944, with Europe's coasts in Allied control and the U-boats on the run, the RN turned to the forthcoming big push in the Pacific. It was evident that the main problem now was air attack - Kamikaze in particular. Thus, an AA escort force needed to be rapidly built up. So, 26 "Loch" class were converted to AA escorts. Twin 4" AA mountings were added fore and aft, controlled by an RPC HA/DCT on the bridge. Two twin Bofors were added on each side, each with it's own HA/DCT, and a twin 20mm AA in each wing. A hedgehog forward and 4 DC lobbers aft made up a token ASW armament. The twin 4" AA guns were removed from old "V & W" 'wairs' or damaged "Hunt" class destroyers. To ease supply, 7 were not converted, two converted to dispatch vessels, four as survey ships and one was cancelled.
The twin 20mm's were soon replaced by single Bofors, and a further two were later added aft.
RDF comprised of SW type 276 and AW type 291 at masthead, IFF type 244 on the mainmast and AR 285 on the HA/DCT. Each Bofors twin had an AR type 282 set.

Armament & Complement
Complement	157 Officers & Ratings
Armament; Early	Gun 2 x 2 x 4" AA 2 x 2 x 40mm Bofors AA 2 x 2 x 20 mm Oerlikon ASW 1~2 x Hedgehog launchers 2 x DC Rails 4 x DC lobbers
Armament: Later	Gun 2 x 2 x 4" AA 2 x 2 x 40mm Bofors AA 4 x 1 x 40mm Bofors AA ASW 1~2 x Hedgehog launchers 2 x DC Rails 4 x DC lobbers

Dimensions
Gross Displacement	2420 tons	Length	307'
Net Displacement	1580 tons	Beam	38.5'
Load	840 tons	Draft	12'

Performance & Propulsion
Machinery	2 x Admirality 3 drum boilers, 2 x Triple Expansion reciprotating engines @ 5500 hp
Speed	20 kts