Hunt (Type I) class Escort destroyers - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net

4 4" AA guns (2x2)
4 2pdr AA (1x4)
2 20mm AA (2x1) 

Conventional modern destroyers like the Tribal class were too expensive to be built in the numbers required for escort of merchant shipping. The Hunt class was a comparatively inexpensive updated turn of the century "torpedo boat destroyer" with modern quick firing guns also suitable for anti-aircraft protection. Endurance was inadequate for trans-Atlantic escort work.

The Hunt Class destroyer were conceived as a destroyer for use in the confines of coastal operation such as the North Sea and Mediterranean, they were required to have a good all round armament of 6 4" HA guns plus lighter weapons. They were not required to be fitted with torpedo tubes. Due to a substantial error in the design it is reported that HMS Atherstone 'lent against the dock' when fitting her "X" twin 4 inch mount. This gun was removed and several changes made, All the first group had 50 tons of steel ingots in their bottom to correct their stability problem. Some of the Hunt Class ships never left home waters, these were mostly the Type I ships, many being fitted with a 2 pdr bow chaser pom pom.