Order of battle for Convoy PQ 17
Allied forces -- Escorts
Table:
Name
Class
Navy
Date joined
Date departed
Notes

HMS Ashanti
Template:Sclass2- destroyer
Royal Navy
1 July
4 July

HMT Ayrshire
ASW trawler
Royal Navy
27 June
4 July

HMS Blankney
Template:Sclass2-
Royal Navy
29 June
4 July

HMS Britomart
Template:Sclass-
Royal Navy
27 June
4 July

HMS Cumberland
Template:Sclass2- heavy cruiser
Royal Navy
29 June
4 July

HMS Dianella
Template:Sclass2-
Royal Navy
30 June
4 July

HMS Duke of York
Template:Sclass- battleship
Royal Navy
29 June
4 July

HMS Escapade
E-class destroyer
Royal Navy
29 June
4 July

HMS Faulknor
F-class destroyer
Royal Navy
29 June
4 July

HMS Fury
F-class destroyer
Royal Navy
30 June
4 July

HMS Halcyon
Template:Sclass-
Royal Navy
27 June
4 July

HMS Keppel
Shakespeare-class destroyer leader
Royal Navy
30 June
4 July

HMS La Malouine
Template:Sclass2-
Royal Navy
30 June
4 July

HMS Leamington
Template:Sclass2-
Royal Navy
30 June
4 July

HMS Ledbury
Template:Sclass2-
Royal Navy
30 June
4 July

HMS London
Template:Sclass2- heavy cruiser
Royal Navy
1 July
4 July

HMT Lord Austin
ASW trawler
Royal Navy
27 June
4 July

HMS Lotus
Template:Sclass2-
Royal Navy
30 June
4 July

HMS Marne
M-class destroyer
Royal Navy
29 June
4 July

HMS Martin
M-class destroyer
Royal Navy
29 June
4 July

Using the tabular data as well as the supplementary paragraphs provided at the end.

Answer the following question: How many fleet classes are maintained by the Navy whose class was used as the basis for several ships built for foreign navies in the 1920s ? Respond with the correct answer (omit explanations) in JSON format as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Base your answer solely on the given information.

HMS Ashanti was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy . Following the style of her sister ships she was named for an ethnic group , in this case the Ashanti people of the Gold Coast in West Africa . She served in the Second World War and was broken up in 1949 . She was the first of two Royal Navy ships to bear the name Ashanti .
The Tribal class , or Afridi class , were a class of destroyers built for the Royal Navy , Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Australian Navy that saw service in World War II . Originally conceived during design studies for a light fleet cruiser , the Tribals evolved into fast , powerful destroyers , with greater emphasis on guns over torpedoes than previous destroyers , in response to new designs by Japan , Italy , and Germany . The Tribals were well admired by their crews and the public when they were in service due to their power , often becoming symbols of prestige while in service . As some of the Royal Navy 's most modern and powerful escort ships , the Tribal class served with distinction in nearly all theatres of World War II . Only a handful of Royal Navy Tribals survived the war , all of which were subsequently scrapped from hard use , while Commonwealth Tribals continued to serve into the Cold War , serving with distinction in the Korean War . Only one Tribal survives to this day : HMCS Haida , which is now a museum ship in Hamilton Harbour , Ontario , Canada .
The Royal Navy ( RN ) is the United Kingdom 's naval warfare force . Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period , the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years ' War against the Kingdom of France . The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century ; the oldest of the UK 's armed services , it is known as the Senior Service . From the middle decades of the 17th century , and through the 18th century , the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy . From the mid 18th century , it was the world 's most powerful navy until the Second World War . The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the unmatched world power during the 19th and first part of the 20th centuries . Due to this historical prominence , it is common , even among non-Britons , to refer to it as the Royal Navy without qualification . Following World War I , the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size , although at the onset of World War II it was still the world 's largest . During the Cold War , the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force , hunting for Soviet submarines and mostly active in the GIUK gap . Following the collapse of the Soviet Union , its focus has returned to expeditionary operations around the world and it remains one of the world 's foremost blue-water navies . However , 21st-century reductions in naval spending have led to a personnel shortage and a reduction in the number of warships . The Royal Navy maintains a fleet of technologically sophisticated ships and submarines including two aircraft carriers , two amphibious transport docks , four ballistic missile submarines ( which maintain the UK 's nuclear deterrent ) , six nuclear fleet submarines , six guided missile destroyers , 13 frigates , 13 mine-countermeasure vessels and 22 patrol vessels .
A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes . Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second World Wars . Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work heavy trawls in all types of weather and had large clear working decks . One could create a mine sweeper simply by replacing the trawl with a mine sweep . Adding depth charge racks on the deck , ASDIC below , and a 3-inch ( 76 mm ) or 4-inch ( 102 mm ) gun in the bow equipped the trawler for anti-submarine duties .
HMS Blankney was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy and was the first and so far only warship to bear the Name . She was laid down on 17 May 1940 at John Brown & Company , Clydebank , Scotland , launched on 19 December 1940 and commissioned on 11 April 1941 . Blankney was one of 33 , Type II Hunt Escort Destroyers . The hulls of this second batch had an extra section which with the increased beam , gave stability for a third twin 4 AA gun to be mounted as originally designed and to give additional storage for depth charges ( increased from 40 to 110 ) . The class were named after fox hunts located in different parts of Britain and in Blankney 's case , this was the Blankney Hunt , a fox-hunting pack based in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire . In 1942 the British Wartime Government introduced a National Savings campaign named Warship Week where towns could adopt a Royal Navy ship . Blankney was adopted by Nantwich in Cheshire . The town still has two roads named after the destroyer , Blankney Avenue and The Blankney . There is a plaque hanging in Civic Hall , commemorating the towns support for the crew .
The Hunt class was a class of escort destroyer of the Royal Navy . The first vessels were ordered early in 1939 , and the class saw extensive service in the Second World War , particularly on the British east coast and Mediterranean convoys . They were named after British fox hunts . The modern Hunt-class GRP hulled mine countermeasure vessels maintain the Hunt names lineage in the Royal Navy .
HMS Britomart was a Halcyon-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy . She served during the Second World War and was sunk in 1944 in a friendly fire incident . The actor Robert Newton served aboard her .
The Halcyon class was a class of 21 oil-fired minesweepers ( officially , fleet minesweeping sloops ) built for the British Royal Navy between 1933 and 1939 . They were given traditional small ship names used historically by the Royal Navy and served during World War II .
HMS Cumberland was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw action during the Second World War .
The County class was a class of heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the years between the First and Second World Wars . They were the first post-war cruisers constructed for the Royal Navy and were designed within the limits of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 . Such ships , with a limit of 10,000 tons , standard displacement and 8-inch calibre main guns may be referred to as treaty cruisers ( the term heavy cruiser was not defined until the London Naval Treaty of 1930 [ page needed ] ) . The thirteen Counties were built in the Kent , London and Norfolk sub-classes . They were the only 10,000-ton 8-inch gun , or A , cruisers that the Royal Navy built . The Counties are remembered for their distinctive three-funnel layout and service in all the major naval theatres of the Second World War . To extract more ships from the treaty limits , the navy planned to construct 8,250-ton B ships , six of which could be built in place of five Counties . The extra ship that this afforded was an attractive proposition for a navy that had the immense peacetime commitments of empire . [ page needed ] Peacetime economies and politics intervened and only two B-type cruisers were built , an 8-inch gun modified County design : the York class . In 1929 , the mean cost of each A ship was estimated to be £2,180,000 , whilst the mean cost of each B ship was estimated to be £1,800,000 .
HMS Dianella was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy . She served during the Second World War . The Flower-class corvettes were designed as a cheap and simple multi-role warship capable of being built in the multitude of small civilian shipyards not usually accustomed to building to naval standards . John Lewis , & Sons Ltd , Torry , Aberdeen was such a company that constructed coasters , drifters and cargo vessels . During the Second World War , John Lewis & Sons built more than thirty vessels , including small warships . minesweeper trawlers and patrol vessels ; six of these were Flower-class corvettes . She had been launched with the name HMS Daffodil and , unusually , this was changed to HMS Dianella on 26 October 1940 prior to commissioning . She sailed from Aberdeen in January 1941 for Tobermory , to work-up before being sent to join a group on ocean escort of convoys . After a few weeks working-up the ship and the crew , Admiral Stephenson would the personally inspect each escort and put the Captain and crew through a stiff test before releasing them for operational service . Anti-submarine trial exercises were conducted on 11 February .
The Flower-class corvette ( also referred to as the Gladiolus class after the lead ship ) was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II , specifically with the Allied navies as anti-submarine convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic . Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers , hence the name of the class . The majority served during World War II with the Royal Navy ( RN ) and Royal Canadian Navy ( RCN ) . Several ships built largely in Canada were transferred from the RN to the United States Navy ( USN ) under the lend-lease programme , seeing service in both navies . Some corvettes transferred to the USN were manned by the US Coast Guard . The vessels serving with the US Navy were known as Temptress and Action-class patrol gunboats . Other Flower-class corvettes served with the Free French Naval Forces , the Royal Netherlands Navy , the Royal Norwegian Navy , the Royal Indian Navy , the Royal Hellenic Navy , the Royal New Zealand Navy , the Royal Yugoslav Navy , and , immediately post-war , the South African Navy . After World War II many surplus Flower-class vessels saw worldwide use in other navies , as well as civilian use . HMCS Sackville is the only member of the class to be preserved as a museum ship .
HMS Duke of York was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy . Laid down in May 1937 , the ship was constructed by John Brown and Company at Clydebank , Scotland , and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 4 November 1941 , subsequently seeing combat service during the Second World War . In mid-December 1941 , Duke of York transported Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the United States to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt . Between March and September 1942 Duke of York was involved with convoy escort duties , including as flagship of the Heavy Covering Force of Convoy PQ-17 , but in October she was dispatched to Gibraltar where she became the flagship of Force H. In October 1942 , Duke of York was involved in the Allied invasion of North Africa , but saw little action as her role only required her to protect the accompanying aircraft carriers . Duke of York stopped the Portuguese vessel Gil Eannes on 1 November 1942 and a commando arrested Gastão de Freitas Ferraz . The British had picked up radio traffic indicating naval espionage , possibly compromising the secrecy of the upcoming Operation Torch . After Operation Torch , Duke of York was involved in Operations Camera and Governor , which were diversionary operations designed to draw the Germans ' attention away from Operation Husky , the invasion of Sicily . On 4 October , Duke of York operated with her sister ship Anson in covering a force of Allied cruisers and destroyers and the American carrier Ranger , during Operation Leader , which raided German shipping off Norway . The attack sank four merchant ships and badly damaged a further seven . On 26 December 1943 Duke of York was part of a task force which encountered the German battleship Scharnhorst off the North Cape of Norway . During the engagement that followed , Scharnhorst hit Duke of York twice with little effect , but was herself hit by several of Duke of York 's 14-inch shells , silencing one of her turrets and hitting a boiler room . After temporarily escaping from Duke of York 's heavy fire , Scharnhorst was struck several times by torpedoes , allowing Duke of York to again open fire , contributing to the eventual sinking of Scharnhorst after a running action lasting ten-and-a-half hours .
The King George V-class battleships were the most modern British battleships in commission during World War II . Five ships of this class were built : HMS King George V ( 1940 ) , HMS Prince of Wales ( 1941 ) , HMS Duke of York ( 1941 ) , HMS Anson ( 1942 ) and HMS Howe ( 1942 ) . The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 limited all of the number , displacement , and armament of warships built following its ratification , and this was extended by the First London Naval Treaty but these treaties were due to expire in 1936 . With increased tension between Britain , the United States , Japan , France and Italy , it was supposed by the designers of these battleships that the treaty might not be renewed and the ships of the King George V class were designed with this possibility in mind . All five ships saw combat during World War II , with King George V and Prince of Wales being involved in the action on 24 May to 27 May 1941 that resulted in the German battleship Bismarck being sunk . Following this on 25 October 1941 , Prince of Wales was sent to Singapore arriving on 2 December and becoming the flagship of Force Z . On 10 December , Prince of Wales was attacked by Japanese bombers and sank with the loss of 327 of its men . In the aftermath of the sinking , King George V , Duke of York , Howe and Anson provided escort duty to convoys bound for Russia . On 1 May 1942 , King George V collided with the destroyer HMS Punjabi , resulting in King George V being sent to Gladstone docks for repairs on 9 May , before returning to escort duty on 1 July 1942 . In October 1942 Duke of York was sent to Gibraltar as the new flagship of Force H and supported the Allied landings in North Africa in November . Anson and Howe would also provide cover for multiple convoys bound for Russia from late 1942 until 1 March 1943 , when Howe provided convoy cover for the last time . In May 1943 King George V and Howe were moved to Gibraltar in preparation for Operation Husky .
HMS Escapade was an E-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s . Although assigned to the Home Fleet upon completion in 1934 , the ship was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1935-1936 during the Abyssinia Crisis . During the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 she spent considerable time in Spanish waters , enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict . Escapade was assigned to convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol duties in the Western Approaches when World War II began in September 1939 , but transferred back to the Home Fleet at the end of the year . After participating in the Norwegian Campaign in early 1940 , she participated in anti-invasion duty and escorted capital ships to Gibraltar and in Operation Menace . The destroyer returned to the British Isles for continued escort duty , punctuated by Operation Rubble and the hunt for Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in early 1941 . Following a midyear refit she escorted Arctic convoys and a convoy to Malta , then went into another refit in mid-1942 before returning to the Atlantic from late 1942 to early 1943 . After a refit , she returned to duty in the Atlantic later that year , but was sidelined for more than a year when a projectile from her Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon exploded , causing significant damage . Following her return to duty at the end of 1944 , she escorted convoys in the last months of the war , then was used for training before being sold for scrap in 1947 .
The E and F-class destroyers were a group of 18 destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s . The ships were initially assigned to the Home Fleet , although they reinforced the Mediterranean Fleet during the Italian invasion of Abyssinia of 1935-36 and enforced the Non-Intervention Agreement during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 . After the beginning of the Second World War in August 1939 , the E-class ships were mostly assigned to escort duties under the Western Approaches Command , while the Fs were assigned to escort the ships of the Home Fleet . Between them they sank four German submarines through March 1940 while losing only one ship to a submarine . Most of the sisters were committed to the Norwegian Campaign in April-June where they helped to sink one German destroyer and a submarine . The two E-class minelayer-destroyers helped to evacuate Allied troops from Dunkirk in May-June . Most of the Fs were sent to Gibraltar around the end of June and formed part of Force H where they participated in the attack on Mers-el-Kébir . Two months later they participated in the Battle of Dakar where they sank three Vichy French submarines . During the rest of 1940 , they sank one Italian submarine while losing two ships to mines and torpedoes . Force H covered a number of convoys to Malta in 1941 , during which they sank one German submarine and lost one destroyer to bombs . Three E-class ships began escorting convoys to Russia in late 1941 and three others were transferred to the Eastern Fleet . Two of these latter were sunk by Japanese forces in early 1942 and two Fs were transferred to replace them .
HMS Faulknor was the flotilla leader for the F-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s . The ship had a particularly active operational role during World War II , being awarded 11 battle honours , and was known as The hardest worked destroyer in the Fleet . She was the first ship to sink a German U-boat , took part in the Norwegian Campaign , served with Force H in the Mediterranean on the Malta Convoys , escorted convoys to Russia and across the Atlantic , and saw action during the invasions of Sicily , Italy and Normandy , and was at the liberation of the Channel Islands . She was then decommissioned and sold for scrap in late 1945 .
HMS Fury was an F-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the 1930s . Although assigned to the Home Fleet upon completion , the ship was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1935-36 during the Abyssinia Crisis . During the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 , she spent time in Spanish waters , enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict . The ship escorted the larger ships of the fleet during the early stages of World War II and played a minor role in the Norwegian Campaign of 1940 . Fury was sent to Gibraltar in mid-1940 and formed part of Force H where she participated in the attack on Mers-el-Kébir and the Battle of Dakar . The ship escorted numerous convoys to Malta in 1940-41 and Arctic convoys during 1942 . Fury was briefly transferred to the Mediterranean in August 1942 to participate in Operation Pedestal but returned to the Home Fleet immediately afterwards to resume her role screening convoys to Russia . She continued in this role until March 1943 when she began escorting convoys in the North Atlantic for several months . The ship was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet a few months later as the Allies began making landings in Italian territory in mid-1943 . Later in the year , she participated in the Dodecanese Campaign in the Aegean where she helped to sink a German troop convoy . Fury returned to the Home Fleet in mid-1944 in preparation for Operation Neptune , the Allied invasion of France . The ship provided naval gunfire support during the landings until she struck a mine during a storm on 21 June and was then blown ashore .
HMS Halcyon was the lead ship in her class of minesweepers built for the Royal Navy in the 1930s .
HMS Keppel was a Thornycroft type flotilla leader built for the Royal Navy at the end of the First World War . She was completed too late to serve in that conflict , but saw extensive service in the inter war years and in World War II . She was an effective convoy escort and U-boat killer , being credited with the destruction of five U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic . She was the second of three ships named for 18th century Admiral Augustus Keppel .
The Thornycroft type leader or Shakespeare class were a class of five destroyer leaders designed by John I. Thornycroft & Company and built by them at Woolston , Southampton for the Royal Navy towards the end of World War I . They were named after historical naval leaders . Only Shakespeare and Spenser were completed in time for wartime service . The other three were completed after the war , Broke and Keppel after being towed to Royal dockyards for completion , and two further ships - Saunders and Spragge - were cancelled . The function of a leader was to carry the flag staff of a destroyer flotilla , therefore they were enlarged to carry additional crew , offices and signalling equipment , allowing a fifth gun to be carried . These ships were very similar to the Admiralty type leader , but had broad , slab-sided funnels characteristic of Thornycroft designs . The design was used as the basis for several ships built for foreign navies in the 1920s .
HMS La Malouine was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy , serving during the Second World War . Originally ordered by the French Navy ( Marine Nationale ) under the same name , following the fall of France , the ship was seized by the United Kingdom and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1940 . The corvette remained in service until being broken up in 1947 .
The first USS Twiggs ( DD-127 ) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I . She was named for Major Levi Twiggs . She was later transferred to the Royal Navy , as HMS Leamington and to the Soviet Navy as Zhguchi , before returning to Britain to star in the film The Gift Horse , which depicts the St. Nazaire Raid .
The Town-class destroyers were a group of destroyers transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy in exchange for military bases in the British West Indies and Newfoundland , as outlined in the Destroyers for Bases Agreement between Britain and United States , signed on 2 September 1940 . They were known as four-pipers or four-stackers because they had four smokestacks ( funnels ) . Later classes of destroyers typically had one or two . Some went to the Royal Canadian Navy at the outset . Others went on to the Royal Norwegian Navy , the Royal Netherlands Navy , and the Soviet Navy after serving with the Royal Navy . Although given a set of names by the Commonwealth navies that suggested they were one class they actually came from three classes of destroyer : Caldwell , Wickes , and Clemson . Town class refers to the Admiralty 's practice of renaming these ships after towns common to the United States and the British Commonwealth . Ships initially commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy , however , followed the Canadian practice of giving destroyers the names of Canadian rivers . The rivers selected for the Town class were on the border between Canada and the United States , with the exception of the Nova Scotia river sharing the name of the United States Naval Academy location . One of the Towns achieved lasting fame : HMS Campbeltown ( ex-USS Buchanan ) . In the Commando raid Operation Chariot , Campbeltown , fitted with a large demolition charge , rammed the Normandie Lock at Saint-Nazaire , France . The charge detonated on 29 March 1942 , breaching the drydock and destroying Campbeltown , thus destroying the only drydock on the Atlantic coast capable of accepting the German battleship Tirpitz .
HMS Ledbury was an escort destroyer of the Hunt class Type II . The Royal Navy ordered Ledbury 's construction two days after the outbreak of the Second World War and J. I. Thornycroft Ltd laid down her keel at their Southampton yard on 24 January 1940 . Air raid damage to the yard delayed her construction and she did not launch until 27 September 1941 . Her initial assignment was to perform escort duties between Scapa Flow and Iceland . She remained in this theatre for the first part of the war , during which time she served with the ill-fated Arctic convoy PQ 17 in June 1942 , from which twenty-four ships were lost . Only two months later she took up the role of close escort in the Pedestal convoy to Malta . During the fierce attacks that dogged the convoy , Ledbury claimed three enemy aircraft destroyed and five damaged , and was one of three destroyers that helped the crippled oil tanker Ohio into the Grand Harbour . She added to her battle honours with the Allied landings in Sicily , Salerno , and operations in the Adriatic and Aegean . The Royal Navy finally scrapped Ledbury in 1958 .
HMS London , pennant number C69 , was a member of the second group of the County-class heavy cruisers of the Royal Navy . She and her sisters ; Sussex , Shropshire , and Devonshire differed from the earlier group of Counties , ( known as the Kent class ) , by having a smaller forward superstructure , which was positioned slightly further aft , and little armour plating . HMS London 's career spanned over twenty years .
HMS Lotus was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy . She was built by Henry Robb Limited , of Leith , Scotland and launched on 16 January 1942 . Originally named HMS Phlox , she was renamed in April 1942 after the previous HMS Lotus was transferred to the Free French Navy . She was commissioned in May 1942 .
HMS Marne was an M-class destroyer of the Royal Navy commissioned on 2 December 1941 . She was built by Vickers-Armstrongs at High Walker Yard , Newcastle-upon-Tyne , England , and saw service in the Atlantic theatre of World War II .
The L and M class was a class of sixteen destroyers which served in the British Royal Navy during World War II . The ships of the class were launched between 1939 and 1942 . The L class ( also known as the Laforeys ) were approved under the 1937 Naval Estimates . Four of these ships ( Lance , Lively , Legion and Larne ) were built with 4-inch ( 100 mm ) armament instead of 4.7 inch . Six of the eight were war losses , with the surviving pair being broken up in 1948 . The M Class were built under the 1939 Naval Estimates . They served in the Home Fleet until 1944 and then went to the Mediterranean . Three were wartime losses ; of the five survivors , the Musketeer was broken up in 1955 and the other four sold to Turkey in 1958 .
HMS Martin was an M-class destroyer of the Royal Navy , launched at the Tyneside yard of Vickers-Armstrongs on 12 December 1940 . She had a busy but brief wartime career , being sunk by the German submarine U-431 on 10 November 1942 off Algiers .