Between 1954 and 1984 the Royal Netherlands Navy operated six small frigates that were built as Patrol Vessel, Escort (PCE) in the United States. The ships did serve mainly in the North Sea in an unique branch of the military responsible for an array of maritime duties, from ensuring safe and lawful commerce to performing rescue missions in severe conditions.

The six escort ships were of the PCE 1604 series. A forthcoming design of the PCE 842 class (Admirable class) of World War Two.

Ancestors of the Pce

Auk class

When the U.S.A. was drawn into the Second World War, a crash program of naval construction followed. Including minesweepers with diesel-electric propulsion as alternative to a geared diesel drive. When not engaged in sweeping, the generators could be utilized to provide additional power for the propulsion electric motors and therefore boosted its speed. This significant innovation was incorporated into the Auk class and permitted considerable operational flexibility at little extra cost except for a slight increase in displacement. The United States Navy was particularly fortunate in that it was backed by the industrial capacity to install diesel- electric propulsion on a large scale, and therefore was not inhibited in its approach to an optimum design.

Admirable class

The ships of Auk class were relatively complex and difficult to build. Therefore an alternative was designed by the Bureau of Ships. Resulting in the Admirable class with better seakeeping qualities, capable to ‘keep station’ in all kinds of weather. With a simplicity of design to permit production in large numbers with minimum costs in time and money. It became one of the largest and most successful classes of minesweepers ordered by the US Navy during World War II.