OVERVIEW: The Annapolis-class destroyer escort (DDH) is a 2-shaft steam powered escort vessel intended primarily for anti-submarine warfare.

DETAILS: The two Annapolis-class destroyers are a version of the St. Laurent-class.  Unlike other units of that class which retrofitted aviation facilities, the Annapolis class incorporated the helicopter hangar from the start. 

These ships were among the first to take a new approach to helicopter operations from small warships. Unlike the British, who fitted a small helicopter (Westland Wasp) on their frigates with only a minimum of redesign, the RCN decided to use the far more capable and sophisticated CH-124 Sea King.

Specifications:

Displacement: 3,420t
Length: 111.56 m
Beam: 12.8m
Draught: 4.01m
Propulsion: 2 shafts; 2 Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers@616 psi; 2 English Electric geared turbines, 30,000 shp
Speed: 28kn
Complement: 228

Range: 8,463.6km @ 12kn

NOTES: IOC: 1964. Units in class: ANNAPOLIS (DDE265), NIPIGON (DDE266). The RCN had intended to place a six ship order under the Mackenzie-class of destroyer escorts; however, the last two vessels were built to the St. Laurent-class DDH design and were classed under the new Annapolis-class designation. Both ships spent the majority of their career split between Canada's Pacific and Atlantic coasts with the Annapolis being at Esquimalt and Nipigon at Halifax.


SOURCES:
"Annapolis Class Destroyer Escort Helicopter DDH Royal Canadian Navy." Seaforces Online - Naval Information. Accessed February 16, 2022. https://www.seaforces.org/marint/Canadian-Navy/Destroyer/Annapolis-class.htm. ; "ANNAPOLIS Class." Haze Gray & Underway - Naval History and Photography. Accessed February 16,2022. https://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/postwar/annapoli/. ; "Annapolis-class Destroyer." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last modified October 6, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapolis-class_destroyer. ; Couhat, Jean L., and A. D. Baker. Combat Fleets of the World 1990/91: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Armament. US Naval Institute Press, 1990, pg. 55.