Hunt-class destroyer

	HMS Blean, a Type III Hunt-class destroyer
Class overview
Builders	John Brown & Company; Cammell Laird; Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company; Hawthorn Leslie and Company; Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company; Alexander Stephen and Sons; Swan Hunter; John I. Thornycroft & Company; J. Samuel White; Vickers-Armstrongs; Yarrow Shipbuilders;
Operators	Royal Navy (72 ships); Royal Hellenic Navy (7); Polish Navy (3); Royal Norwegian Navy (3); Free French Navy (1); After 1945:; Federal German Navy (3); Indian Navy (3); Ecuadorian Navy (2); Egyptian Navy (2); Royal Danish Navy (3); Israeli Navy (1);
Built	1939–1943
In commission	1940–1963
Completed	86
Lost	23

The Hunt class was a class of escort destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the early stages of the Second World War. The first vessels were ordered in early 1939 to meet the need for compact, well-armed, escort capable of fleet screening and convoy protection.

The class saw extensive wartime service, particularly in the defence of coastal convoys in the North Sea and English Channel, as well as in operations in the Mediterranean, including the Malta Convoys, the North African campaign, and the invasion of Sicily.

Ships in the class were named after British fox hunting packs or hunting region, maintaining a tradition of naming Royal Navy vessels after countryside themes associated with rural Britain.

The name 'Hunt class' continues in modern naval service with the current class of mine countermeasure vessels. These later vessels, introduced in the late 20th century, are built of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) hulls to reduce magnetic signature and are minesweepers and minehunters.