Escort ships are a special case. They have an additional factor to denote if the design is "general purpose", i.e. able to carry out any function reasonably well, or is specialised for anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, minelaying and sweeping, or as a torpedo-attack vessel.
By default, escorts are general purpose (or "GP").
If you decide to specialise, the vessel's capability in one chosen area is doubled, and halved in all other areas.
A "GP" vessel has these capabilities:
| Torpedoes | Escort ships all carry torpedoes in sets of 3. General Purpose escorts carry as many sets as their "sec." value, plus 1 if above a size of "2". |
| ASW | General Purpose escorts have a capability that is equal to their "sec." value plus 1 minus their size but is always a minimum of 1. So, the smaller the size, the greater the capability (all else being equal), which reflects the reality of the role that smaller escorts played. |
| Mines | General Purpose escorts carry a number of mines that is a function of their deck area, which is proportional to two-thirds the power of the tonnage. (So smaller ships are better minelayers tonne-for-tonne than larger ships). |
Warning -Once a ship has been laid down as having a particular speciality, this cannot be changed. Think carefully before you specialise as the balance of your escort ships can become compromised by disproportionate damage to certain types. The only remedy then is to lay down more of the type you need, and these will take a little time to enter the game.