Regarded as the "Rolls-Royce" of World War II convoy escorts, the Black Swan class ships were heavily armed and superbly equipped for their role, ranking among the most effective anti-submarine ships of the Battle of the Atlantic. Drawn up by the shipbuilders themselves, the plans featured here were crafted with exquisite skill in multicolored inks and washes, representing the acme of the draftsman's art. Among the Black Swan ships profiled here are Starling—the single most successful U-boat hunter of the war—and Amethyst, as refitted after her clash with Chinese communists on the Yangtze River in 1949.