Capable of maintaining a twenty knot speed in seas that slowed destroyers, these ships were ideal for protecting shipping in the mid Atlantic sector. Direction finding equipment and Asdic (early sonar) provided the primary anti-submarine defense. In February 1943 CAMPBELL was detailed to escort Convoy ON-166 and to provide Search-and-Rescue for any ships in distress. In the early morning hours of February 21st, the convoy was surrounded by a German U-Boat "Wolf Pack". U-606 torpedoed and sank the SS NIELSON ALONSO. Dispatched to assist, CAMPBELL rescued fifty survivors and then turned to attack another boat, U-753, damaging it so badly that the U-Boat had to withdraw from the wolf pack.
