I think maybe folks are mirror-imaging contemporary naval practices a bit too much here, expecially in terms of escorts for warships.
The modern escort only dates to about 1900 and owes its existence to several classes of threats that capital ships could not counter but which could dispatch such ships in just a few shots -- specificaly torpedo boats, submarines, and aircraft.
Traveller has no analogues to any of these threats. Small ships cannot meaningfully threaten large batttleships, while the battleships can vaporize small warships with ease. Traveller design sequences and combat rules don't seem to allow for the existence of ships dedicated to shooting down enemy missiles (for example), and the potential for large numbers of point defense lasers, dampers, and heavy armor on large warships makes their value uncertain in any case.
Battleriders need some sort of screening force to cover a jump withdrawal, but these need to be fairly large ships to pose a significant threat to the enemy (the 5,000-ton PF Sloan fleet escort is probably near the minimum size for this role and a light cruiser is a lot better.)
Sensor pickets may be of some use, depending on the sensor rules used, but as has been noted, these are not really escorts.
Aside from those tasks, true small escorts in Traveller will be almost entirely commerce protectors.