The sloops were intended to work with merchant ships and fleet auxiliaries, so anti-aircraft and anti-submarine duties ranked above surface combat. In practical terms, they were destroyers without torpedoes. Omitting torpedoes and keeping the official speed low mattered under treaty definitions intended to stop the Royal Navy from disguising unrestricted destroyer substitutes as sloops. The class shows how arms-control categories could shape a warship's mission and equipment as directly as its hull.
Chapter · 14:54-15:48
Sloops traded torpedoes and speed for treaty-compliant escort work
The Bitterns prioritized merchant and fleet-auxiliary escort, anti-aircraft defence, and anti-submarine warfare while omitting the torpedoes that would have made them look like disguised destroyers.