From DNC requirements to a shipyard-ready design

The Admiralty first specified its needs to the Director of Naval Construction, whose design then passed to the chosen builder. The yard had to mature those plans into drawings and arrangements suited to its own machinery, workforce, and construction methods. HMS Puffin and HMS Basset show that the interval between an order and laying the keel was active engineering time rather than administrative delay. Puffin's builder took roughly two months for this stage, while Basset's took about four. Those examples expose the preparation behind later rapid escort production.