Escort designs still take time to deliver

If Hunt and Flower escorts were ordered around the outbreak of war, why were they not immediately available?

Their specifications and hull choices had to precede orders, and even urgent wartime construction required time before ships could enter service.

The discussion distinguishes between starting design work, selecting a hull, placing an order, and receiving a completed ship. Hunt-class specifications began before the war, with the hull selected and the first orders placed in 1939. Flower-class corvettes likewise drew on earlier sloop experience rather than appearing without design ancestry. The example is a useful reminder that an impending submarine war could be recognized without allowing new escorts to appear immediately.