Springhill worked up in Bermuda before joining Escort Group 16, where convoy duty allowed further training. Ships with successful crews could progress to support or hunter groups. Escort groups stayed with shipping, support groups reinforced threatened convoys, and hunter groups were directed towards submarine concentrations using information such as radio emissions. Some hunter groups carried support-group labels to obscure their role. Approximate ratios were one support group for three or four escort groups and one hunter group for two support groups, with regional variation. Flowers could move between escort and support duties, while larger sloops, Black Swans, and some destroyers more often served in hunter groups. These preparations anticipated the possible mass arrival of Type XXI U-boats. Since that deployment never happened, their adequacy against it remained untested.
Notable Point · 36:41-39:49
Escort, support, and hunter groups formed a ladder
Crews and ships could progress from convoy escort groups into support or hunter groups as their anti-submarine proficiency increased.