Adapting and mass-building Flower corvettes

Small warships were unusually open to local alteration. Engine changes, carburettors, turbochargers, and extra depth-charge throwers could appear even when standard equipment lists omitted them. Crews serving far from home could acquire useful machinery or weapons in overseas ports and fit them to their ships. Photographs of at least two Flowers appear to show more throwers than published fit records list. Two construction examples were completed in about 47 weeks, showing how quickly the program could turn a requirement into an escort hull. Rapid construction still left the problem of trained crews, and every extra or modified Flower competed with building the later Castle class. The design's value came from quick construction and easy adaptation, provided the navy could supply enough trained crews.