Flower-class timing and the convoy-planning dispute

Did the late commissioning of the Flower-class corvettes prove that convoy protection was a Royal Navy blind spot?

No; design and procurement work was underway before the war, but a strategy expecting a later conflict left the escort buildup incomplete when war arrived in 1939.

The Flower design request dates to 1938, hull selection to January 1939, and yard orders to July, with related Black Swan, Basset, and trawler work beginning earlier. The Royal Navy had a convoy-protection plan, but its ships were not ready when war began. Planners had expected a later conflict, around 1942, after the Ten Year Rule was dropped in 1932. Under that timetable, ships entering service in 1940 would have formed a substantial prewar buildup.