Dispersed Flower production created a propulsion smorgasbord

The Modified Flower gained displacement and length while retaining broadly similar proportions. Its slightly shallower draft may have come from the longer hull spreading the load and increasing reserve buoyancy. Machinery varied much more. Numerous yards and manufacturers produced their own versions of nominally similar propulsion plants, but most ships reached about sixteen knots and 3,500 miles at twelve knots. That was fast enough for merchant convoys, though slower than the Italian Gabbiano. Dispersed construction produced the needed hulls, while nonstandard machinery increased the support required for Atlantic service.