Henderson anticipated that war would force the Admiralty to order trawlers and corvettes from commercial builders. The Kingfishers explored how small an armed escort could be while retaining acceptable seakeeping. Their three experimental displacements were 518, 539, and 589 tons. Performance improved as the hull approached 600 tons, producing practical evidence for later emergency designs.
Chapter · 37:15-39:45
Kingfisher experiments prepared commercial yards
The tiny Kingfisher class tested the minimum hull size and fittings that commercial yards could reproduce for wartime escorts.