How sustained sloop building could aid destroyers

Would building many more interwar sloops have changed destroyer development?

Destroyers would develop much as they did, but a larger sloop program could accelerate dual-purpose guns and expand turbine capacity available to both classes in wartime.

The proposed escort buildup would leave destroyer development broadly recognizable rather than redirecting the whole navy toward defensive ships. More sloop hulls would, however, create a larger market and test bed for dual-purpose guns useful across both types. Fitting turbines to some sloops would keep additional machinery firms, tooling, and skilled labor active in peacetime. Because wartime expansion grows from the existing production base, that continuity could increase the speed and scale of later destroyer and escort construction.