How the Royal Naval Reserve could man a larger sloop force

Would manning become a problem if Britain built hundreds of additional sloops?

Not necessarily; reserve assignment and less severe interwar personnel cuts could supply crews and training without a large new recruiting burden.

Personnel would not be a decisive barrier to the proposed escort fleet. Many sloops could be assigned to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve or held in reserve, allowing reservists to train on the ships they would use in war. Britain was already reducing naval manpower through measures such as the Geddes cuts. Retaining slightly more of that existing workforce would be easier than recruiting and training an entirely new wartime establishment after a crisis began.