Some First World War sloops remained useful in the Second World War, supporting the case for keeping modest escorts in service or reserve. A practical convoy escort needed enough speed to intercept a contact and regain the convoy, anti-aircraft guns, depth charges, and ASDIC. Sloops could also lay or sweep mines and carry out diplomatic or presence missions. A hypothetical annual program of 18 ships between 1920 and 1939 gives an estimate of 342 sloops. Even keeping only ten years of production would leave 180 vessels, enough for twenty nine-ship escort groups. These are counterfactual force totals used to illustrate what continuous construction could have provided.
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Simple sloop escorts and an interwar reserve
Modest speed and armament requirements made sloops suitable for repeated construction and a substantial reserve of convoy escorts.