What separated a wartime sloop from a corvette

What distinguished a sloop from a corvette, and merchant construction standards from naval standards?

Corvettes generally followed commercial construction and triple-expansion machinery, while sloops used naval standards and turbines, with differences also in steel, subdivision, and equipment isolation.

A practical wartime rule of thumb called a commercial-standard escort with a triple-expansion engine a corvette, while a turbine-powered naval-standard vessel tended to be a sloop. Merchant and naval standards also differed in steel thickness and internal subdivision. In a modern setting, the distinction can extend to machinery rafting and other protected installations. Those choices affected damage resistance, cost, complexity, and which yards could build the ship. The labels reflected real construction differences even when the vessels performed similar escort work.