Q&A · 10:41-11:26

Extra Tribal and J/K/N destroyers or more escort sloops

Extra sloops are preferred to more Tribal- and J/K/N-class destroyers because of their expected effect on submarine losses early in World War II.

Question

Would four more Tribal- and J/K/N-class destroyers in their annual orders be more valuable than one or two flotillas of sloops each year in the 1930s?

Short answer

The sloops would be more valuable because they could materially reduce early Battle of the Atlantic losses.

Notes

The destroyers are the personal favourite in this comparison, but the sloops answer the more urgent operational need. One or two additional flotillas each year during the 1930s would provide many more escorts when war began. They are expected to inflict much heavier losses on German submarines in the early months. That could also reduce the British shipping losses suffered during this period.