Sloops below the speed and armament thresholds had no aggregate tonnage ceiling. Sustained construction across Britain, Canada, India, and Australia could create roughly 360 modern escorts by 1939, organised into thirty twelve-ship convoy groups. Reserve crews could maintain and train on peacetime ships, while serial orders preserved turbine production and other industrial skills. In war the sloops would strengthen ASDIC, depth-charge, anti-aircraft, and minesweeping coverage while releasing destroyers for offensive duties.
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The unused treaty opportunity to build hundreds of sloops
Treaty rules allowed large numbers of slow, lightly armed sloops, but governments failed to exploit them before the Battle of the Atlantic.